Ford Jellymoulds

Could not of put it better myself Nick, you have hit the nail on the head. Failing governments around the world see the word Global Warming and the word "GREEN", as a great tax CASH revenue raising generator Cash Cow Mountain. In the UK we pay $10 for a gallon of fuel (Taxed $8). If you live in Richmond you are going to be charged $1,000 PA for every car space, so if you can get one car in your garage and have room to park two on your driveway you will be taxed £3,000 PA, and a higher rate for 4x4 owners. http://www.richmond.gov.uk/press_office/pr...ing_charges.htm We have congestion charging once you start to drive on the streets of London, you pay $50 a day to drive on the roads in a 4x4 Land Rover, with $200 fine or car crushed if you don't option, introduced by a loony left winger who does not drive. http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/motoring/moto...dest.-1086.html 4x4 pay $500 road tax per year in the UK. We have got a new $80 a trip Global warming Air Travel tax which will raise $2 billion a year, the government has not put $1 of it back into tacking the problems of Global Warming or melting ice cap's. It's a new great big tax con, and Brits just accept everything. British government have a new road pricing scheme planned for the future that will also collect just a bit under $3 for every mile you drive so for a 100 mile trip you would pay a tax of $260. Once again all this extra revenue will not go into improving roads or public transport or tackling the problems Global Warming, it will mostly end up propping up bankrupt government pensions etc. http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,1997092,00.html The French are pushing hard for 120g per kilometre driven carbon limit on all new vehicles after 2012, as most the cars they build are eco box’s anyway and will all meet the new French imposed mandatory laws, and they don't have any quality brands like Aston Martins, Jaguar's, Land Rovers that will become dinosaurs and extinct, so they are not a bit bothered. So come on Ford/GM "get involved" join the Germans and kick French arses. http://www.motorauthority.com/news/industr...rman-carmakers/ http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction...;guiLanguage=en http://stopurban4x4s.blogspot.com/2006_11_...4s_archive.html Back in the 1970's when folk were worried about heading into a new Ice Age, all the professors with woolly grey in white coat were ranting on about this then. I tend to agree with as the sun will cool down over time, not to mention once you get up in the tropopause temperature remains at a constant -51 above this height. What annoys the hell out of me every time you earthquakes, plates moving flooding, who is first on the Scene with there Membership forms Greenpeace & Friends of the Earth "It's Global Warming". No it's not Global Warming, the Earth has had thousands of floods millions of years before "idiot Government officials" gave planning permission to build on Flood planes like the New Orleans, which have always been below sea level. If there are FOE fans out there please answer me this question in East Anglia in the UK, we had massive parts of this area flooded in years 1236, 1287, 1613, 1762, 1878, 1912, 1938 and 1953, with tragic loss of life. http://www.about-norfolk.com/about/county/...her%201900s.htm These were mostly years before Cars & Aircraft were ever invented, the vast majority used to cycle in 1953 and very few folk owned cars, so if there were no cars or aircraft what caused this flooding Mr FOE Doom and Gloom merchant, maybe the cows farted more in them days might be the answer, sorry if l sound so cynical but governments around Europe are using "Global Warming" as tax raising "Cash Cow" and they are milking us and taxing us to death, and nothing is being put back into tacking "Global Warming" or melting ice caps most of it is going back into propping up bankrupt government pension schemes etc, which is not helping Global Warming. What’s the biggest problem that both FOE & Greenpeace should be addressing? Sorting out the No 1 issue is World Over Population, numbers are getting out of control, a billion extra folk every few years it is going to destroy the planet for sure, We have let in 2 million extra immigrants into the UK our water levels are running on empty most of the year due to the massive demand on a system that just was not mention to cope with such high numbers of people, maybe no one should take a bath that would save 70 gallons a week per person. They will all want homes, cars etc, destroying natural habitats of Animals, plants and wildlife what are FOE doing on the subject NOTHING, l have not seen to many Greenpeace folk in China protesting about coal/nuclear powered stations, a new plant opening up every other week, another spineless do NOTHING.

