Category: Ford

This week, I sat down for the sales conference calls from Ford and Chrysler. How are things, you ask, or don’t, as the case may be? Well, they’re both down about 35 percent. On the bright side, no one cried on the phone.

“Run for your lives! The economy’s collapsing!”

I almost have to feel sorry for the “new” Ford Taurus. It’s actually a really innovative, clever, and compelling sedan, but it’s clad in a wrapper that’s so dull and forgettable that I actually had to sit and think hard to remember my drive experience with the car so that I would have something meaningful to say for this story!

The 2008 Ford Taurus. What, did you forget it exists?
Considering just how dreary it looks, the car has a pretty interesting and convoluted pedigree. Let’s start with the Taurus nameplate. Introduced for the 1986 model year, the original Taurus was nothing short of revolutionary. Its radical styling was unlike anything ever seen on American roads, yet the beauty and cohesiveness of its design and proportions made it a must-have all across the country. It soon went on to become America’s best selling car. [...]

There are a bunch of ways to kill a man at the Ford Allen Park Test Labs. Exposure in the cold room, dehydration in the hot room, altitude sickness in the pressure room, boredom in the strange little parking lot simulator shed. And that’s just the stuff I can come up with off the top of my head.
Oh, and you could run someone down with the new F-150, I guess, if your imagination was lacking for some reason.


F-150 stalks its prey from the cover of the tall grass

A few short years ago, one of the big automotive buzzwords was the term “segment busters”. This was in the day where the unibody car-based SUV was a radical new concept and manufacturers started realizing that the latest generation of consumers wanted products – both automotive and non-automotive – to speak specifically to their own unique needs. Rather than adapt habits and lifestyles to suit the vehicle, consumers increasingly expected the exact opposite.
The first generation Explorer Sport Trac was introduced for the 2001 model year and was very much a segment buster in its day. It combined SUV and pickup sensibilities in a fun package. Instead of offering a crew cab variant of the Ranger compact pickup (on which the first couple of generations of Explorer were based on), Ford decided that they could make more money by putting an Explorer-based cab and a [...]

Ford Flex and Buick Enclave in a head-to-head comparison. Flex wins by a hair.

Ford Flex gets wood.

AutoPacific: Taking home the 2008 Motorist Choice Award® in the sporty car segment, the Mustang earned top marks for image and brand reputation. Owners also rated both the exterior and interior styling of the Mustang as the best in the segment. Driving dynamics such as braking, handling, power and acceleration added to the win. Owners concluded that the Mustang is also very fun to drive.
IntelliChoice: The Ford Mustang was a 2008 Vehicle Satisfaction Award winner and has best-in-class ownership costs.

The Ford Edge is a very good vehicle, but does it have appeal beyond its built-in Ford owner audience?

One town looks to stretch the definition of the annual Woodward Dream Cruise, and bring a little future into this annual nostalgia drip.

Already a success, the Ford Escape received a redesign for 2008. The Ford Escape is the 2008 Ideal Vehicle in the Mid-Size Crossover SUV segment, winning for exterior size, visibility, interior lighting, seat firmness, ride and handling. Owners find the Escape is the right package at the right price in a segment that has ballooned over the past decade.