Sometimes, you meet someone you've lusted for from afar, and the experience isn't what it should be. The star is rude, the athletic hero a boor, the girl three rows up in Bio proves to have only vague notions of personal hygiene.

    And sometimes, once in a very great while, the meeting is everything you hoped and more. A passing fancy or merest hope blossoms into rich, rewarding, joyous love.

    I am a man in love.

    The 1995 Ford Probe GT is a siren song for the soul, a beacon to the car-weary, a flash of purest passion in a too-chaste world. It's also a pretty good car.

    We'll confess to having lusted after the Probe ever since dating her sister, the Mazda MX-6, two years ago. The MX-6's luxury orientation wasn't quite our bag, but the dynamics, handling, and above all the solid, pleasing feel of the car suggested a platform with possibilities well beyond a long-distance tourer.

    Tighten up the suspension, trade the Mark Jordan body for a Jack Telnack, chop five grand off the sticker, and you get a first-order canyon-runner, a do-anything grin machine called the Probe GT. Also called "My next car," if I have anything to say about it.

    The Probe GT comes from AutoAlliance, the Flat Rock, Michigan joint venture between Mazda and Ford which produces the Probe/MX-6 and Mazda's 626. Both firms contributed to the gestation of the current Probe; where in the previous generation, Mazda's MX-6 led the engineering process, Ford set the hardpoints for the current model. The engine design comes from Mazda's side of the house.

    With this platform, Mazda decided to go upmarket, chasing those with BMWs in their eyes but not in their wallets. The MX-6 is softer, from its neo-Opel styling to its touring suspension. It's still a very enjoyable car, but one best enjoyed while touring.

    Ford chose a very different direction for the Probe. The base Probes are "sporty" cars, for those who like to project a bit of flair without sacrificing utility or economy. In fact, dedicated poseurs can even get all the GT body pieces on their four-banger with the base suspension, which seems to us the Wonderbra approach.

    The GT is no less civilized, but don't turn that key if you're just out to profile. A real car is a terrible thing to waste. This is a dedicated performance machine, yet an accessible one. Indeed, the loaded GT we tested came in under the MX-6's base price. The Ford also interested us because we're beginning to look for a successor to our trusty and fun CRX-Si, and Honda hasn't given us car to move up to. Thankfully, Ford has. The Probe GT feels eerily like the CRX's big brother, and that's high praise. From the driver-oriented cockpit to the control layouts, the Probe is instantly familiar.

    For 95, Ford stylists made minor changes to the Probe GT's layout. The front was freshened, with fog lights integrated into the air dam. New curved-spoke wheels replaced the 94's straight-spoke alloys; the new ones are also available in chrome. A bigger change came at the rear, where the formerly separate taillights were reshaped and joined by a center lens on the GT. The revised back end is cleaner, although somehow more anonymous. It did attract curious looks from other Probe owners.

    Settle into the snug cockpit and the Probe GT makes its purpose apparent. That wheel is leather-wrapped, thick, and sized for quick movement. Your hand falls naturally to the shifter. Controls in the center stack are angled toward the driver, and within easy reach.

    And the accelerator. Ah, the accelerator. Hm, the accelerator. Yes, the accelerator.

    Wait, we're still looking at the interior. Our test car's interior was tan, with leather seats; although lighter colors usually don't come across as well as their darker kin, the Probe's plastics are better done than, say, the Saturn SC's, with a slightly glossy dash the only obvious petrochemical touch.

    Readouts for speed, revs, oil and water temperatures, fuel and volts are deeply recessed into that dash, which is pleasantly curved, looking like one piece despite the new passenger-side air bag. At night, those instruments use Ford's blue/green lighting, which I like a bunch. In fact, it's a better dash at night; the gauges are white on black, with white indicators, which can be hard to pick up against all the lettering. At night, the indicators light up orange, making location much easier.

    Switchgear feels substantial, and not too clicky. HVAC knobs aren't huge, but are clearly labeled (with words.) We complained about the Saturn's cruise control buttons on the steering wheel not being lit; the Probe's aren't either, but they have a standard layout and buttons shaped to indicate their purpose, so they escape complaint.

    Although you sit low in the Probe, there's a good sense of space because of all the glass. The molded headliner is contoured to allow a bit extra headroom, but taller drivers should leave hats at home.

    Interior utility is fair, with map pockets, a smallish glovebox, and a center bin sporting a peculiar flip-out cupholder. The bin has a projection inside which prevents you from putting big things inside. Also, there's a fully-flocked CD-sized hole directly ahead of the shifter. Ashtray and lighter live in the center console behind a little door; get an extension cord for the radar detector. The ashtray is well located for bills and change for tolls. Two Golden Cupholders.

    The top of that bin slides back for access; on our test car, it was flimsily attached. The only other obvious sample defects were a driver's door that didn't always like to close and a passenger window with a (free!) whistly seal. We've now driven at least one of every model Flat Rock has built, and build quality's been uniformly high.

    Design can be a bit odd, though. With the driver's seat adjusted for the Splendid Co-Driver, the seatback is ahead of the leading edge of the center armrest, so she has to adopt a modified Schnorrcedes (vun leg forvart und vun leg backvart!) Position in order to rest her arm. (Those mystified by this reference owe it to themselves to track down a copy of Peter Ustinov's LP The Grand Prix of Gibraltar, a one-man tour de force in which, doing all the accents and sound effects himself, Ustinov lampoons the Formula One scene of the early Sixties.) Anyway, that's not very useful place for an armrest.

