packardbob

Good, I'm glad it's over. The government just pi$$sed away 3 Billion dollars it doesn't have and it sounds like most of it went to Japan.

An 83 Oldsmobile Delta 88 with a 350 Diesel. What a turd. Also had a Turbo 200r4 transmission but never had a problem with it, I have one in my Buick (olds rocket 350) too, never have had a problem with it either. The diesel was a DX block with a whopping 105 HP in a car weighing over two tons, not a winning combination. It did get 34 mpgs though.

If you can, I recommend Woodhouse Ford in Blair NE. They sold trucks to people in all 50 states the last few years and are very reasonably priced. We usually save around 6k by going through Woodhouse as opposed to local dealerships.

I couldn't sit through an entire video, what waste. I thought the only things on the vehicle allowed to be taken off were the radiator, battery and tires. As for being successful, only in Washington DC is it considered a success when you blow all of your money 13 times faster than planned. In the meantime, the price of scrap metal is going to plummet, you now have to compete with the government for decent used car, and new car sales are going to take a dive when the govt runs out of money for this awful joke.

What a waste.

Oh what a shame, it was a nice color, too. I wish I could get behind the drivers seat in one of these, I think that's all it would take to get me to buy one. On another note, does anybody ever read the comments below the article and pics? I've noticed that it's pretty much a waste of time as most of the people are, whats the word? Oh yeah, STUPID! A little relevancy people, is that too much to ask for? I think not.

This is pretty much the opposite of what I was told. I've asked cops in two different towns which was their favorite for patrols. One of the towns is where I'm from and the other is where I went to college. The town that I'm from currently only uses CVs, but they have tried Chargers and weren't impressed with the reliability, where I went to school, they had mostly all Impalas, but will buy a couple CVs for "heavy duty" use. Every time it comes up that although they all have their ups and downs, the CV was the over all favorite. The comments on the Impala was that, although they are easy on gasoline, they are not really comfortable for long patrols and there isn't enough room in the front for all of their crap. The Chargers were docked for horrid mileage and basically no reliability and nobody wanted to buy them after they were pulled from service, but they were the fastest hands down. The CV wasn't great on fuel either, but they were roomy and they had them sold before they were taken out of service, either for city municipal use (most of the time), or taxi.

Driving in Denver didn't used to be that bad did it? Between the Californians and the Texans moving here and bringing their shitty driving habits with them I just want to stay home. I drive an SUV around Denver for this very reason, I feel safer. As for going around crossarms or racing a train, most people forget about the engineer and conductor on the train. Many of them that do hit vehicles cannot ever get back in the cab of a locomotive and have to go through some sort of couseling just to go back to work on a limited basis. The people in the car were victims of their own stupidity whereas the trainmen did not ask to kill somebody stupid enough to try and beat the train. I'm not trying to be a jerk, I'm just offering a more personal perspective.

I finally saw a Camaro in person the other day and it really looked like an obese kid with a unibrow. I was not impressed to say the very least. Put that with the fact the cars seem to be a big pile of crap and it's a solid loser. Oh well, I'll have fun making fun of it and the goof that bought it.

How I miss the C Series, killed off well before I thought it should have been. Very well built trucks, very distinctive and recognizable, I miss them so. Anyway, no word on the new bucket yet, I guess it's being fitted with a 4x4 system. Ol Reliable was used last week and today, as one of the Internationals was towed away for repairs (wouldn't start). I'm trying to get the details on the retired F-700 digger derrick as it's going up for sale soon and I'm hoping to buy it. I don't know what for, but I figure I could lift things and dig really big holes with it. I was told it had a 391 in it which, as I hear, was a very good engine. The cab is full of mouse crap but I'll just hose it down with Lysol. I took a trip this past weekend and noticed alot of Ford 650s and 750s down in Colorado, which was kind of nice to see. I saw one with a huge camper behind it and of course I was jealous. I also noticed some of them on display at a Ford dealership next to I-25, I had never seen HDTs on display at a dealership before, I figured they were all made to order. I think it would benefit Ford a great deal to get serious about the medium duty truck market, and that includes the Cargo. Ford dumped the C Series for the Cargo, the least they could do for killing a legend is to make its replacement a success.