Great idea for Saab's, l would like to see it at Ford's, at last somebody is talking sense, But all we would need in the UK at the moment, is a Ronald McDonald's type kiddies play pen, as most of the cars look like were designed by somebody aged about three who went a bit overboard on Jellies. Most people have no passion or love of cars anymore in the UK, just a boring dull way of getting you from A to B in a GENERIC computer designed jelly. Most youngster hate cars in the Uk, they never grew up with Classic shaped Anglia's, Capri's, Cortina and Escorts (We have hundreds of owners clubs dotted all round the UK, as these cars were loved to bits), they can't understand how we loved them so much, and you felt you had just bought something special when you walked into a Ford dealers and bought one. Because we have such droll dull boring cars, most youth have turned there backs on cars and don't want to waste money on them, but would rather waste money holidays instead. Most are eco friendly harmless caring balanced kids which is not such a bad thing, but we have rather a very sick minority that are causing trouble though with everything car related, we are getting letter bombs posted to Vehicle Licensing Centres, London car congestion charging centres ($50 a day to drive a 4X4 to cut down on congestion, as you can , 7 letter bombs in the last week, they should be locked up, and the key thrown away. What l would see is some passion put back into car design it sucks, Brits would still by Fords if they designed a car that was shaped like something that dropped out the back of a dog, rather than buy French, German or Jap Crap. But when all cars look the same most folk will go for reliability Toyoyta (Camry), Honda or Nissen will pick up all the sales here, or the lowest common denominator PRICE, the economic French (Setting the 120g pollution limits, as they have no quality car market that will be killed of) eco boxes are Europe’s no1 here. So Ford need to break the mould and start producing special cars again or go under like new Mustang that we don't have. Why is it you Ferrari's, Porches 911 and Aston Martin don’t shape their into the ideal computer generic boring Mondeo, so why does Ford?. Aircraft hangars could be a good idea, have one in every big city in a central location would cut down on costs of having 30 small dealers dotted around a city. We had two Ford dealers close down in our area which l find very sad, you still have to design cars that people want to buy, l can't warm to new UK Ford car's, and l am a Ford man to the core and there is nothing more l would like to do more is go out and buy one, l am not bothered if it hot or not, just a practical classic design will do me just fine, bring back a classic 80's Boxy Hybrid useful Granada Estate with acres of space in the back, not a functionless unpractical Focus which has half the back end slopped away all in the name of Aerodynamics they play no important part until 120 MPH. The average speed in London now is less than when the Horse and Cart used be used as transport so what’s the point? Maybe Ford should make a new Ford Focus shaped I-pods for the cyclists to strap on their arms, as they move at twice the speed of cars through London. What Ford needs to design for Europe is a Practical, "Classic" 100 MPG Super Hybrid Mini maybe made from light composite materials used in the Aircraft Industry, that would take market by storm, in much the same way Classic Motorola V3 killed Nokias sales, and the I-Pod came from nowhere and owns the MP3 player market (Well until the Japs carbnon copy it). You would then would need hangar sized showrooms, best of all it would kill the French car market stone dead, which would be great. No doubt the French would then say that all this Global Warming was a big mistake, and are banning all eco boxs, as they think that the grey wooly heads in white coats were indeed right back in the 70's, there is stong evidence we are heading back to the Ice Age. I would then go out and buy a new Mustang V16 100 valve just to help the planet out a bit.

What Ford need are some decent cars that people want to buy, not flashy showrooms, l have not been into a UK Ford showroom since the late eighties and l am a Ford man to the core, due to dull boring and very BLAND range or cars that we have to suffer with in the UK at the moment, which are so dull it's turning our youngster into eco warriors. Its not a flashy logo signs that attracted me. Ford like McDonalds is becoming fast becoming a new 4 letter swear word with the UK's youth, a big new flash neon logo would probably get a brick thrown at it in the UK by some eco warrior. When l was a youth all l wanted to was get behind the wheel of a CLASSIC Ford, so what's gone wrong with the Fords of today DULL BLAND & BORING.

