Anthony

I can't say that many of us change them acording to schedule. Lawd knows I have not. I've only been caught once by a clogged fuel filter. Cross country drive in a 93 Continental back in the mid nineties...somewhere in Nevada. No lie, on that same trip the horn started sounding and would not stop for a good half hour. After smashing the steering wheel repeatedly, I never had that issue again. Ahhh.....the old Connie.

Oh boy, you are in deep doo doo then.

I like everything except the headlights that stretch to the A-pillar. The Chevy Spark/Beat whatever the heck it is called has that too. Not a fan of that. Otherwise very nice.

Surprisingly (maybe not) I do love the style of those cars. Always admired them. Not too keen on the dash design, but the exterior is pretty slick.

I'd like to see Cougar, but I think it's mission is a bit questionable with the last few generations that existed. I always enjoyed Escorts and owned a few myself. Fond memories...I personally like the name over the Focus, but they do not neccessarily occupy the same demo.

They do have a point. I posted last year about my experiences in an Esacpe Hybrid taxi in NYC. Room is defintely at a premium. There were neat little gadgets to play with (rear seat GPS and videos) while we were shuttled from Grand Central to CBS headquarters, but it was very cramped due to the mandated dividers. The Escape Taxis are great for a couple going out for a night on the town, but a larger vehicle is needed for multi passenger taxi duties.

...and the dash was just as hard as the front bumper.

The year is 2009. It's been 65 years since Henry Ford closed shop. The Ford name is a thing of the past and remembered fondly with names like Studebaker and Packard. The remainder of car companies that exist in our "real world" are still in business and the economy...well, it is where it is too. You are the owner and Editor-in-Chief of "Boulevard and Raceway" and have final say on your "...of the Year" awards. Its time for your Annual issue awarding what vehicles are standouts amongst the competition. There's a lot of great vehicles out there, so its going to be a tough choice. Can you choose the best of the best if Ford was no more (and yes, that includes Mercury and Lincoln)? Use whatever methodology you deem fit...hell, its your magazine. Note: No arguments about "The Ford XXX is better" because Ford does not exist. No complaints stating that "This car would never exist unless Ford made the XXX". Sorry, in this world it does. No stating "I'd drive a ten year old Panther" because heaven help us, it never existed. The only vehicles eligible are vehicles sold legally in NA. Sorry, no go-karts, Segways or sandrails or anything else not federally mandated. Can you do it? Name the best of the best. Sub compact Car: Compact Car: Compact Multi Activity Vehicle: Compact Premium Sporty Car: Compact Sporty Car: Entry Premium Vehicle: Large Car: Large Multi Activity Vehicle: Large Pickup: Large Premium Car: Large Premium Multi Activity Vehicle: Midsize Car: Midsize Multi Activity Vehicle: Midsize Pickup: Midsize Premium Car: Midsize Premium Multi Activity Vehicle: Van:

Bravo! Everyone here who complains about people saying that domestic cars are crappy are just as guilty when they prejudge the same way with other makes. I love my domestics, but I'm sure not silly enough to count ANY other manufacturer out based on where it is from or what they built a decade ago.

Came THIS close to owning '68 back in the nineties. I backed out and have regretted since.

In related news, I took the father-in-law to look at the new Mazda 6 now that the lease is up on his Honda. Looks like it is a shoe-in, he loves it.

Those are totally new cars on a new platform.

I think that until Ram sales make any headway into F150 sales, Ford doesn't really need to. Not necessarily sitting on their laurels, but personal pickup sales have stagnated to the point where this may not make the difference unless there was a huge surge of Ram sales because of this feature. Don't get me wrong, I think adding the coil springs was a great idea and could have made a big difference sales-wise. If it was done 5-6 years ago during the peak of the personal pickup craze. Even though the coil springs still make for enough towing for virtually anyone buying a half ton pickup....the dumb numbers tend to sell these things.

Yes, they did..............40 years ago. You'd be surprised at how all sorts of tech that was used 40 years ago has improved since. Sorry, but that argument (bringing up GM's attempt at coils half a century ago) is just plain silly.

Well, pretty much any interior from the 80's or 90's is crap compared to the ones out now. To put things in perspective, I had both a 1988 Ford F-150 and also a 1994 F-150 XLT Supercab 5.8. The 94 was such a tremendous upgrade (both interior and exterior-wise) that is was shocking they were both basically the same truck. In terms of the competition, my brother had just got an uplevel 1994 Ram and compared to my same year F-150 XLT, the interiors were pretty even in styling and ergonomics.

GM disbands unit that creates high-performance vehicles AUTOMOTIVE NEWS 5:05 pm U.S. ET | Feb. 18 General Motors, focusing on mainstream products in a battle to survive, has scrapped a unit that produced high-performance vehicles. GM today disbanded High Performance Vehicle Operations, which is based at the company's suburban Detroit technical center, and redeployed its engineers, said spokesman Vince Muniga. "All high-performance projects are on indefinite hold," Muniga said. "The engineers are moving into different areas of the organization, and they will work on Cadillacs, Buicks, Chevrolets and Pontiacs." The unit created low-volume vehicles for GM's divisions designed to appeal to enthusiasts and bolster the company's image. Products included V-series Cadillacs and the Chevrolet Cobalt SS, HHR SS and a V-8 version of the Colorado. Muniga said there are no plans for high-performance versions of upcoming cars. The move is in the spirit of GM's viability plan delivered to the U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday. In the plan, GM said its future-product focus is on fuel- efficient cars and crossovers. It also pledged to increase its current offering of six hybrids to 14 by 2012 and to 26 by 2014. GM also boosted its request for federal aid by as much as $16.6 billion. The High Performance Vehicle Operations unit could be reinstated once GM regains its financial health, GM's Muniga said. "These guys are pretty good at what they do," Muniga said, "They are moving into different areas to work on core products."

I love internet quarterbacks. Wait till you've seen more then two crappy pictures of the thing and you hear pricing.........and see if it will even be released in the US.

That link does not work for me.

The want trucks at Buick dealers.

This is what happens when you link articles over two years old. The Imperial was dropped from the production schedule quite a long time ago. Imperial Production Plans Scrapped (this article is from July of 2007...after the aforementioned articles were published)

GMI is reporting that Saturn is on the chopping block when GM reports to Congress tomorrow. Click

Do you know that website you linked to is not the actual Concept Mach III? Its a faithful recreation by a gumball machine manufacturer. Here's more info, which links to that website as well --> Click

Well considering they cancelled them after they were in production a matter of weeks, that isn't surprising.

I would only buy black interiors. Easiest to keep clean.