Hollywood_North GT

And supposedly headed for North America as the next generation Escape.

Zastava_101

God I hope not.

Hollywood_North GT

That's what I keep reading.

If true, it will be awesomeness x100...!

Zastava_101

If its true I'll have to start looking for a new favorite company.
New US "Fords" are anything but Fords. My Fusion just doesn't feel like a Ford probably because it isn't, it's a Mazda which is a big disappointment. Heck, if I wanted a Mazda I would've bought a Mazda, not a Ford.
Out of all cars that I had Fusion is probably my least favorite (and I had some really crappy cars like '91 Taurus and '92 Escort).

Hollywood_North GT

So, essentially what you're saying - both by implication and rather directly - is that you prefer really crappy cars.

2k7gtcs

Hey I had a '92 Escort, 4 door with a wing on it. 88hp 5 speed. What a piece of overheating crap!
I was so mad at Ford for that car that I went out and bought a first generation Chrysler 300m. It was OK, but build quality sucked. Best car I've ever owned is this 2006 F-150. I know its not a car, but it is still the best.

Hollywood_North GT

'06 F-150 is a nice truck. If I needed a full-sized pickup - and I don't - those F-150s would be at the top of my list.

Louie

true, it's part of what they call "Kinetic design"

Evil_Capri

So if a company shares development with a company that it has majority stake in and/or develops cars with jointly with other divisions then that negates it being a "true" product?!

FMC is damned if they do damned if they don't. Develop a product without using the resources available through other divisions and brands they get lambasted. Try to develop a global strategy by leveraging same resources and they get questioned on how "pure" said product is to specific region.

And what is a Ford suppose to "feel" like to you? I love our Fusion 2.3, 5-speed. Pretty nice car, especially for the money. Is it perfect, heck no! But I love to drive it and it feels just fine to me.

And by the way . . . Happy Birthday Zoran!

2k7gtcs

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZORAN!

Zastava_101

Good one.

Zastava_101

Same here.
'92 Escort 1.9L was our first car in the USA. We had it for about a year, it was at mechanic pretty much every weekend.
We were also really mad at Ford for that car that we later bought Dodge Intrepid, which basically is Chrysler 300M. We had until recently when we got Fusion.

My favorite car was our old 1983 Volkswagen Golf that we had in Serbia from 1996 until we moved to the USA in 1999.
We bought it for 500 German marks (~$250) and it was a trouble free car for all those years.

Zastava_101

Fusion just doesn't feel like a typical Ford from the past, it just feels different. I liked 2000-2006 Taurus a lot more than I like my Fusion. Fusion is a great little car, but it just doesn't feel like a Ford, it feels different. Every time I drive it it reminds me of my mom's Camry which I really don't like.

And thank you.

Zastava_101

Thanks.

Vermillion06

I understand what you are saying. I want Fords that are Ford in character. And that does not mean "crappy cars". How many Fords has Hollywood owned? From the way he talks, he sounds like the typical person who has owned Toyotas and Hondas all their lives.

The S197 is a good example of a current Ford that feels like an American Ford. An F150 feels like a Ford. My '98 Mustang felt like a Ford and had characteristics of a Ford. Heck, my first car, a '71 Pinto, felt like a Ford, although it had typical '70s emissions control related drive ability problems (my dad's '73 Corolla had the same drivability problems related to emission controls so it wasn't just a problem of "crappy American cars").

If through all the globalization of Ford products, the new American Ford products start feeling and looking too much like Japanese or German cars, then maybe I'll have to leave Ford for a while, like I did when Mopar when they "merged" with Daimler.

Now that Chrysler is an American car company again, if they could only come up with some smaller RWD vehicles, something like a modern version of the '67-78 A-body Mopars that had good styling , I might have to give them a look again.

Zastava_101

I feel exactly the same way.

I always liked Pontiacs, maybe I should switch for a while. Maybe G8 V6 ...

Moosetang

Happy Birthday, Zoran!

There may be a valid argument that some mass-market Fords are losing their old Ford NA character, unfortunately the market trend of the last 20 years has clearly shown that most people don't give a **** about character.

Don't make me get the holy water.....

Zastava_101

Thanks.

What can I say, I wanna stay loyal to Ford and keep buying Fords, but looks like I'm getting a Mazda or a Volvo in return.

Hollywood_North GT

I've actually owned two Fords now (and a Buick, and several Japanese cars, including Toyota), including one of the "old" original Fords: a '77 LTD (which I affectionately dubbed the Quinn-Martin car - for those who understand what that means). I actually liked the car at the time, and it was in good physical and mechanical condition overall, but I swear it was put together with scotch tape and rubber bands. Fit and finish was abominable, as it was on most American cars from the same period.

Hey, if that's what Zoran wants to return to, then perhaps he should buy one of those original "old" Fords, but I think the rest of the world has moved on...and happily so.

Zastava_101

Wouldn't be possible to keep building traditional Fords that are just ... better?

I seriously don't want a Ford that's actually a Mazda or a Volvo.

If gas prices weren't so high I couldn't care less, I would just keep driving trucks. But I don't think $4.00/gallon and 12 mpg go together.

By the way, I really would like to own a fully restored 1977-1979 Ford LTD II w/ 400 cid V8.