So If it's not cars that folk watch when they go to Nascar Racing then, why don't they just go and visit there Mum Dad or Nan they are Champions in my eyes (Providing they don't visit them in a JAP CRAP TOYOTA CAMRY), it's a bit funny how Ford plastered Ford Focuses, all over every National paper in the UK when they won the won the World Manufacturers title in Rallying for the first time since 1979 all be it by defaulltwith not one photo of Marcus Gronholm the driver, l think you could be telling a few porkies pies lies. I expect a lot of DUMB folk will buy the Toyota Camry, and watch GM and Ford go the same way as Rover though

Toyota Jap crap will build "Made in the USA cars (How many of it's components come from the US?)" Until they have total market share, they will then pull the plug on "Made in the USA”, it will be then move Mexico, Japan or China or any other low cost base, by that time Ford GM will have gone to the wall, how can Americans be so blind and buy Toyota's. The nightmare will start with the Toyota Camry debut in Nascar on Feb. 18. It's all a bit of history repeating itself, in the UK Ford launched two stunning cars, the Capri & Escort back in the late 60's, both went on to be Motorsport No1's in Europe, it killed Rover's market share stone dead over a number of years. Rover no longer exists, and Ford has not manufactured a car in the UK with the Blue Oval badge slapped grill for number of years now. It's important Ford Motorsport USA should "kick Toyota arses" the on Nascar racetrack, if they do, Ford should put the marketing department in to hyper drive on max overtime to portray Toyota's as a losers car.

When Ford introduced the Capri in 1969 it was the Audi TT of it's day, but with thousands more Motorsports wins under it's belt than an Audi TT could only ever dream of. It was Fords Europe’s most successful car on the racetrack ever, making BMW CSL's and Porsche 911's look second rate on the European Touring Car racing circuits in the early seventies. Capri's were up against Europe’s best handling cars and beat the lot just have a look how at well handled on the racetrack. It's a shame Ford marketing at the time never used it's good record all that much, just stood by and let everybody else slag it off and put it down "Dagenham Dustbin" it was a bit of Merseyside Magic made in Hailwood or German Geniuses quality made in Cologne, what was that all about. The Capri was a love/hated car as it trod on so many toes, other car manufactures hated it because the sale's graphs of their sports cars were hitting the floor for more than a decade with no sales, even Ford stopped selling it in the States as the 500,000 sold there started to eat into the Mustang sales a bit. and it also put a few noses out of joint in the Motor sports world. http://www.fiatouringcars.com/2k4/?callpag...s/track0003.asp Ford gave the Capri two cosmetic make-overs, and with very little investment making it the Cinderella of the Ford range, come 1985 it's Horse and Cart suspension & handling was the only sports car in the market with these shoes, so for the last two years of its life it was made only in Germany, and sold only in the UK. No car would ever survive being sold only in one country. It died in 1987. Ford sold three flops the Probe, Puma and Cougar. British Ford Capri owners that were left with Capri's in 1987 either hung on to the Capri they or deserted Ford sports car brand forever, l personally would never buy the Probe or the Puma as they didn’t appeal to me in any shape or form, l do think Ford will always have a problem selling any sports car in the UK as it will all never match up to the Capri we loved to bits, a Focus shape with a token bonnet bulge and hockey stick pressed into the body panel will just not do. Ford sports cars are something that just won't well in the UK, only a RHD Mustang would break this trend, but it's big engines would be a bit of a no. We nearly pay near on $10 a gallon in the UK , 80% of this is a Fuel Tax for the British Government. May be a smaller hybrid engine would work in the Mustang for European market place, as we are about to get some very tough emissions targets to meet under European Union legislation in the near future, using the Mustang would save on having to design a new Capri. Most Capri owners that have spoken to want the same Capri with new shoes, it's just not going to happen. l would like Ford to prove them wrong by bring out something better, as most think the Mk3 was a much better car than the Mk2. Anyway l have wasted enough time on this website, and there far more important cars & issues want addressing on this website, rarther than than reminiscing over the Capri. I will always keep an eye on the future, and on new Ford cars only, l want to see Ford back up there at number 1 spot in the World where they belong. All the best Rick

