Read my article on Blue Oval News...
http://blueovalnews.com/2005/products/mehta.pacecar05aug.htm
I'm back with another rant, please read it and pass it along! The more hits my article gets the better! Hopefully the Cougar and Tbird part will resonate with you all. :) :D
i liked it. very much actually.
Very nice Jeeves! Ya hit the nail on the head bro.
We may be stuck in the 1980's with our cars, but they were from the last era where those at Ford actually had balls to do something different. They're happy to be complacent right now. Which is why there is not a new Ford in my garage. And this is why they have to change.
The article gets the Seal Of Approval from the Official FTB/CF L*O*S*E*R. :D
it was not that bad. It was pretty informative. I reather liked it as well
Exactly my thoughts!! tell Ford shiznit or get off the pot!! :D
yah, i bought a cobalt over a focus for 2 reasons 1: it was before the everyone gets employee prices and I got a voucher from my best friend that works at GM and 2: it was fresh, had a nice interior and seemed like a much nicer car throughout.
New Ford ist teh sux!
Kinda gave me a warm fuzzy fealing inside....
Couldn't have said it better myself. Ford's cars are just downright boring and some have no style at all. Tis why I ended up buying a Hyundai. It is better looking than the comparable Focus (IMO) and the Focus couldn't beat the standard features, warranty, and price. If they had a more appealing sport compact at a decent price, my business probably would have been with Ford.
How about killing the Focus and bringing back the Maverick?
This being in a two door coupe to compete with the likes of Hyundai, Chevrolet, Toyota, Honda, Mitsubishi etc.
Even though the Mustang is considered in the same class as some of these, I'm sure that a slightly smaller 15-18,000 dollar coupe would not hurt the sales of the Mustang.
I think that would be a hot selling cougar if they got around to producing it. but we all know that they wont make some thing that the people really like and if they do it will be so high priced that nobody will be able to buy them. what do you think about the end of the t-bird?
I have had many argument over the 05 mustang and charger. They try to bring back a retro name and make it modern. They are looking for sales because of the name not quality or looks. To bad the Cougar couldnt come back and kick the shiznit out of those cars in sales. What can I say for newer Fords though, I bought an 03 Escape, the Cougar needs some work. So that was my best option. Buy it used from my dads company for 5000. Not bad. Wrigley gum company does some good deals.
well it wouldn't be bad if they brought back old cars if they made them good.
Very good article. The '05 Mustangs are probably the best-looking new cars I've seen since, well, I don't know when. The '99 to '04 improved a lot over the '94 to '98, but there's no comparing to the '05. The new generation Mustang will be the next new car I buy, which probably won't be for a few more years. I love the look of the '69 front end (like my sadly departed '69 Mach 1), and the roofline of the '67/'68. My only beef is, what happened to the back seat!?!? It looks like it was made for amputees to sit in the back, or kids with very short legs. My '99 still had a decent back seat, and supposedly the '05 added interior room.
As far as name resurrection, I don't mind as long as the new car is worthy of it. The Mustang name can't be considered old, since it has never stopped since '64. Same can be said for Corvette. And GM is the absolute worst about bringing back old names. Nova, Malibu, Impala (which has died and came back at least twice), Skylark, Le Mans, GTO, and I'm sure others. I DON'T see how Mopar can bring back the Charger name and put it on a 4-door sedan! Heck, the '80's Charger came closer (the little FWD Plymouth Turismo version). A new Charger should be competing with a Mustang, which to me is one of the last remaining American muscle cars. I wish them good luck!
Even though the Thunderbird is a nice car, I don't think it was ever a good idea to turn an affordable, classy looking (MN12) high-volume car into a high-dollar novelty 2-seater. The current Cougar, IMHO, is not worthy of the name (sorry). A FWD ricer-looking car should not be called a Cougar. Again, I liked the MN12 Cougars and the Foxes, but not this one. I think the concept Cougar is a litte too far out. I'd just be happy if Ford themselves would build the new Cougar, on a RWD chassis, and put a V8 back in it. But nothing exotic.
Just my $0.02.
Fordman3
Now if the car companys would listen to some one like this guy that would be nice.
http://www.creatingthelie.com/
As much as it confuses and confounds my wife (wow...haven't typed that one in a few years :p) I still am firmly entrenched in the styling of the cars of the late 70's-80's. That doesn't mean I'm keen on the performance/technology, but that I can change :D. I don't need to make an older car "look" new...I want it to run like new. No carbs, bigger better brakes, etc. The drivetrain/suspension techology is what interests me. The current batch of car designers (industry-wide) couldn't design their way out of a paper bag if you ask me.
The new Mustang is marginal to me. The powertrain stuff is cool, but the styling lacks something...seems neutered. I also doubt the Cougar or the Tbird will come back as anything other than some silly niche concept car for 50-somethings that misses the point. The Mercury dealerships wouldn't know what to do with a 350hp Mustang-based 4-place coupe. Now if you took a Mustang and changed the grill and taillights and added more chrome and , then maybe they might have an idea.
To me there is not a new car out there that speaks to me enough to warrant all the new car bullshiznit. Why would I want to pay some bank and insurance company outrageous payments for a car? So I can fit in? Screw that.
I'll be happy with my 80's cars and do my powertrain updates on them and be able to do the work myself and not be held by the short curlies by a bank, insurance company or dealership service department. Actually average age of my cars is going up from 20.4 yrs old to 21.5 yrs old since I'm selling the Ranger and buying an '80 Merc Z-7 :D (It's carbed, but not for long....)
i have a new car, but I also must be able to drive 120 + miles every day, day in and day out. I don't have time to be sitting at home changing a sensor, I can take my new one in, they give me a loaner and I still get to work.
BUT, for any car that I get as a toy, or if i never have to drive far (unless i can miraculously afford a new EVO XIII) I am buying another t-bird to put a new 5.0 in, or hop up the Turbo 4, if a tc of course.
I rather liked the Mercury Messenger, at least from that pic, and their ideas about a new T-bird sound decent. I am and have always been a big fan of 60's and 70's cars, the big old land yachts, and seeing the designs that most of the car companies are spewing out nowadays , a single word comes to mind: bland.
So I hope that somebody will take notice and we'll see more interestingly styled cars coming out of the production lines.
Thanks for all the comments everyone, its nice to see that Ford enthusiasts all believe in the same general concept. Now if only Ford could see that, and maybe realize that boring cars are the domain of Toyota, and they can't touch Toyota's reputation. So make more Mustangs...both literally and figuratively!
And yeah, I actually do not like the styling of the Mustang, but its look is like an infection...and its a very profitable one! Wouldn't kill Ford to make their current FWD cars have this much passion...
As far as more RWD ones, well maybe in the next decade. Aside from the Panther and possibly a Cougar (there's lotsa rumors) that ain't gonna happen.
Thanks again, the more "we" voice our opinions to Ford the more they might actually listen.
:laughing:
:rollin:
Fat chance.
Great article though.
Someone posted a picture of an '05/06 Cougar concept somewhere (too tired to look) but it was basically an '05 Mustang with Cougar trim, much like it was in the late 60's. I would buy that. :headbang:
LOL, be an optomist, would ya? :)
If it wasn't for waves of angry letters from irate Mustang fans in the late 1980s, the Mustang would have been FWD with a turbo 4, and the Probe would never exist! True story.