On the heels of the release of the redundent Flex, I have decided to make a list of vehicles that Ford should have been developing instead. I really don't see the value of a third crossover (Taurus X, Edge, Flex) built on the same chassis. Some of these vehicles could be built on existing chassis, some are current vehicles on steroids and others would have to be built from the ground up. These are in no particular order:

Ford Fusion SVT: This one almost seems too easy. Take the 3.5 265HP V6 engine in the Taurus family, stick it in a Fusion and a 5-speed and voila, SVT Fusion. A 265HP Fusion with AWD and a 5 speed would be a kick to drive. The caveat to this is whether or not the 3.5 V6 would fit in the Fusion.

Ford Lightning: Another easy one. Stick a GT500 engine into a F150, add some visual bits and your done. Supposedly, the reason Ford didn't build another Lightning was because of the wieght of the 04-up trucks. Still though, these things sold like hot cakes and still would today.

Ford Fairlane: Or Falcon, Galaxie, Torino, whatever! The point is, take the popular Mustang chassis and build a 4-door, RWD, V8 powered car to compete with the Charger, 300, and newly released G8. Offer three engines, the yet to be released Eco-Boost in 250hp trim, 4.6 three valve from the Mustang GT, and then drop a supercharger on the 3 valve Mustang engine for a SVT version.

Ford Ranger: This is even more important now then before. With gas prices the way they are, several consumers and business's are going to still have need for trucks, but not for the big gas guzzling F150s. The crazy thing is that this wouldn't be too hard either. Ford has all the engineering done already, all they need to do is figure out what they want it to look like, then stick it on an Explorer frame. You could even use the same engines, people have been begging Ford to put V8s into Rangers for years now. The Ranger would go back to competing with Chevy and Dodge on the small truck market.

I also wouldn't mind seeing a turbocharged Focus and a Mustang package similiar to the Comp Prep package on SVOs. But there would be problems there. The Focus would compete directly with the turbo Mazda 3, and a Comp Prep package would not sell well enough to warrant the extra building costs.
<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

 

Good job! However, the folks at Ford would hate your ideas:
1) They didn't come up with it
2) They (ideas) make sense
3) Management or those with power seem to never do anything that (see 1 and 2 above).

On a similar note, the wife is insisting on a new ride to accomodate the "kids" (3 large dogs). We will only go with a Ford/Lincoln/Merc product so we looked at and drove all of Fords offerings (T-X, Edge, Flex, Escape). Expedition etc is "too big" she says. So the cross-overs: Yes, roomy and most points/trim/etc were good-to-tolerable, but they are basically the same.....and with only a 3.5 engine and front-wheel drive...ugh! No real power either...actually whir and wind going up a hill. And they say "good gas mileage". Ha! When did 16 mph become good? I guess when Exxon/Texaco/etc forced us to believe $4 gallon was good too.

Yep, Ford needs to step-up and produce winner vehicles. I'm kinda tired of 22 versions of the 2008 Mustang and the one-size-fits-all chassis with different body names.

They couldn't sell Ford 500s to save their life...that after dropping the second most popular name (Taurus). So they slap a Taurus emblem on the 500 and it's the best selling sedan. Same with FreeStar/Taurus X, etc.

Maybe I'll build my own......hmmmm

 

I would like to see a new Ford Torino Cobra