Hi Steven, .Old RWD drive Ford's were a easy to look after and DIY is dead simple (No laptops required & $100 sensors dotted all round the car, expensive ECU, Cats fitted etc to replace go wrong), all parts were put in the right place very well designed easy to get at, and anything on them was dead easy to change, fun to drive. I just missed the Ferrari beating123GT40 Era, but followed Motorsport also from the late sixties onwards the Capri was Ford's most successful car ever on the race track, in the European Touring Car Championships, Ford used to enter to only 3 works cars using some F1 drivers, and l think it was 1972 came 1st, 2nd and 3rd in all but one of the 8 races in Europe, Autosport said they were invincible at the time with BMW, Porsche 911, struggling to keep up with the Fords. RWD Escorts totally domineered World rallying for a whole decade until the awesome 4WD Audi Quatro entered in the early 80's, the Escort is the worlds most successful rally car of all time, they were also up against Europe’s best BMW, Ferrari powered Lancia Deltas, Porsche 911s and Saabs so it was no easy ride. Here is a link to a link with a video to the best off road rally car ever made. http://www.rsownersclub.co.uk/car_info/esc1rs16mex.htm One of the reason Capri's and Escorts done so well is what l think you call Drift in States, we call it a little bit sideways on in the UK, the back end slides out, this used to completely block the track off and shut off the door, to cars following behind, and not to forget you could take any thing off fitted to the car within 15 minutes. If you have to change a head gasket on a modern Subaru Impresa it's and Engine out job, it's a dead easy job on an old RWD Escort. All pre 1973 cars in the UK get free road tax, a 4WD costs after that date has to pay $500 a year, so that pays for running costs. FWD cars have nothing going for them at all, my wife has one you are very lucky to get you hand down the side of engine, you have about 1 inch of space to slip your hand in change a cam belt on it, gearbox drain plug is the only plus point over RWD. All the top quality brands are RWD, l find FWD eco boxes are very fatiguing to drive a long distance a you tend to get more feedback though the steering wheel, RWD also seem smoother more relaxing drive. We stayed just off the 192 in Florida two years ago Steven, It l really enjoyed the classic car show in Kissimmee Old Town they put on every Friday night your cars put ours to shame, l have never seen so many old Chevy’s or Corvette Stingrays in one place before it was like car heaven for me. It was the best holiday we ever had apart from the big mouse that scared the wife a bit, don't you have any rat catchers in your theme parks. I do find new Fords so very Boring and Mundane in the UK, the computer has made cars look very stale, there is no passion at all in car design anymore, cars all look the same. and the computer will still keep punching out the same dull Focus shape 100,000 years from now. I attend lots of classic Ford car show in the UK, most owners say the same thing, if only Ford would produce one old retro style Classic Ford again with all the mod cons Air Con, PAS, ABS etc l would buy one, don’t care much which one Anglia, Capri, Cortina, Escort or Granada non seen to bothered but the RWD Escort is the one most loved. Ford has also been the uninterrupted number one best seller since the late 60's till now so that’s why we love RWD Fords, and not to mention they were so successful in Motorsport. Still there is a glimmer of hope the Focus picked up the Manufacturers World Rally Championship last year, first time since 1979 even though it was by default as the World champion Sebaston Loeb in his Citroen missed the last 5 events due a mountain bike injury. So it show's Ford have caught up in the handling department at long last 28 years. I would buy a new RHD Mustang today it's got the same old Cologne V6 2.8 engine which started it's life in a truck, it then the powered the Capri RS to victory in the 70's, Ford put in the late 80s Cortina, Capri 2.8i, Sierra and 2.9 Granadas, but as much as l want one, they don't sell Mustangs in the UK . Ford don't sell a sports car in the UK, the last three were big sales flops Puma, Cougar and Probe. I still would not buy either the Jap Crap Toyota built in the states or the Mexican Fusion

No we won't!! l would never buy a Korean, French, German, Jap Crap car brand, it's got to be a British or American Branded car preferably made in either country. If Hyundai were the only manufacturer left in the world then would catch the bus provided it was not made in Korea. You are dead right saying we will all be screwed, now that all cars look like the same computer generated generic tin Bean Cans on a Wal-Mart shelf in the UK. What tin would you buy? Brits are being taxed to death by a bankrupt government at the moment, we taxed for being taxed for the air we breathe with a $80 Global Warming air travel tax, not one $1 of the 2 Billion dollars raised this year will go back into combating global warming climate change or ice caps melting, they have a road pricing plan which will cost $4 a mile to drive anywhere in the UK, which the hope to introduce within the next five years, which will price all but small cars off the road. So folk will want small French type cheap eco box cars, which will be lowest common denominator priced French, Chinese and Korean made cars. You are dead right what you say, the majority of Folk will switch to these cars, or catch the bus. But l won't be one of them. The British Government has already let our car industry die by doing nothing until it's to late, but the French will slap big tax’s on Chinese and Korean imported cars and price them off French roads, is the US Government going to sit back and do nothing and let Ford and GM die, l hope not.

