THe 1989 Taurus was the only car I could do a complete walk around, and hit every safety feature and benefit as I escorted the buyer around the car, and into the driver's seat.
In Iowa, the biggest seeling feature was the pinkish windshield that would melt ice covering the entire window in a matter a minutes. When people told me, "We are also considering the Chevy..." I would say, "That is fine. Before you check it out, I would like to give you a free gift...a windshield scraper."
I cannot tell you how many guys refused to let their wife walk away, because every guy knew that when the windchill is hitting -20, they would be the one out there scraping the window off that Chevy.
Wow, I didn't know about that heat-generating windshield in a vehicle from nearly twenty years ago! That had to be a fantastic selling feature for someone considering a long and brutal Iowa winter...and meanwhile toggling between the Taurus and a GM vehicle.
Heck, it has always amazed me that Ford didn't make ongoing improvements to the well-designed Contour SE to make it a huge hit here. A few simple evolutionary changes and they would have had a basic vehicle nearly as nice as a low-end BMW sedan in their showrooms without even going the SVT route:
Come on, Detroit! We want to purchase your products if you build the correct vehicles!
~ Blue Jays ~