packardbob
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Posts posted by packardbob
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We're buying them here. We delayed purchase of LE vehicles last budget year so we would be the first to buy the new Ford around here. The Chief of Police really likes them. Not sure what exactly he will be buying, but he was impressed with the North American Cop Car Shootout last year. As I recall Ford won everything in the tests except for top speed...and that GM still tried to claim victory. Anyway, we know that Ford will sell at least 14 of them.
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I hope Ford gives it to The Henry Ford Museum to put it on display as the last Full Size Ford that has its roots from the original Model A. Body on frame, RWD... I heard there was also some interest from LAPD to buy it and put it on display. I hope that doesn't happen as I would like to see the car in person some day but don't really care to go to California to see it. Either way, I hope it is something special and not end up getting sold as a fleet sale like the last Grand Marquis.
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400 Crown Vics left to build.
Last June I took a tour of St. Thomas Assembly with the guys from CV.net. We knew being that close to closing that getting a tour was going to be difficult, so we really appreciated it. I hope they take a few more pictures of the last Crown Vic and Town Car than they did of the last Grand Marquis.
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If I recall correctly, St. Thomas Assembly ends production this Friday.
I've only put non-premium fuel in my car once, but I got away with it I guess. The only thing I notices was a little worse fuel mileage but no pinging. Perhaps the altitude here helps out with that, our premium is 91, midgrade is 87 and lowest is 85 octane.
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NO, God please no! BMW needs to stick to I6s, that's their modus operandi. Granted, if I bought a BMW it would be a V8, but still, the I6 is an important part of their history. I would hate to see it abandoned.
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Granted, my town only has a fleet of 12 police cars, but the city has said that the new Ford PI will be our next police car. No details on whether or not they will be ecoboost . The chief of police didn't like the charger at all when he test drove it. He said visibility was terrible and there was only room in the back seat for one person after all the aftermarket equipment was installed, his head rubbed the roof after he was in, and that he wanted to get away from rear wheel drive since they don't get around very easily in the snow. The sheriffs deputies also gave the charger the thumbs down but didn't cite any particular reason as to why that was. Playing devils advocate, I commented that the visibility issue was to be taken care of with the next generation of Charger and that the CV seemed cramped in the back seat as well. He just said a decision had already been made. As I previously mentioned, the county sheriff is a huge mopar fan and everything the county sheriff uses is mopar whether it is practical or not. There are a few Chargers and a few Durangos, no Fords in that fleet at all. Honestly, if Ford can show other departments that rwd is inferior to awd, (which it is) then I think Ford has the best car for future law enforcement. It all depends on how well they can do that.
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'm not certain if it will help, but there have been a few times parts stores won't sell me the piece I need, only the entire part and I had some luck at RockAuto. I hope that helps.
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What is the difference in gas mileage between my Marauder and the standard CV, GM, TC? I got 27.7 mpg between here and Grand Island Nebraska on my way to St. Thomas to take a tour of the assembly plant and the worst I've gotten cruising in town is 21. I hear people complain about the fuel economy of the Panther and blame it as the reason the platform will be retired, but I just don't see it with mine. Are the DOHC and SOHC engines that different?
Tonight on Top Gear a 1994 Crown Vic with 422,000 miles on it won the $500 used car challenge. The contest was between it, a Ford Festiva, and I think a 1989 Mercedes E series.
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I see alot of the people around here with Dodges too, but most all of the people/companies that use their trucks for work are still buying Ford. There are a ton of 2011 Powerstrokes around and every body I have talked to loves them. As far as Dodge eating up Fords market share, I think Ford sees it and will come up with a way to deal with it. I'm pretty sure the truck market isn't something that Ford is willing to hand over or let too much market share get away from them. In fact when I see all the stupid Dodge Cummins commercials on TV I think to myself that pissing Ford off is the last thing Dodge should be trying to do. Dodge is pushing the fact that they have the Cummins, but think about it, that's all they have to push. Their trucks are ugly as sin and tend to turn in to rolling piles of garbage if they are worked hard consistently. The Cummins is their only forte.
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Wasn't the 3800 Series II engine class action lawsuit dismissed when GM filed for bankruptcy too? My father was part of the lawsuit as he had head gaskets done once (not covered under lawsuit) and intake manifold done twice (covered under lawsuit). Last we knew the lawsuit was going nowhere because GM was busy filing for bankruptcy and that was the last either of us heard of it. My father has had the car (1996 Bonneville) since 1999 and I will boldly say that the 3800 Series engines are not as good as people made them out to be.
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Who says it needs to be RWD? IIRC, the concept wasn't...
I thought the concept was based loosely off of the Ford Escape platform? I would love to see a new, smaller Bronco. My big one is getting up there in miles and I'm not sure what I will be replacing it with.
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I watched Top Gear US because I own a Bronco and figured id see how it went for the Ford. Again, you could have planned what was going to happen based off the previous shows. The Ford was naturally the first one out whereas the Blazer and the Jeep had no problems. I'm positive the show is in it for GM. It really pisses me off, I love Top Gear UK and had high hopes for the American version, but the bias is just so obvious its pathetic. I guess I should have learned my lesson from the previous shows but I had hoped maybe they would let it go. Anyway I guess I'll stick to Top Gear UK.