I was thinking about Fords medium duty trucks today as I strolled throught the warehouse. The only Fords left are two 198Xs (I honestly don't know). One is an F-700 bucket truck that has been replaced with two Internationals, but has lovingly been refered to as "ol' reliable" (the Internationals are big POS, so she gets to stick around as a backup). The other is an F-800 Digger Derrick refered to as "trusty rusty." Its replacement is also an International. The oldest truck around is a 1972 Ford F-700 (I think) Digger Derrick that was grounded because the truck failed its dielectric test, but by God it still runs damn good. It's sad to see a company switch to a different brand other than Ford when I know they used to be loyal to only Ford. The trash trucks were L-9000s, meter readers got Rangers, Dept. heads got F-150s... We are expecting a new bucket truck soon and I hope they took my advice and bought an F-750, but I have a horrible feeling it's another International. I know, pretty much the same trucks, but I want one with a purdy blue oval on the front. When I suggested they buy a Ford, they told me Ford no longer makes anything past the F-550 (we do have an F-550 bucket truck, but the bucket part is a POS), I corrected them and strongly urged them to look in to a Ford. It dawned on me that it is going to be hard for Ford to sell a truck that people don't know even exists. They were loyal Ford people, they just thought Ford quit building the trucks they needed. Ford needs to do some serious advertising. It wouldn't take much for a recognizable name like Ford to get back in the market if they would just get serious about it. I am hoping that Ford is just dragging the 650 and 750 along until they have the time and money to spend on them, but in actuality, I think their time is limited.

Ugly does not even begin to describe this pile of crap. That car is hideous, very cartoonish and absolutely disgusting. I thought the typical Chevy nose was kind of boring, this design took the boring and beat it with an ugly stick. What is sad is that people in the comments are actually defending the "stylish" new look.

I think one of the funniest things that has ever happened to me was at a Honda dealership. The paint on my friends' Ridgeline started to peel and he took it to the Honda dealership while he was looking to replace his POS Jetta Diesel. Anyway he looked at a car, drove it and asked them about the paint on his ridgeline. The service dept manager came out and looked at it, determined it was out of warranty but said that Honda would help pay for it because Honda is "like the coolest company in the world, they take care of their customers..." Anyway the next time we visited the dealership he was told that Honda wouldn't cover any of it, and when he wanted to test drive the car again before he bought it, they asked him if he was serious or just screwing around. So that same day we drove six hours to Denver and he bought a new Honda there and decided he would just have to pay for the paint by himself. While waiting for him to fill out his paperwork, I listened to the salespeople in the showroom selling their Hondas and I must say they do enjoy making their products look better by pulling cheap shots at other manufacturers. All but one, the salesman that sold the Accord to my friend was just hired away from a Ford dealer that closed up, he drove a Ford Mustang and said he would always drive a Ford. He said Honda builds a good car, but they drive a very boring car.

You mean U.S. taxpayer to support Delphi with $250m in funding.

Ford Focus got it's butt handed to it though, ouch.

I dont think Iacocca should be in the car business anymore. I think the US car manufacturers are finally starting to shake off some of the awful images that he had a large part in creating. Mostly with subpar quality (pretty much everything Chrysler and Ford made under his control) and god awful safety with vehicles such as Fords own ball of flames, the Pinto and LTDs that like to shift in to reverse on their own, or perhaps Chryslers minivans that have this neat trick that when hit from the rear the rear hatch flies open and the occupants are flung out the rear. Please don't get me wrong, he was one hell of a salesman, but from what books I've read mostly about FoMoCo, he was kind of a jerk when it came to safety, he just cared about the sheetmetal of the car and once a design was settled on it was uselss to argue to move space from one part of the car to another for say, a gastank that would be positioned so it wouldn't blow up on impact. Honestly would Ford have been better off keeping Iacocca in the late 1970s. I don't think so, and all he did for Chysler was prolong its death. Just look at what happened to Ford in the early 1980s and how quickly they got their s**t together after he left. He wasn't the whole problem, but he was part of the problem for sure, so if Chrysler wants his help, they should really take a look at his record when it comes to things important today as opposed to 30-40 years ago, things like safety and quality.

Donald Duck would have stopped it, he would have kicked some serious a** as president. But please don't drag Donald Duck in to politics, he is so much better than that. As for Ford and the government and the governments (our) money, I do believe Ford should stay as far away from it as they can. If the government ever needs anything from Ford or wants Ford to do something they don't want to do, I believe money lent could be used as leverage against Ford to get them to do what the government wants them to. Just a thought.

They neglect to tell the reader that most of the money they spend on the car goes back to Japan. I read it was around 80-93% of the money goes back to the country of ownership, although that was a few years ago so I'm sure it has changed by now. Regardless, the Japanese aren't building factories in the US to be nice to Americans, they're doing it so they can keep more cash in their pockets.

I remember Jeremy Clarkson saying the same thing about the boot of the new Fiesta. Mainly that the rear seats don't fold flat but the over all space is still pretty decent, or as he put it, big enough for a Zebras head for those mafia game ranger types. Anyway, I think the Fiesta will be successful here in the US. What the car lacks inside it makes up for it on the outside with its styling. Personally though, I hate small cars, always have, I like ginormous land yachts, but the Fiesta is something I might just look in to buying when the time is right, they're pretty and get good mileage.

This is exactly what has happened here, GM used to sell Chevy, BOP and Caddy, they moved out in the early 1990's, and Chrysler last pulled out in 2005. The only dealer in this town of about 9000 is Ford Lincoln Mercury, most people here now buy Ford. Even the Ford dealership that had all their new cars stolen and sent to Utah a few months ago was saved and it's only an hour away in a town not much bigger than this one. They just lost their Chrysler dealership so I think Ford has the potential to pick up some sales.

I wonder how they are going to take it when Ford releases new engines in the F-150? They were already beaten with the 5.4, I think a 5.0 or God willing a 6.2 will just piss these Tundra fans off even more (hehe I hope that's what happens anyway). I noticed on some of the comments a few were saying how they pick the truck with the better engine and transmission, obviously he doesnt drive too much above 3000 RPMs (crack), or has seen too many pics of wrecks with the bent seats and steering columns that ended up in the driver crotch (ouch).

Ford wins no doubt about it, the GM dealership closed up its doors about 18 years ago when GM pissed the owner off by requiring he invest in a computer system for his dealership. Chrysler Dodge and AMC have had a few tries but everytime they try, they crap out after about 2 years from God awful service and poor management. Never had any other dealerships in town since Stickney Studebaker and Dafney Packard folded up in the late fifties.

Fords design was a nine bar grille, but the familiar slice of bread looking shape was designed by Ford and ripped off by Willys but as a seven bar design. The original Willys front grills pretty much looked like a wrought iron fence welded to the bumper with a couple lights on the sides, pretty ugly. Anyway, Ford would do best to keep away from GM, and Chrysler. It would be similar to buying the Titanic for $1 shortly after it struck the iceberg, sure you would own the Titanic, but it is still sinking and there isn't much you can do about it.

I remember reading a shootout of the 3/4 ton gasser trucks in some outdoor magazine, something like Boat Pulling mag, I dont remember for sure, and the V-10 ate the other two up. They even made sure to include how much the trucks they used weighed. The Ford weighed almost 1100 lbs more than either the Dodge or the Chevy, they had to weigh it twice to make sure. I guess it depends on how the test is done or perhaps who does it (or who has the biggest advertising budget) Anyway thats besides the point. In 1990 shortly after Chevy redesigned their trucks to look a bit more modern, within a few months of each other my uncle bought a brand new 1/2 ton with a 350 and our neighbor bought a used Dodge with a 360. My dad bought a used, 89 I think, Ford with a 300. The 300 slowed down a bit going up steep long hills and sometimes couldnt pull as quick as the other two nor did it sound as cool as the other two did through straight pipes. My dad caught crap about this everytime he hooked a trailer up to that truck. Anyway the 350 crapped out at 97,000, was rebuilt and went sour again after about 80,000 more miles. The Dodge had new transmissions at around 80,000 and again at 140,000, along with having the front and rear axles rebuilt at roughly 100,000 miles (went in for the front and was told the rear was grinding itself to bits) and the 360 went bad right after having the transmission fixed the second time. Needless to say they only had their pickups for about 8 years. My dad still has his Ford and still pulls with the original engine and transmission. That pickup is pushing up towards 300,000 miles now and still runs pretty damn good. Who got the better deal? It depends doesnt it. If you want a work truck, get a Ford. By the way, has anybody ever towed with a 5.3GM or a 5.7 HEMI? I've towed with both for work, so it's on a somewhat limited basis. The 5.3 is a turd plain and simple and the brakes were really mushy. The Dodge was better but it seemed to me you have to rev the crap out of it to get any power out of it, not very characteristic of a good truck engine. Im probably just being biased aren't I? Oh well.

Nice Car. Whats it have in it? 351W, 400, 351M? I learned how to drive in a 71 Cougar that seems to look an awful lot like your Montego. It won the demolition derby two years after we sold it, what a waste. Anyway, congrats on the new car, enjoy it.