Posted on 02/06/2007 7:34:06 AM PST by Spktyr
The GTO failed not because it was a poor car but because GM didn't know how to market it. It's an excellent car. I wanted to buy one but all I could find were Leisure Suit Larry GM dealers to buy it from, so I bought (another) Jaguar instead.
Kill the Taurus (again), bring the Falcon over, and spend all those dollars you were going to spend on the Taurus on "re-introducing" the Falcon. Problem solved.
GM is bringing the Holden Commodore over as the G8, and the GTO will soon be back. And they may have solved their marketing problems.
Friend of mine bought a G35, then let his mother drive it. She had the oil changed at one of those QuickyLube type places, and they forgot to tighten the drain plug. The VQ35 ran for 300 miles with NO OIL IN THE ENGINE before she called him and asked what the little light on the dashboard meant.
That G35 is still around today. The lifters tick a little, but it still runs just fine.
Challenger SRT = I'm there! I may just have to let my wife drive the GTO.
As a side note, Toyota's usually have the crappiest suspension in the world. Their cars feel like they're mounted on long toothpicks suspended in Jello.
Most engines are actually designed to go limited distances like this. 300 miles is impressive. But after 3 years, when you're down several quarts of oil, and what you have left is a sludge/water mix, and you've been driving like that for a few thousand miles, well, that's impressive, too... :)
I remember...Dad had a Galaxie 500XL......Electric windows, electric leather bucket seats, etc.
Nice car.
FMCDH(BITS)
The 500 (as well as the Chrysler 300/Dodge Charger) is aimed at the slightly larger than midsize segment, which is currently defined by Toyota with their Avalon.
The Maxima, by the way, is not in the midsize segment and hasn't been since the second generation Altima. The Altima is now the Nissan Camry competitor.
I don't really care who the manufacturer says their car should compete against. Camry/Avalon share the same platform as well as the Maxima/Altima. All are FWD.
Is this where we get to hear how great the Fusion is?
The Avalon is significantly larger than the Camry - and significantly more expensive too. That puts it out of the Camry's segment, by industry definitions.
The Maxima and Altima are on separate platforms, and the next-gen Maxima is going to be on the FM platform - and RWD.
Actually, that was the Mercury Mariner I was referring to there... :)
If I didn't know better, I would swear you are a Ford/Lincoln/Mercury dealer.
No, I don't think that is right. 02-06 Altima and 04-08 Maxima share the same platform. And I wasn't comparing the Camry to the Avalon. I was just saying that the 500/"Taurus" measurements fit in between the mid and full size segment.
Little better than current model, but still needs a little more agressiveness.. Yes its a family sedan, but dammit it doesn't have to look like one.. that Euro version of the Taurus is NICE looking... give the 500 that type of body styling and provided its priced right and dependable, it'll sell like hotcakes.
There is no Euro version of the Taurus, only a Euro Ford counterpart.
Attempts to sell the US Taurus to other parts of the world have been a universal disaster. Nobody else is willing to put up with the thing.
Believe its called the montereo or something....
The Mondeo is (or was, until this generation) smaller than the Taurus. It is not a Taurus, it just fills the same general niche in the lineup over in Europe.
Remember the Ford Contour/Mercury Mystique? That was the two-generations-back Mondeo. The Ford/Jaguar X-Type is the last generation Mondeo.
ok, I'll admit that my comment was a bit of a drive by response, but the idea of renaming a car to pretend that it's just like one that used to be very successful is a rather lame attempt at management and I would hope this is not representative of the kind of decision making the stockholders are paying for.
To be honest, I'm not really interested enough in what Ford is doing to go do any research on the topic - this renaming of the 500 to Taurus just caught my eye as something singularly silly and desperate.
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