going back to the Contour: it was a cute little car that appealed to a
lot of buyers, but was so trouble prone that it soon developed a
reputation that killed it. I had one of the first Taurus.....it wasn't
even the top-of-the-line, but had a luxurious interior and was a great
car --- but they had to start cheapening it and in a couple years even
the best version had a depressing interior.......the restyle was change
for change sake and where the original was groundbreaking, the restyle
was just plain weird. Likewise, the Thunderbird was billed as "retro",
but ugly as sin: like a T-Bird designed by Citroen.
Now, we have the Focus which just sez "this is all I can afford". The
Fusion (a Mazda design) is wildly popular, but too small for many. The
Mustang COULD have been more successful, but they didn't prepare
sufficient production capacity and gouging dealers killed initial sales,
leaving a bad taste in everyone's mouth. The Five Hundred/Taurus is a
great car (I have one) but for some reason doesn't catch-on
(marketing?). The Crown Vic/Marquis/Town Car is based on 1979
architecture.....obsolete and not space efficient.
Considering Ford's inability to design or build something the majority
of people want, I guess all we can hope is they will take the
Jaguar/Rover cash and buy a company that designs cars people
want.......everything follows the product.
Personally, I'd like to see them build a modern, rear drive sedan (one
would think they've gotten their money's worth out of the Crown Vic
tooling after 29 years). And wouldn't it be nice to have an interior in
something besides black or gray?
Pretty said when their flag****p line, Lincoln, is comprised of a bunch
of gussied-up trucks, a glorified Mazda and a stretched 1979
Ford.......they hoped to make Jaguar their premium line: think what
great cars could have been designed with all that money that went down
the drain!
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