jonas1022

The rearend gearing can be changed out and optimize the mpg fairly easy. It's what used to be done in days past, say the 80's. Ford always stayed on top of the mpg race. They also had some of the most doggie accelerations times of any pickup! If consumers really start to clamor for mpgs, Ford can do some relivant changes and stay on top of the mpg ratings. Dodge is by no means a miracle worker, but the Ram does have smaller frontal area which may help. Or not.

The V-6 had about a 5000# rated class III package from the factory. What the differences are, to make it a Class III over a Class II, I do not know. IMO, the transmission is the weak link in the drivetrain. Engines seem to be bulletproof, V-6 or V-8.

That sounds mighty brave, but the fact is Jeep has yet to produce an inexpensive anything worth having. Patriot? Compass? Merely relabled Dodge/Plymouth platforms. Plymouth is dead, Dodge isn't far behind. Jeeps are traditionally expensive to buy, and maintain. I doubt that they will have an inexpensive "small" pickup without a less expensive version over at the (Dodge) Ram store. And refresh my memory. Just where is that small Dodge pickup that they used to produce and sell? Out of production, that's where.

On some other forums that I frequent, the Brits on the sites are not so kind to the C-Max. They actually prefer the Made in America Escape! That vehicle hasn't been marketed there in four or five years, IIRC. They also seem to think we are cheated with the gasoline engines, as the C-Max and GC-Max have wonderful diesel engines available.

Interesting thought. Using Asian built SUVs for an American branded car. J/K! My wife has an 08 Tribute. She/we love that thing. I bought her a Tribbie because the local Ford house tried to rob me when looking at buying a new Escape...after buying 27 cars/trucks in the past 20 years! So, I headed down the road to the Mazda house and bought the cousin of the Escape instead. I don't really have that option any longer as Mazda no longer has the Tribute model. To add insult to the injury, right next to the Mazda store is the L-M dealer. I hear that Lincoln will have a version of the new Escape however, but doubt that it will be marketed to the same price point as the Escape.

More modern take on the Astro-Ventilation system of the early 70's...it didn't look good then either.

Some car models in the Ford line up back in the 50s were all on one car! Witness the Galaxie 500 on the Fairlane 500. Later Falcon Futura, which lead to the Fairmont Futura. F series trucks: Explorer was a tape and paint package for the spring in 70, 71, and 72. The Ranger was a mid level trim package that superceded the Custom Cab (Custom was also used from 54 on trucks, then cars as in Custom, Custom 300, Custom 500), and was extended upwards to the Ranger XLT, then the Ranger XLT Lariat, finally dropping the Ranger and just calling it base, custom, XL, XLT, Eddie Baur (for a couple years in the 90's) and back to the Lariat on pickups. Edge, already mentioned. Torino on the Fairlane, then became it's own model line. Courier was a two door wagon in the 50's, and then in 72 was used on the Mazda supplied pickup. Good thread already, real head scratcher!

Maybe it's the IZUZU two seater that used to be marketed here that I am thinking about. The front end clip is almost identical, as are the wheel flares. Grill is Ford bars for sure. Not the ovoid hole Izuzu had.

Check out the thread above: http://www.blueovalforums.com/forums/index...showtopic=28363

It's not a foriegn brand, so I wouldn't expect to see too many celebrities climb into a Ford, Mercury or Lincoln product. Hybrid or not. They could get the Mazda Hybrid however, same thing with the cache of the foriegn monicker...D'oh!

I'm not quite sure why, but as I look at this truck I'm thinking of the Chevy SSR...Maybe just the bed cover, or the domed hood, or the out of usual proportions of one body panel to another. OSHA friendly? WTH is that? Just orange metallic paint...

So do we Nuc'k the press as well?

'91 Town Car had the first 4.6L.

'95 GT for the Mustang.

I thought that was already considered a part of the product mix for 2010 and later.

