grbeck Posted November 13, 2013 Share Posted November 13, 2013 (edited) Whew. I'm glad they didn't go with the "Bruce Jenner"!! He didn't turn out too well. Yes, that could have been frightening. He now looks like his older sister. Edited November 13, 2013 by grbeck 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
630land Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 In the dark ages of the early 80's, Car & Driver was constantly saying "As soon as Detroit switches to all FWD..." and going on and on about it. They even thought that K cars having only 4 bangers in 1981 was 'spot on'. But then they didn't give German lux makes grief for building "gas hogs". By the late 80's they finally stopped preaching "FWD for all". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gworl Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 Those really were the dark ages. I remember reading a story as a kid in 1980 or 1981 in the German car magazine "Auto, Motor und Sport" about the future of American cars according to General Motors. GM announced that all cars were going to be FWD and no more V8 engines. I was very disappointed. Those were the days before the world wide web, so informations on American cars were hard to get in Germany. I remember being reliefed when they showed the 1983 Mustang 5.0 GT in another issue of "Auto, Motor und Sport" in January of 1983. In 1982 GM introduced the 3rd generation of the Camaro in Germany and called it Z28 E, the "E" stood for Europe. I was there for the introduction at an Opel dealership in Nuremberg that also sold American GM-cars. A salesman told me that it was delivered to them without an engine, so they installed a 4-cylinder Opel Kadett engine. Bad times, indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
630land Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 The Chevy Beretta was supposed to be the 'all new Camaro' to compete with the 'Probe-stang'. Dodge had the K car based Daytona, so it looked like things were moving to all FWD. However, mainstream Import makes were sticking with some RWD cars, such as the Supra and Z, so that also could have effected desicion to keep RWD Stang and F body. BTW, some said the article was 'old news', and yeah, we know about the 1988 Probe. But new info to me was that Ford was still looking into FWD Mustangs for 1993-94 run, based on the Escort. Then, they swtiched to revamping the Fox chassis into SN95. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3FordFamily Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 Wow I am glad we didnt' go down that road!Many new Fords are too japanese looking for me, but I understand that Ford is in the business of selling cars, not just pleasing me. I do hope they effectively take toyota and honda market share! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grbeck Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 (edited) In the dark ages of the early 80's, Car & Driver was constantly saying "As soon as Detroit switches to all FWD..." and going on and on about it. They even thought that K cars having only 4 bangers in 1981 was 'spot on'. But then they didn't give German lux makes grief for building "gas hogs". By the late 80's they finally stopped preaching "FWD for all". I still remember the Car and Driver cover blurb for the introduction of the Dodge Daytona (the 1984 K-car based Daytona, not the 1969 version based on the Dodge Charger that is worth a small fortune today): "What the Camaro and Firebird could have been." Not quite... Edited November 27, 2013 by grbeck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 I still remember the Car and Driver cover blurb for the introduction of the Dodge Daytona (the 1984 K-car based Daytona, not the 1969 version based on the Dodge Charger that is worth a small fortune today): "What the Camaro and Firebird could have been." Not quite... I got rear-ended in stopped traffic by a Daytona when I was in the old '93 Taurus. The Daytona didn't fare too well -- the whole front clip was gone. The Taurus had a couple scrapes and it set off the fuel inertia switch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StangBang Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 (edited) I'm pretty sure that all of the Probes and (most) MX6es were built by AutoAlliance Int'l at Flat Rock. Ford deserves at least as much credit as Mazda.Mazda owed the plant fully when mine was built. It did not become Auto Alliance until a year later. Also, the manufacturers plate says built by Mazda Motors, not Auto Alliance and not by Ford. Ford only gets credit for design input, but not construction and assembly except for the 3.0 liter U code V6 engine. Edited November 27, 2013 by StangBang Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnostic Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 1st gens had turbo issues with about 100/120K on the engine. 