Oh wait, it's currently cool to bash the american manufacturer's GM/Ford. Nobody on this Forum is Bashing Ford/GM, Dell Hewlett Packard PC's/Apple, there is nothing more them l would like to than see them all as the No1 and 2 best sellers in the world. But l find it very sad that l have been a Ford man to the core since the late 60's, my house is paid for, l have cash to buy a new Ford (Except the Ford GT, Lottery win required which l would buy, but they all sold out years ago, all within days of being launched in the UK), and there is nothing more l would like to do than go out and by a new Ford, as l am getting on a bit old now. But nothing in the UK NEW Ford range of computer generated rubbish appeals to me in any shape or form, so l very much into Classic Fords instead as a way of obstaining, one things for sure l wont be investing my hard earned cash into any new Jap Crap car, a Sony PC or Walkman ever. I just would like to see Ford bash the rest of the motoring world, nothing would please me more. How the bloody hell do you insert your photo into the box on the top left hand corner, computers are new to me. l don’t think l will waste anymore time here, as much as l would like to help put the UK Ford world to right. I wish all the Ford workforce the best of luck in the future, and unite behind Alan Mulally he is a top man, he sorted out Boeing they are back at number one with the triple 7 and Dreamliner bashing Airbus sales which were both Mulallys nurtured from conception so l don't think he will let Ford down. Good luck & God bless Rick

I just hope he didn’t sit in it; the seats are the most uncomfortable seats l have ever sat in any car ever, they are like sitting on an rock. I had lift in one once and could not wait to get out of it. Why is it Ford can’t get some Volvo seat’s from their parts bin, and put them in the Focus they are the most comfortable seat l have ever sat in. I should think even the Ford Pop had more comfortable seats than the uncomfortable Focus. Good to see Alan Mulally getting some, what l hope is some constructive positive feedback from the Cologne Plant. It shows he is not aloof from his workforce, and genuinely wants to get in and sort things out, it must be a hard thing to have to do, when you are at start of the re-structuring process. You get very little thanks for it, but sometimes you have to be a little bit cruel be to be kind, it’s no good trying to prop up a lame duck factory with outdated working practices, plants & machinery. It will drag the whole of the company down with it. I want to see Ford do well, l hope the German workforce back him up with a positive can do attitude, as it’s the only way to survive in today’s cut throat world we live in, get negative and you might as well give up now. Just a few ideas for the future, when you go through the list of options and extras when you buy a new car, you notice the cost of the car starts bumping up, and starts to put you off buying the car altogether, as the cost starts to skyrocket. Why don’t Ford make Mod kit packages, that let you fit extra’s to your car at a latter date, when your loan for the car is out the way. You could take your car into a Ford Dealers, and have Air Conditioning, Power Steering, or even a convertible mod bolted on to existing tooling holes. This would lead more folk buying new Fords, not to mention would make them quite a sort after on the second hand car market, as the second owner could mod it as well. This would make Fords more desirable to buy new, not to mention car buyers would not migrate to a cheaper other brands just because they wanted all the extras. Link all this in with a fresh new car that’s stunning like Apples I-Pod which is easy on the environment with lots of add-ons, and you could have the small car market all sown-up. Youngsters might just start taking an interest in your cars again.

