01TaurusDuratec

Once again it takes years for Ford to get a car right. The 500 should have had the D35 and the other 2008 improvements when the car first came to market. The 2000 Taurus should have been the '96. The 2005 Focus should have been the 2000. Whenever they do manage to get it right the first time, as with the Escape, they spend the rest of the car's lifespan de-contenting it and letting it rot until it is hopelessly outclassed and then they kill it. I think the '08 500 will appeal to the crowd that likes big smooth cars with lots of chrome. Ford needs to advertise it and the dealers need to get buyers out of the CV/GM and into the 500.

Out of that group I would buy the Avalon. 22/31 mpg, mid-14s in the quarter mile and the cops will never notice. It's a great sleeper.

I don't think they are the answer either. The '97 T-Bird I used to own had 4-wheel discs and its braking was far superior to my rear drum Taurus, despite being about 400lbs heavier. The problem with drum brakes on front-drive cars is they always lock up too early in panic stops and the car fishtails. ABS and brake-force distribution keep the car from swapping ends but I'd still rather have the extra control of rear discs. I've never had a problem with warped rotors on any of my cars but I agree the domestics need to use better quality rotors.

How many shades of beige do we need? Dune Pearl, Light Sage and Creme Brulee (are you kidding me?). Then you've got three shades of black/grey: Black, Alloy and Pewter. Yawn. Next we have love-it-or-hate-it Blazing Copper, which Ford seems to offer only because Nissan has it for the Murano. Next up is Dark Amethyst, aka Purple. Purple looks good on a '70 Dodge Challenger and not much else. That leaves just one good color for the Edge, Redfire. What ever happened to French Blue and Forest Green? Or any blue or green for that matter. And give us some interior colors besides beige, grey and black! Anybody watch the Barrett-Jackson auction? Lots of those cars have red, blue or green interiors and they are beautiful!

Refuse to sell the Fusion to fleet customers.

If Ford is going to have any success with a new T-Bird they have to find a market niche for it. There are dozens of small coupes out there already and the mid-size coupes are dominated by the Japanese and BMW. The large coupe market is there for the taking. The only large coupes available are super-luxury models from M-B and Ferrari and of course these are priced far out of reach of the average buyer. Why are SUVs popular? Because they're big and powerful. The big SUV is becoming less popular not because it is big but because of poor gas mileage. Make a big RWD coupe that four people can sit in with a trunk big enough to carry their luggage. Make it stylish and original inside and out. It doesn't have to be fast, just put a Duratec 3.5 in it with a mild 3V 4.6 optional and a 6-speed (no CVT) and it will perform fine and get better mileage than a truck or van. Make the ride smooth and quiet with good handling. Make traction-loc, ABS and traction control standard so people don't feel scared to drive it in bad weather. Price it in the $35k range, advertise it so people know it exists and it will sell. "Build it and they will come." Make a prototype and test it out on the show car circuit. Incidentally since Ford killed the MN-12 T-Bird & Cougar in 1997, supposedly for lack of sales, poor old cash-strapped GM has continued to sell the tired old Chevy Monte Carlo, a car which the T-Bird easily beat in comparison tests at the time.