2ed gens were the distributors and plug wires with the V6 (Spark plugs are a PITA to change) The bad thing with them was typical Ford Decontenting in the 90's. The First Year (89, 93) had the most features/options then as the years went by things like the EQ, and glovebox lights got removed. Cougar like all CDW127 were horrid in reliability. (Mondeo, Contour, Mystique, Cougar, X-type) I had an 89 probe GT, I traded it in with 166k miles never had any problems with the engine. I beat on it hard too. The rest of the car started going. Heater fan, windows, headlights all inoperable. Still ran great. I had it in Germany for 2 years and remember driving to Munich with the cruse set at 100mph with the a/c on. The boost would peg on every hill and I would pass everyone. LOL that was fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Posted November 28, 2013 Share Posted November 28, 2013 I had a 91 Probe with a 5 speed. Loved that car but it had plenty of issues. Had the head replaced and the starter within 1 year of owning it. Loved the car otherwise, loved the way it drove and was super comfy. Always got plenty of compliments. I actually bought it after getting rid of one my Mustangs. The ride was amazingly better and was much easier to drive long distances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StangBang Posted December 1, 2013 Share Posted December 1, 2013 (edited) I'm enjoying my Probe with a few inexpensive mods. One of the coolest things is the instrument cluster it shared with the Mazda RX7 that is mounted in a pod that tilts with the steering column. Edited December 1, 2013 by StangBang Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANTAUS Posted December 1, 2013 Author Share Posted December 1, 2013 Sales were pretty good... remember back then Fords common practice was to leave cars to wither on the vine and by 1995 it was already said the car would be killed off. Supposedly Ford wasn't ready to reinvest much on the car because new fed regulations would have required passenger vehicles to come with standard dual airbags, etc. Aerostar and Tbird also killed the same year. Model year 1993 119,754 1994 85,502 1995 59,261 1996 30,079 1997 16,777 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted December 1, 2013 Share Posted December 1, 2013 I got rear-ended in stopped traffic by a Daytona when I was in the old '93 Taurus. HOLY CRAP. I got rear-ended in stopped traffic by a Daytona when I was in an '88 Taurus. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron W. Posted December 1, 2013 Share Posted December 1, 2013 I got rear-ended in stopped traffic by a Daytona when I was in the old '93 Taurus. HOLY CRAP. I got rear-ended in stopped traffic by a Daytona when I was in an '88 Taurus. So what you're saying is don't stop in front of a Daytona while driving a Taurus, got it ...... lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted December 2, 2013 Share Posted December 2, 2013 So what you're saying is don't stop in front of a Daytona while driving a Taurus, got it ...... lol Don't think it'll be much of an issue anymore. I couldn't tell you the last time I actually saw a Daytona on the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted December 2, 2013 Share Posted December 2, 2013 Don't think it'll be much of an issue anymore. I couldn't tell you the last time I actually saw a Daytona on the road. Or an old Taurus for that matter.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted December 2, 2013 Share Posted December 2, 2013 Or an old Taurus for that matter.... I still see them fairly frequently. Most of them are brown with rust from the beltline down though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schpark Posted December 2, 2013 Share Posted December 2, 2013 Or an old Taurus for that matter.... I still drive a 97 Taurus with 195K miles on it. A couple years ago I got rear ended by a Honda Civic. The Civic was totaled and I had a scratched bumper and a bent tailpipe. I drove home. The guy in the Civic was amazed at the damage disparity and asked me what kind of car I was driving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANTAUS Posted December 3, 2013 Author Share Posted December 3, 2013 Something about Civics and Accord-ians I've noticed is that even in the smallest rear end accidents, thry crumple up like an accordian and are easily a total lose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenCaylor Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 Something about Civics and Accord-ians I've noticed is that even in the smallest rear end accidents, thry crumple up like an accordian and are easily a total lose. How true. Back in 1985, I had a 1983 Lynx RS. On the Harbor Freeway in downtown Los Angeles, a Cadillac Cimarron rear-ended a Honda Accord which rear ended me (thank you 5 mph bumpers). No damage at all to my car or the Cimarron. The Accord's rear quarter panels were buckled outwards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StangBang Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 Oh look I found the original programming for my car! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 Weird. Someone also stuck a Ghia badge on the taillight. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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