Boeing were getting very much same sort of bad press in the past, when Airbus became the No1 Plane maker in the world. At the time Alan Mulally was trying hard to restructure Boeing, which must have been a very stressful process, they had to change or go under, they did change at Boeing, changing outdated working practices, and updated outdated factories & tooling, and also with a little bit of luck, as Airbus hit problems with A380 wings cracking up on test rig after only 1/3 way into the aircrafts life cycle (BAE want out of Airbus, and it's being hushed up by airbus blaming it on wiring loom problems), and massive problems with the A319, A320 and A321 I/B Rib 5 cracking up, Boeing are back where they belong as the No1 Plane maker. People hate change, sometimes it's for the worse, but if you stand still everyone loses. The Japanese take no prisoners they will kill of Ford if you stand still. Alan Mulally has started the same process rolling at Ford, he won't make many friends to start with, as nobody likes change, but if you don't become more efficient you either die or end up with all production moving to the Lowest Common Denominator which is China, car workers should put pressure on, and force governments to restrict Chinese imports unless they put something back into that country, the French are masters at it, sit back do nothing, and you will end up with nothing, much like, do nothing easy us going Brits. We had a comprehensive survey two years ago in the UK that received the biggest ever number of voters recorded for a poll ever carried out in the UK, it was conducted by a National daily paper, "What Car" magazine and Men & Motors TV Channel. It was a top 100 chart run down British peoples most popular car Ever, 1st - Porsche 911 2nd- Mini (old type) 3rd- 60's "e "type Jaguar 4th - Ford Capri Mk1 5th - Ford Escort Mk1 & 2 RWD 6th - Ford Cortina Why is it Ford seem to think that the Ford Focus, which did not make it into the top 30, or the Ford Mondeo which didn’t make it into the top 50, are cars that we love and want to drive. There is something very sad that l am a Ford man to the core, and want to buy a new Ford but find the whole UK range so very boring, and can not warm to them in any shape or form. I was travelling from Fulham to Wandsworth in London a 5 mile journey that's about 1 1/2 hours due to our road being so clogged up, a horse and cart used to this trip in half the time back in the 1800's, l followed a Ford Focus for a few miles with a Labrador dog hunched up in the back with no space move, l just thought what practical purpose does the rounded off shape of a Ford Focus serve. back in the 80's the dog would have had acres of space in the back of a mk 4 Cortina/Granda estate, you make the Transit boxed shape at the back so why not an estate car, l have read a book on Aerodynamics by AC Kermode he states aerodynamics play no important part until and object reaches speeds of over 120 MPH, so why are we saddled with an unpractical shaped cars like the Focus. Sale folk will tell me it sells ok in the UK, We Brits would buy anything old thing Ford or GM kicked out of there design studio, as we don't like the French, German or Japs. Ford should do a bit of research on the age group of folk buying its cars most private buyers are pensioners that buy Fords, as they remember how good they were in the 60s, 70s, and 80's, there is a very large under current of under 25s that are Anti everything American, anti car, pro-environment/stop global warming, and driving the green agenda in the UK at the moment, so your market share might vanish in the future. You can't go backwards with car design but the list of cars above are cars that Brits have warmed to in the past, which may give you a clue to what cars folk really like in the UK. You cannot just have the most efficient plants with the most motivated workforce if you have not got the right product, much like when VW introduced the jellymolded Mk3 Golf, 120,000 workers got laid off at the stroke of a CAD pen, it was just as well they acquired Skoda at the time as they replaced a lot off the lost Golf sales at the time. Why do we have to let the computer rule car design, it's NOW producing a generic range of cars that all look the same, and won't ever change as the computer will always punch out the same car shape. What Ford need is to start to produce are special cars like the one's mention above, that people can warm to, but modern, they need something the car equivalent of apples I-pod on 4 wheels. At the moment l would rather catch a bus than buy a new UK Ford. Alan Mulally has got an impossible job to do, l would not want it for all the money in the world. 1966 Mustang is the greatest car ever made

Britain's No 1 Brand was the Peugeot 206 we exported 500,000 units per year to the rest of Europe until they announced that they were moving production out of the UK, it then dropped down to 100,000 units as plans to introduce the new 207 model. Brits are the only country in Europe that buy Fords in big numbers they are mainly bought as company cars, the private buyer only buy Fords because we hate the Germans and French so much nothing to do with the pig ugly line-up you are giving away with huge discounts at the moment, Ford are giving them away for next to nothing at the moment, l just hope they sustain big billion pound losses, just so they can buy themselfs sales chart positions within the UK. I think the French and Germam & Japanese don't offer bankrupting give away car offers, as they still want to be around in 5 years time. Your right if you look in Land Rover Dicovery US sales figures which have a link on your left it states they sold 4 in December 2005, and 1 in December 2006, l can see this will be pushing billions in the Ford bank account.

Ford are the new Rover, back in the 1970's British Leyland produced very boring dull weak minded safe cars. I am a Brit and love Ford cars to bits. Ford (Europe) are going down the same road as Rover moment which l find very sad indeed. It was indeed magic cars like the very special mk1 Escorts, Cortinas and Capri's that killed off Rover they were rubbish, and very dull, and gearboxes were a bit of a hit miss affair, Fords gearboxs were very slick, the whole Ford package at the time left you feeling you owned something very special, somebody must have retired at Ford gearbox design team in the 80's, as the gearboxes became very notchey in Fords that l owned at the time. I can see a little bit of Rover history repeating itself with Ford at the moment it's a shame. Every other car on our motorways used be a Ford, but most now are either of German or French origin which l find it very sad. I do hope that Bill Ford and Alan Mulally who worked wonders at Boeing, he turned them around back into the No 1 Planemaker again. Ford must change thier outdated working practices just to survive, if they don't they will go under, nobody will win. Nissen's car plant in UK is the most productive in Europe with all the best practices, l think Alan Mulally is trying very hard do this in the States, it won't make him popular, but sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind, so l hope whats left of the US workforce, get behind him and support him, you also need special cars to sell like Ford have produced in the past, how you do it with a jellymould l don't know. But one things for sure l will never buy any of the dull boring UK range of cars they are producing at the moment, they just don't appeal to me in any shape or form at the moment. Good luck Ford l wish you all the best for the Future.

I am from the dark side of the moon, Somewhere you will never find a Ford Focus thank God, known as the Ford classic car scene, somewhere where a Ford Focus will never make it. Because to be "CLASSIC" is you have to be of a high quality, that's something a plastic Focus never will be, or be welcome there, as it a is is very very very boring CAD designed "DULL" computer designed rubbish. Just press the enter in 4500 years time and the computer will pump out the same "DULL" boring plastic Focus. Working on car design must be most boring dullest job on planet earth. l think l would rather sweep the streets it must be more exciting. Ford design team still show they have skill with the awesome Ford GT, which showed great substance, and beat Ferrari at there own game once more again, every car sold before it rolled of assembly line. Not to foget the awesome Mustang, which l wish Ford would sell a R/H drive version in the UK, l would buy a new one every three years. 1987 was the last time l visited a Ford showroom to buy a new car, something must be very wrong with Fords design team, as l am a Ford man to the core. Jack Dee a British comedian summed up Ford very well at "What Car" awards last week at London's Park Lane. The funnyman joked "Fords" got a table here tonight. Unfortunately it looks like any other table. And the knifes and forks are bit plasticky".

I would rather catch the bus than be given free Ford Focus. Which l would sell on and spend it on a dececent holiday. l find it very offensive it is very bland and very dull. No wonder the name Ford is fast becoming a four letter swear word in Europe when they produce rubbish like this, l find it all very sad indeed.

You are right European Union have always given way in the past, but they now have set themselves emission targets for 2012 which have to met by law, they said there will be no backing down this time round. France, Italy and all the high volume German producers would have little problem meeting this date. It's the high quality low volume manufactuers that will find it hard. Global Warming is very much No1issue in Europe at the moment.

I just hope they can survive, as they will have no car sales figures within Europe after 2012 unless they redesign the current range of vechicles before then.

What provisions have Ford got in place for the Re-Design of Aston Martin - Land Rover - Jaguar cars before 2012. Aston Martin Vanquish engine pumps out 448g Range Rover 4.2 V8 pumps out 374g European Union are setting a 120g carbon dioxide per kilometre driven for 2012. It's reported in the British Press TheTimes, Daily Mail etc that leading quality brands such as Aston Martin, Land Rover, Rolls Royce, Jaguar and Bently would all be forced out of business due to swinging fines, followed by complete bans on selling the cars within Europe. At the moment hybrids and a few very small cars under 1000cc meet the 120g target, Ford Fiesta 1.4 TDI is the only Ford that will meet this target. I think personally Ford would be better off selling them off as soon as possible as a 1000cc petrol Aston Martin or a 1.4 lire powered Land Rover will not work.