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I smelled that rat from the first show when Rutledge, (somebody who is supposed to know something about cars from what I've heard, but not what I've seen) diagnoses the Turbo-Tbird with a stuck thermostat "It's dry as a bone" and then goes to find a pen from the trunk to puncture it (when there's a screwdriver 2 ft. away.) Why not just take it out? And if it really is dry it was just going to meltdown, because there's no coolant to hit the coolant temp sensor to send an overheating reading.
Then he blows up the transmission on the final challenge doing a neutral drop, which everyone knows is the fastest way to launch a car. I see drag racers doing it at the strip all the time.
Just like TG UK, it's an entertainment show, not a car show. The points don't matter.
Next week the challenge is between an older Jeep, an older Blazer and a Bronco, cruising 500 miles through a desert. I'll tune in to see how they screw Ford out of that one.
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Oh god I hope this makes it to the U.S. Since I saw Jeremy Clarkson do the review on the big green Focus RS a few years back I have wanted one so bad. I'll be in the market for another car soon i pray they bring this over.
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It's good Ford is using product placement in these shows. It's good to see Ford getting out there and showing off the product to the people. Honestly I don't see many Ford commercials on TV but GM has ads everywhere. The U.S. Top Gear had a dually pickup challenge and even though the Ford was the only one that towed anything, (a locomotive and a gondola car) they claimed the Chevy was the toughest of the three because it climbed a hill and beet the Ford in a drag race by 4 inches. I'm beginning to think that this show is in it for GM. It seems most of the challenges a GM wins and I know better than to believe that crap. Guess I'll stick with Top Gear UK, it's a better show and they don't play favorites.
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Not sure about that completely. There was a Ford coat of arms with three lions or whatever they are arranged the same way on a badge style placard. It was all blue though except for the lions which were gold. This was for the Fords from Sussex, and Im not sure where the Henry Ford family is from exactly, but it could have been an adaptation of the Sussex Fords coat of arms.
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I saw a pic of this symbol the other day, and have tried researching it and have found nothing. What was it used for and when?
Thanks!
It is the Ford family coat of arms. It was used on Ford cars in the 1950s and 1960s, there were also other variants of it such as the cog and lightning bolt in the middle or a horizontally stretched version with FORD or LTD in the middle written with block lettering. I think the horizontally stretched version evolved into the hood emblem of the 1980s early 90s LTD Crown Vics. The C Series wore the cog and lightning bolt badge and most cars had the version you have pictured.
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My town has decided to start phasing the Interceptor in place of our fleet of CVPIs. Granted it's not a huge fleet, but I'm glad to see Ford is still getting our business. I hope Ford can keep most of the market share they currently have with the CVPI. Our police chief here is a Ford guy so I wasn't too surprised by his decision, I just hope others will make the same call.
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I saw three of these on a trailer heading east on I 80 when I was coming home from St. Thomas, I think I saw them in Chicago. I had to look twice, I really thought they were Econolines the first couple of times I looked. Talk about a ripoff.
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I really liked reading the write up on the Town Car. There seem to be more and more articles about the panthers the closer we get to killing off the last truly American automobile. I just took a tour of STAP last week and the closing of the plant didn't bother me until I saw the people that will be losing their jobs. Our tour guide was one of the gentlemen in the unofficial picture of the last Mercury off the line; fantastic guide and a great tour. Most of the line workers seemed very proud of working for Ford and only a few of the people that talked to us as we toured had negative or sarcastic comments. I know the panthers are old, but I still love them and there is a good following of people that will keep them going well in to the future. They are the pinnacle of a century of body on frame auto construction. They are durable, tough, and ride very nice. Too bad they were left out to die. Thanks again.
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I was thinking much the same thing. When Lincoln gets sorted out and on solid ground that perhaps Ford will make a commitment to their 6/7 trucks. It would be nice to get Ford back in class 8 again too, but I couldn't imagine how much cash that would take. I still see alot of old Louisville Fords around and wish that they wouldn't have gotten out of the class 8 business.
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The Focus came in last? What a crock! I can't believe people are that stupid that they can't figure out Sync or My Ford Touch. I was in my mothers Edge for less than five minutes before I had it figured out enough to do what I wanted it to. Even with how buggy the system supposedly is I thought it worked just fine.
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I'll second the motion that Chevys front suspensions wear out under continuous heavy use, the trucks may be okay for highway pulling, but they won't work day in and day out off road in hilly pasture. Also, the Allison is WAY over rated as a transmission (ever shift one manually? clunk!). And kudos to GM for going to a fully boxed frame, it only made the decision easier for our fleet to pick Ford since it now costs hundreds and in the case of our bucket truck, thousands more to fasten aftermarket equipment to them. Bravo GM. As for their "tests," last I recall, Ford HDs outsell Dodge and Chevy combined with Ford taking around 51% of market share.
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I hope the E Series doesn't get a longer hood. I drive an Econoline regularly, and the short hood makes for excellent visibility which comes in very handy in small alleys or crowded streets when trying to maneuver it in to unload in tight spots. A diesel would be nice though, the 4.4L would be great, but I guess Ford thinks otherwise.
Land Rover Evoque is 2012 Motor Trend SUV of the Year
in Competing Products
Posted
Top Gear UK came to the US to drive and review this and it was pretty entertaining. I remember him saying that the Evoque was based on the same platform as the Ford Mondeo and the 2.0 I4 was a version if not the same engine as the Ecoboost in the Explorer. Why does the Explorer get such poor remarks when the Evoque, a much similar vehicle, win Truck of the Year.