tzach

Why did it turn off some buyers?

I have a 20 yo and a 16 yo just starting. In NJ we have to pay for a driving instructor and can not teach ourselves. Well we did teach them but also had to pay. I spoke to my older son about the instructor and was not impressed at all with what was taught. I did the same thing as far as the stick as you did also with my Focus. The biggest problem I see is driving slow in the passing lane Just in the last couple of years it has grown to epic proportions. I flashed one girl repeatedly until she moved over finally and proceeded to give me the finger as I drove by. Most people won't even move and if they do they get right back over even with no other cars in either lane. I really don't get it.

I do agree for the most part. It's just sad that it is such a difficult concept that when your driving you need 100% of your attention focused on what you are doing and what is going on around you. Unfortunately it is human nature to put less effort into something you don't really care about. Just wish there was a way to weed more of these people out so they were not on the road. Hey! a man can dream.

A manual isn't a distraction from from driving it IS driving. Problem is the same with everything, we dumb everything down so everyone can do it. Although I do agree that if you don't remove the other distractions and add in the desire to have pride in your driving having the manual will just add to the problem. The scary part is most of the bad drivers I see are not kids but people who are older. Unfortunately most people put no thought into how their actions effect other people About a third of the people seem oblivious to what is going on on the road and are probably on something either legal or illegal.

Maybe it was a long time ago but kids still were able to do it. If everyone today were more involved in what they were doing when they were driving in stead of being distracted and thinking that driving does not need your full attention it would be better out there. Maybe it is to easy for everyone to get there license as the driving test is a joke.

Either that or on something (legal or illegal). We taught my son on my wife's car with an auto and started him out with my stick car in the empty parking lot of the elementary school. He had it down after two lessons and then hit the road in it. I am a huge believer that everyone should know how to drive a stick but everyone has a different skill set. Yes everyone used to learn on a stick but today not only is there more traffic in most areas but people are more impatient and way less courteous or forgiving to other drivers. Also I think it is easier to teach a new driver than some one who has been driving an auto for years already.

It may not seem it now but before you know it they will start doing more on their own and then be off to college. Then you can have more freedom in your choice of car.

. The end is coming for the manual. So sad. The last manual from Ford will be my last car as both are equally important to me. Luckily I would think if Ford has one manuai car left it will be the mustang.

Since the Continental will be built in Flat Rock along with the Mustang and Fusion what does that say about a U.S. version of the Taurus?

Maybe it was the vehicles built off of the platform that were the problem and not the platform itself so much even with its limitations. Explorer succeeded because it was the right vehicle. The 500 was boring and the freestyle was to Mich a station wagon for some.

I have to agree with this for the most part. Lincoln doesn't have many really worth using anyway. Exceptions would be Zephyr, Mark IX and Sentinal.

We will get this Taurus and I think that our Taurus will look the same as the China version. I do think if it was just being introduced here and there was no China market it might have looked a little different as I think China sales were a big influence on the design as they will probably sell more there then here. I would think if it was styled more for here they would loose more China sales then they will loose U.S. sales with the way it looks now.

So you think we will stay with the current D3 Explorer and Taurus until 2017? With D6 Taurus, Exploerer, and Lincoln sedan coming in 2018?. So I am assuming you see the D6 sedan slotting above Continental? Interesting but why no CD4 Taurus for us with the D6 Ford sedan being say a Galaxie (with a stick of course, LOL one can dream). I also am skeptical about a sedan above Continental unless I got that assumption wrong.

Now that makes a lot of sense. If you are right I could totally see Explorer becoming more off road capable and perhaps even move away from the third row and the Edge EL take that spot in a more "Station Wagon" kind of way.

I see no reason for a seven passenger Edge. It really goes against the more sporty personality of the vehicle and overlaps with Explorer to much. I also have trouble believing Ford is moving Explorer up market as that would be where a Lincoln version would go.

I think the new focus looks more upscale with the new grill. Don't mind the Fiesta either.

I will be interested also to see if some of the details of this car spread to the rest of the line up. . I would love to see the chrome around the bottom of the car used on other cars in is very sharp. . As for the grill, if the repeating star is going to be used it could be used in any shape grill. This would create the family look without restricting designers with a pre-determined shape. I also would like to see the chrome side applique with the model name in it on all Lincolns.

I love the car. I agree with the others that say the weakest thing is the bumb up in the middle of the grill bottom. I did think Kia when I saw it ( or 1/2 Kia anyway). Love the chrome applique with Continental written in it on the side. Absolutely love the chrome on the interior but doubt it will stay for production ( visibility of the buttons). Definitely think this is a platform mate with the CD4 Taurus and therefore fwd/awd not RWD, maybe the next one. Finally I am not buying the whole designers didn't know where to go with this until the name change to Continental. Really, these guys are professional designers working on a clean sheet design for a struggling division. Mark Feilds: "We need to replace the MKS and it need to help move Lincoln forward and increase market share". Designers: "OK Mark here is some more boring designs because we don't know what direction to go to design a Lincoln even though it is our job". Mark: "We decided to change the name and call it a Continental". Only the most famous Lincoln of all time and known for its design, no way a new MKS could look like that. Designers: " Duh! now we know what to do." OK right and if you believe that story I have a bridge to sell you!

It is a big Fusion and I guess that is not so bad but it is a little bland with the bigger proportions on the front. The back is just to generic, I wish they had stuck with a blockier shape taillight like on the current car. It seems like a step backwards visually to me. It will be smaller on the outside, bigger on the inside and be more efficient and modern which is great. It just might look a little boring in comparison to the current car and especially next to the stunning 2017 Continental.

So sad, but so true.

I definitely agree Ford lost its design mojo when they downsized their big cars. Look no further than the '79 Thunderbird to the "80. Then with Aero design they got it back for the most part. With Lincoln they are still working on it to this day. The only really nice design IMHO since the 70's was the Mark VII especially in LSC trim. The bottom line is a lot of those 70's designs were what the people wanted at the time. Then things changed and Ford took forever to, that I do agree with. It sometime makes me very angry that they were so inept and short sighted that they let the market be stole away from them. So I do appreciate Richards passion about the business side of things. That being said the '70's were "AWESOME" so there!

Now you are just being silly, 'With an average of 75,000 units sold in each year available, the Mark V is also the best-selling version of the entire Mark series." As for the Thunderbird "318,000 sold in 1977 and 352,000 in 1978 (the best single sales year in Thunderbird history), followed by 295,000 in 1979. Out of step? Don't forget as the 70's started gas was cheap and people wanted big cars still. They were big and everything was metal, no plastic and weight savings was not a priority. As for the HP. numbers they took a hit when all the smog equipment had to be put on with new regulations but the engines were not designed for it. And with all that the two examples above were achieved at the end of the 70's. And a lot of Americans still to this day have the bigger is better mentality, as soon as gas dips look at the sales of big SUV's. If you took gas prices away as a necessary inclusion in vehicle choice even more big sedans would probably come back. Drive around in my '69 Mercury convertible 19 1/2 feet long, 4359 lb's and 10 M.P.G. and see how many people love big cars.

I agree Lincoln the Mark V is one of the best. I do also love those 87-88 T birds to bad the 89's didn't hold up that we'll although I have to admit I did like them when they came out. Lincoln is finally getting back to some good design with the latest Z and C. I do think they have some work to do though

I was born in '65 so growing up during that time is a big factor in the way we feel about cars of that era.