    Pop-up headlights aren't as intrusive as on the Saturn or Miata; you know they're there, but they don't block the view.

    Another design note concerns the map lights; they share a single lens with the cabin light, which looks good. But they're poorly focused, with the navigator's light glaring into the driver's eyes. Finally -- and at the pinnacle of pickiness -- the indicator for which side the fuel filler is on isn't lit at night, which matters only to reviewers and renters. There's an easy cure: Buy the car.

    The familiar Ford power driver's seat has pneumatic adjustments for lumbar support and thigh bolsters. Her Splendidness liked the "substantial" look of the seats and the leather covering; those who read our Ford Explorer review may be relieved to know that the pneumatic adjusters in the Probe didn't make any rude noises.

    The Splendid Co-Driver found lots of room to stretch her legs on the passenger side; I wished the seat would go a bit farther, but even the fahrvergnugen man couldn't sit in the back if it did. Those rear seats aren't for real people on real trips, but are perfectly acceptable as temporary seats (to the delight of the SC-D, who's been permanently banned from the CRX's package shelf, even if we're just picking up her mother from the airport.)

    The cargo compartment challenges you with a fairly high liftover height, but rewards with decent cargo room, especially with the seat down.

    Underhood accessibility looks fair; one bank of plugs is in view, the other is partly hidden, but you can get there from here. It's a very full engine compartment, though, without a lot of room to maneuver.
 

ON THE ROAD

    So, for maneuvering, close the hood. Settle into that leather seat. Insert the key; the ignition is thoughtfully (and optionally) lit. The cabin light dims slowly; Ford calls this "theatre" lighting, and it's appropriate, since you are about to conduct a symphony.

    The Probe moves off smoothly, and with clear reserves of power. In traffic, it's almost impatient. But get a clear stretch of road -- preferably twisty road -- and you're in for one heck of a ride.

    A new badge on the GT's tail says 24V, announcing the valves in the 2.5-liter six. I have yet to drive Volkswagen's VR-6, but until I do, I can say without reservation that this is the sweetest six BMW ever didn't build.

    That six is a torque machine. It's tractable down low, but hit 2000 revs and you discover just an amazing sweet spot, with a turbine-like, smooth flow of power up to 3400 or so. Making it all the more sweet is an incredible match of gearing to engine; even a mildly competent use of the gearshift results in the sensation of a continuously variable transmission, with torque on tap in any gear, at any speed. It's a gracious host, this Probe: More torque, dear? Here you are.

    Worse yet, the engine sound is very seductive, and begs you to keep your foot in deep. Such a happy chore. As the Splendid Co-Driver noted, "It is way too easy to go 80 miles an hour in this car." But even 45 is a rush on the right road.

    The shifter moves cleanly, with a feel familiar to those accustomed to Honda's marvelous FWD boxes. But if the engine is a sumptuous main course, the Probe's handling is dessert.

    This is the most neutral car I've ever driven, in large part because there's so much rubber on the ground. Nail the throttle in a decreasing-radius turn and the back'll come out just a bit, but it's very hard to ever reach the G-limit. Drop the throttle in mid-corner, and there's no handling response. One reason: The return spring on throttle is soft, so power doesn't chop suddenly.

    Cornering is accomplished smoothly, and with a minimum of body roll; turn in too soon and it just sticks; turn in too late and you just crank extra steering. The contact patch of the GT's 225x50/16 Goodyear Gatorbacks feels vast. The effect is to give the Probe a broad- shouldered feel, as if you had the back half of a Testarossa behind you. The car begs for twisties, to impress with its poise and sing lovely 24-valve songs while doing it.

    Nor is it a go-kart; around the infamously bad streets of Washington, the Probe is unruffled, with a well-damped ride. You wouldn't want to run it on gravel roads for an hour, but that's probably good practice anyway.

    The Probe GT urges you to cut and thrust. This car makes whatever you want to do possible. Want to pass, but not sure there's room? You can. That tight spot in traffic? You take it. On and off the throttle. Up and down the gearbox. Into and out of the ABS-equipped 4-wheel discs. There's a lot of brake here, in the Ford manner, although they squeal when cold.

    There's also a little booming from the back over frost heaves and other sharp road irregularities.

    There's not as much booming in the wallet as you might think; although our test car came to $21,125, it was loaded with everything in the book; you can have a wonderful time for much less. And while it returned 22 MPG in very hard driving around town, we got 28 on the highway.

    The Probe isn't cheap, but it's worth the money. I find Ford's packaging of options annoying, but it obviously works or they wouldn't do it. And while I prefer the styling of the MX-6 (always been a sucker for those Opels), but oh, that cost difference.

    Besides, the measure of a car is in the driving. On performance, the Probe has everything in its class beat hands down.

    I was struck while driving the Probe that with its confidence and broad shoulders, it feels a tremendous amount like the European Scorpio. And the folks at Mazda had more than a little input. But in the end, the Probe is a thoroughly American express, a coast-to-coast night train, runnin' hard. And, like the credit card of the same name, the only limits are those you establish. Charge!

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