Ford is a company that has made an enormous impact on the car world. They have a reputation for quality, reliability, and innovation.
The Mustang launched the “pony car” class and became iconic after its debut in 1964. It is still a popular vehicle today.
The GT40 was a racing car that beat Ferrari in four consecutive Le Mans races. It is the most successful race Ford’s Most Successful Car.
The Model T
Known as the car that put America on wheels, Henry Ford’s Model T changed the world by opening auto production to everyone. It was also the first affordable car to sell in large numbers.
The car was so reliable that two of them completed the 1909 Transcontinental Race from New York to Seattle in 23 days over rough roads. That was a remarkable feat considering that cars were still horses or foot-powered back then.
The Model T had several innovations, including the placement of the steering wheel on the left side to facilitate easier driving and the use of vanadium steel to keep it light yet strong. Ford’s global “One Ford” strategy is exemplified by cars like the Focus.
The Ford GT40
The GT40 was a bold move for Ford, a company that had previously banned factory participation in motorsport. He reworked the chassis and improved the car’s reliability by reducing weight, improving cooling, and adding O-rings to prevent head gasket failure. These changes allowed the GT40 to compete successfully against more fragile small prototypes and win a historic 24 Hours of Le Mans race.
The Ford Taurus
The Taurus is a big, comfortable sedan with good driving dynamics and a large trunk. It is what American sedan drivers want, a car with substance and class.
The DN101 generation was introduced to much fanfare in the mid-1980s, and it remained one of Ford’s best-selling cars until the spiking oil prices of the late 1990s. Ford began putting more resources into its higher-profit trucks and SUVs, and the Taurus fell out of favor.
The Taurus was revived in 2012 as the Ford Fusion, which is now the largest sedan in the Ford lineup. Buyers have been impressed with the slick Fusion’s quiet ride and 18/city and 28/highway mpg. A comfortable, spacious interior and advanced technology features also help it stand out from other mid-sized sedans.
The Ford Escort
The Escort was first introduced in 1968, replacing the Anglia, and aimed at both the mass market and rally racing. It took off with a bang, with wins from Hannu Mikkola and Gunnar Palm in the world championship and huge sales across Europe.
In 1981 Ford changed the model for the US market to a front-wheel drive and added a new engine to produce 88 hp. The RS 1600i smashed Ford’s initial 5000 unit target and even competed in Group A rallying, but it wasn’t the success that had been hoped for.
In 1988 Stuart Turner had a crazy idea to combine the Escort’s compact body with Sierra Cosworth running gear. The resulting car, the RS 1800i, was a hit with drivers such as Malcolm Wilson and Louise Aitken-Walker.
The Ford Crown Victoria
Ford’s Crown Victoria was one of the most successful rear-wheel drive sedans ever produced by a Detroit car manufacturer.
It and its corporate cousin Mercury Grand Marquis are the only full-size American-made rear-wheel drive sedans still being sold to the general public. Both are still very popular with empty nesters who value gobs of interior room and a deep trunk.
They’re also very dependable and many police departments use them for their excellent crash performance, but more modern vehicles with better fuel economy are taking market share away from the Crown Vic.
They’re also less expensive than many luxury cars like a Lexus or Infiniti Q45. Interestingly, the Crown Vic shares some bodywork and components with its police interceptor variant. In fact, you might notice a circular chrome trunk release button in the driver’s door similar to the police version.