If they go bankrupt, that does not mean that they will stop producing cars and trucks. Just that they will not have to pay their creditors off! Sort of like United, and a whole lot of airlines. Except American Airlines. They never declared bankruptcy. They all declared bankruptcy and kept on flying. Look at International Harvester, they went bankrupt. Didn't stop em for a day, they kept on working.

No telling what is the ultimate best choice in the current climate. Personally, I think they should sit pat with what they have. Mazda and Volvo are far from bad, maybe not the best money earners at the moment. Should things improve, it will be a good thing to have at least one premium brand in the stable. Like mentioned above, they won't get what they paid for Volvo in 99.

There are several other pics posted on this site of four door south american Rangers. I am really saying that they wouldn't maybe pass some of our impact standards as a result of the stretch. I am also being sarcastic towards Ford for not trying to sell the thing here. We get the Sport Trac with the big price tag and the little bed. South and Central Americans get the Ranger, with a much smaller price tag. Or at least that is what I have been lead to believe. Then again the four door S-10 Chevy sold here, and sold very poorly. Go figure. Maybe it wouldn't be up scale enough for our market, and they would have to put big rebates on them to move product. Oh! excuse me. They do that with the ST!

Say what you want. Read my quote. "As reported on the evening news." Don't take things out of context please. I could have quoted the EPA, but I didn't. It wasn't a lie. I choose not to do any of that.

I don't know that charging what the market will pay for something is being crooked. More like finding the true market value of the product. A luxury product in this case. And as the demand drops, so does the price. Especially on a luxury item like the KR. None of them are essential to the health and welfare of people. Not a big demand for one when your IRA is tanking and you don't know if there is going to be a retirement check next month because you bet on Lehman Bros., or some other crap shoot.

IMO, the Ranger frame probably isn't up to the true four door cab configuration. Nissan reportedly made the Frontier crewcab pretty ridged. Also, the Ranger engineering is old and the whole thing needs updating. The Nissan is updated. And it isn't a bad package, just an Asian nameplate. For that last reason alone I will NOT buy it.

A sailer, and a minivan....Hmmm. IDK. Does it float? ;-)

I would probably agree with you, except that the market is one of supply and demand right? Too much supply for the demand? The price drops. The production of gasoline and the oil it's made from is pretty high, they have us at like 110% supply for the demand. So the price is going to drop like a rock. Who isn't buying? China, at least in my opinion. The Olympics are over, they need to use down some of that reserve that they stock piled to make sure there was no interuption during the games and they would loose face. Nevermind the Joe Six Pack consumer. Everyone is holding their breath and not buying, as they are all scared. What major purchases have you made this year? Anything? If the evening news reports are to be believed. Most (over 20%) of American families have put off major purchases. Credit has been restricted, home mortgages are turned down if there isn't 20% downpayment to go with the purchase agreement... I'm sure you have all heard the litany. Bottom line is that prices are high for everything, and the consumer isn't buying. The retailers have to move product. The result is lower prices, for everything except electric energy and even that will come down. Even groceries, eventually.

Problem with the Marlin name is that is a fish and Mercury is a Greek Messenger of the Gods... Hence, Mercury Messenger makes sense, sort of. Capri, was more than a little Mazda powered sport convertible from down under. It actually refers to a European vacation sand box, and is quite romantic to most women. In that sense the Capri makes lots of advertising sense. I doubt that many people remember the four seater from Germany in the late 70's or the Mustang derived coupe (I owned one from 84 to 90, an RS V-8 ). Meteor was a Fairlane alternative for a couple of years, and then it was taken over by the Comet that grew from Falcon size to Fairlane size, but that was from early in the 60s'. It doesn't really make any sense to use Meteor or Comet as they are not romantic, or sexy things except to maybe a few astronomers... I say Messenger for common connectivity of naming. And Capri for being sexy and fun!

Next thing, they'll announce that Nissan's big truck is to be provided by Dodge... :lol: