Steve Caylor

All four vehicles I've owned since 1965 (3 Fords and a Mercury) have been custom ordered.

The Thunderbirds of that era had options that were not available on the LTD Broughams, such as leather, automatic temperature control, sunroof and ABS. They basically had the same equipment as the MK III. We owned a fully loaded 2-door 429 1969 LTD Brougham.

I noticed you're from SoCal. I also noticed a very recent increase in gas prices at what I call my "reference" station from $2.75 to $2.89 for 87 octane. Right now, here in SoCal, diesel is cheaper than 87 octane.

The trick to driving the 405 is to work in Long Beach and live in Los Angeles (Inglewood to be exact). My 19 mile commute takes me 25 minutes. I have a V6 5-speed manual Mustang. I get on the freeway and set the cruise control to 65.

IIRC, aren't the heads on the Coyote already set up for GDI? That, along with the usual boost in compression ratio would add HP and improve fuel economy.

I remember the old chromium plated railroad ties (aka, bumpers).

I just checked fueleconomy.gov . They listed the SFE 2.0 auto at 28/40, same as the 1.0 ecoboost auto.

I remember back when I was 4 or 5, we had a 1954 Country Sedan station wagon. My mom would actually let us stand up in the front seat next to her. If she had to brake, she would simply put her arm across us. Talk about an accident waiting to happen. Our first car with seat belts (only in the front) was our 65 Mustang. It was such a novelty, that we buckled up every time we got in the car. That has served me well to the present.

Just checked with fueleconomy.gov, 2014 vs the 2015 article. According to the article, the 2015 2.0 is rated at 20/30 vs 2014 21/30. The 3.5 V6 is 18/26 vs 19/27. Only the sport shows a small improvement, 18/26 vs 18/27. The Transit Connect is rated at 22/30.

I ordered an 83 Lynx RS (aka Escort GT), the quickest model with the 88 HP EFI engine, 5-speed manual without power steering but with most of the other luxury options. I remember the mags tested it with a 0-60 time of 11.3 seconds, quick for the time for an economy car. The only warranty problem I had was with one of the ECM components (TFI?). Got rid of the car after four years when it needed new tires (TRX) and the size wasn't available (ordered a new 87 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe). I remember the other engine options being the 1.6L 55 HP diesel, the 1.6L 2V 69 HP, the HO 1.6L 2V 80 HP and the 1.6L EFI 88 HP. There was a turbo 1.6L EFI with 120 HP, but IIRC, the majority of those engines went into the 100 lb heavier EXPs and LN7s. Transmissions were a 3-speed auto and 4 and 5 speed manuals. I remember doing a fuel economy run from Inglewood (near LAX) to Hearst Castle and back on one tank of gas (that was with the optional extended range 13.2 gallon fuel tank). It worked out to 39 MPG.