Mega gas guzzling dittos! Ford "427" concept

Car Design News ^ | christopher Sawyer

[austinite]

Ford 427 Concept Car.

Make a nice Police cruiser.....

[Vaduz]

It looks like a shoe box with wheels

[austinite]

I have always liked this Ford:

[lentulusgracchus]

Give me a '57 Sunliner (or was it a Skyliner?) with a top that folds into the trunk, a continental kit, Turnpike Cruiser skirts, baby moon hubcaps, white tuck & roll upholstery, glasspack mufflers on the 312 Y-block V8, paint the whole thing bright red, and I'm ready to rock & roll.

There was a Sunliner, but the Skyliner is the hardtop convertible. I think they were all two-tone. Typical color combos that year were red and black, peaches and cream, "old gold" (yellow ochre) and off-white, dark or light blue or kelly-green and white, red and white, pale green and white, coral, turquoise, or black and white, and I seem to recall having seen Fairlanes that were brown and white. (The white being all that off-white "colonial white" they were using that year.)

My dad bought our expanding family a 9-passenger Country Sedan at the very end of the '57 model year. It was "old gold" and white and had a 312 Interceptor (4-barrel Carter carb). I learned to drive in it -- it was a rocket. Developed 265 bhp, all at the higher end of the power band than was common later. The car was a compromise: we kids got the seating, Mom got the color she wanted and a three-speed Turbo-Hydramatic transmission, and Dad got that high-compression V-8. It was so stout when new that, during the test drive, he punched it, the tranny immediately downshifted to first, and the car snapped his head back so hard he was afraid there was something wrong with the transmission until the salesman showed him there wasn't.

But we had to leave a manual-transmission peaches-and-cream '57 'Bird sitting on the showroom floor in all its consoled and portholed glory, and I never quite forgave my dad for that. Even if he couldn't see it, I knew we could all get in there in a pinch, and didn't need the extra seating all that much.

[Dust in the Wind]

"Bring back the 351 Cleveland!"

Yeah, a half inch wrench and a screwdriver and five minutes or so to tweek with would turn one from a 20+ mpg cruiser to a wheel lifting horse!

[lentulusgracchus]

Nice one -- a '66, got to be a Galaxie or Galaxie 500 XL at that trim level -- 4-door hardtop, those were less common. Can't read the engine-displacement badge. Should be a 352 or 390.

Those were the years, '65-'72, when Ford was emphasizing interior quiet. Lots and lots of soundproofing under the hood, on the firewall, everywhere. They were advertised as having lower interior ambient noise than a Rolls-Royce.

[IronJack]

I gotta go with fugly.

[MJM59]

Ah yes.... back to the days when cars could be distinguished from one another.

[The Other Harry]

I am extremely impressed with the styling (or retro-styling) of the '04-1/2 ('05) Mustang...

I'm with you on this. That new Mustang is an exceptional design.

[Free the USA]

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/bump-list

[EagleMamaMT]

My gosh! I thought I was the only one who remembered that song! It received quite a bit of air play in Northeastern Oklahoma Tulsa when I was a teenager. I've got to admit that every time I hear somebody spouting off about not drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico or ANWR, I always sing a few lines of it to myself. I guess you have to be a Texan or an Okie to appreciate the song, don't you?

Incidentally, this is my first post here. I've been lurking here for a while and I like what I see!

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

Welcome
I am also semi-newbe.

[wjcsux]

The three best years for cars had to be 57, 62 and 67. With the exception of AMC, I can't think of any ugly cars that were built in those years. In 57, there was the Chrysler 300C, the 62 Vette can't be beat, the 67 GTO is the best!

[EagleMamaMT]

Thank you!

[RJL]

I am extremely impressed with the styling (or retro-styling) of the '04-1/2 ('05) Mustang...

Nice!

If Ford puts this Mustang out in 2005 at a reachable price, I believe it will be a huge seller.

[billbears]

It doesn't matter what's under the hood, by the time it's on the street, it looks like all the other crap coming out of Motown.

Acckk!!! Blasphemer!!! LOL

Hatteras, it's all about what's under the hood. This '04 1/2 Mustang, while I will be picking one up, has a serious problem. A 281 with a supercharger. Why not drop a 351 in there and get the same amount of horsepower? The 351 is more expensive to Ford, yes, but will last longer and can be a more sturdy engine. The first, and only, time that the stock supercharger goes out on this Mustang, it will cost the consumer I'm guessing an extra 2-3 grand to get it fixed

[IowaHawk]

Holy sweet Jeebus on a pogo stick, that is one full crapslab of uhhh-gly. It reminds me of the horrific, brutalist "Hemi" concept that Chrysler squeezed out a few years ago.

The people who designed this thing obviously have no understanding of 'muscle car.'

[goldstategop]

If they can get it in the $15,000-20,000 range, then Ford has a hot-fire winner on its hands.

[FNG]

They have already released that supercharged 281 on the '03 Cobra. It puts out about 425 hp (the 390 is underrated). Ford claims it to be the most powerful production mustang. People who build these motors for racing get up to 1000 hp on that 4.6l modular cross bolted (like the hemi) block. My '03 Cobra would sure spank any of those late '60s- early 70' musclecars that I have owned.

[Hatteras]

C'mon, you know they design these new motors to start crapping out on you after 4 or 5 years.

lol, Actually, my point was the disappointment in styling. I thought they were starting to come around then they go and parade out this giant toaster?