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kach22i
10-23-2008, 08:18 PM
These four spotted Fords blew by me going south on US 23 near Brighton, MI on 10/18/2008 at about 12:15 PM.

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x295/kach22i/Automobile/SPY1.jpghttp://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x295/kach22i/Automobile/SPY2.jpghttp://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x295/kach22i/Automobile/SPY3.jpghttp://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x295/kach22i/Automobile/SPY4.jpghttp://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x295/kach22i/Automobile/SPY5.jpghttp://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x295/kach22i/Automobile/SPY1234.jpg
HeilSvenska
10-23-2008, 11:35 PM
I spy with my little eye...

Mercury Milan facelift
Lincoln MKZ facelift
Ford Fusion facelift

Nice catch. I wish I lived in Michigan for this reason, just not that often.
pitfield
10-24-2008, 01:32 AM
well spotted
RC45
10-24-2008, 09:54 AM
What class is the Fusion? What replaced in the Ford 500? I always wondered why the US never got a Ford Sierra equivalent. (well, besides the Merkuo XR4Ti)

I always wanted nice Ford midsized... but they never delievered - the Taurus never excited much, at least the Sierra and derivatives had some exciting versions.

What is that Aussie Ford midsize?
pitfield
10-24-2008, 10:33 AM
The sierra was a modern bodied cortina, until the sapphire came out.
nthfinity
10-24-2008, 12:25 PM
Nice catch George :)

I spy with my little eye...

Nice catch. I wish I lived in Michigan for this reason, just not that often.
Orange County has it's share of cars, that much is sure :)
pagani
10-24-2008, 01:24 PM
What class is the Fusion? What replaced in the Ford 500? I always wondered why the US never got a Ford Sierra equivalent. (well, besides the Merkuo XR4Ti)

I always wanted nice Ford midsized... but they never delievered - the Taurus never excited much, at least the Sierra and derivatives had some exciting versions.

What is that Aussie Ford midsize?
You americans had the svt contour
HeilSvenska
10-24-2008, 01:57 PM
You americans had the svt contour

We also had the Taurus SHO.

What class is the Fusion? What replaced in the Ford 500?

The Fusion is a Malibu/Accord/Camry competitor.

The Five Hundred failed miserably and was rebadged Taurus.
nthfinity
10-24-2008, 03:15 PM
The Five Hundred failed miserably and was rebadged Taurus.
It was ugly, and broke suite with the new design grill that was corperate wide accepted (except for cars like the Mustang)

Overhangs are terrible, vehicle height is very visible, the "face" is droopy, and confused... just a really bad design = flop
RC45
10-24-2008, 03:51 PM
You americans had the svt contour

"We" South Africans had the Sierra XR6 and XR8... "Them" Americans could have had a high performance M5 equivalant Ford for years... but sadly Ford missed that boat.
Mattk
10-24-2008, 11:00 PM
What is that Aussie Ford midsize?
The Ford Falcon, which is considered the best thing to ever come out of the car manufacturing industry. Down here, it's considered full-sized. It competes with the Holden Commodore and the Toyota Camry. Both Holden and Ford have their respective performance models, of course.

The mid-sized Ford here is the Ford Mondeo, a European mdoel.
HeilSvenska
10-25-2008, 12:48 AM
The mid-sized Ford here is the Ford Mondeo, a European mdoel. Curse you all!

It was ugly, and broke suite with the new design grill that was corperate wide accepted
I read somewhere that the tri-bar grille, which I loathe, may be adapted to the Fiesta in the US. I hope that's not true.
79TA
10-25-2008, 02:09 AM
^ Car and Driver would be your source for that one.

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_lists/car_shopping/micro_machines/2010_ford_fiesta_mini_test_road_test
RC45
10-25-2008, 03:13 PM
The mid-sized Ford here is the Ford Mondeo, a European mdoel.

We have a circa 1997 Ford Contour (US version of the Mondeo) and my dad calls it the "towncar" when he comes over LOL - its our small car... hehe
HeilSvenska
10-29-2008, 07:15 PM
These four spotted Fords blew by me going south on US 23 near Brighton, MI on 10/18/2008 at about 12:15 PM.

Here's what you found.

http://image.automobilemag.com/f/green/news/10991207+w440/0810_01z+2010_mercury_milan_hybrid+front_three_qua rter_view.jpg
http://image.automobilemag.com/f/10991396/0810_04z+2010_mercury_milan_hybrid+rear_view.jpg

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/jalopnik/2008/10/2010-Ford-Fusion-Sport.jpg
10000rpmlover
10-29-2008, 09:35 PM
isn't the ford fusion a mazda 6 with different front and rear fascias?
HeilSvenska
10-30-2008, 01:33 AM
Well. They always shared the same platform. But it's not as simple as new front and rear bumpers.
HeilSvenska
10-30-2008, 02:34 AM
^Yup. One step closer to the Mondeo... But even more brash. I like it despite the tonka toy grille. This particular one is the Sport, which has a 260+hp engine.
Vansquish
10-31-2008, 09:50 AM
^Yup. One step closer to the Mondeo... But even more brash. I like it despite the tonka toy grille. This particular one is the Sport, which has a 260+hp engine.


Yeah...all 263bhp are going to go through a 6-speed automatic though. There's no manual transmission for the V6 models of which there are 2. The 4-cylinder is now a 2.5L 170bhp model vs. the 153bhp 2.3L from the previous generation, and there are 2 V6 engined models, a 240bhp 3.0L (modified version of the previous-generation engine) and a 3.5L 263bhp version stolen from the Edge, et al. The only model available with a manual is the 4-cylinder and it does get a 6-speeder rather than the previous generation's 5.
10000rpmlover
10-31-2008, 02:04 PM
Yeah...all 263bhp are going to go through a 6-speed automatic though. There's no manual transmission for the V6 models of which there are 2. The 4-cylinder is now a 2.5L 170bhp model vs. the 153bhp 2.3L from the previous generation, and there are 2 V6 engined models, a 240bhp 3.0L (modified version of the previous-generation engine) and a 3.5L 263bhp version stolen from the Edge, et al. The only model available with a manual is the 4-cylinder and it does get a 6-speeder rather than the previous generation's 5.

trust me that decision of auto on the 6/fusion v6 was a hard one, but the thing was that all those transmissions were already paid for a couple of years back, most of them already delivered to Ford so unless they did something with them they would sit in a warehouse or would be sold to satellite manufacturers or other companies, which is not a good business option, at one point a twin turbo, all wheel drive, all wheel steering fusion was on the table but that got axed pretty quickly after the ford 500 tanked with the AWD system
Vansquish
11-03-2008, 01:33 PM
trust me that decision of auto on the 6/fusion v6 was a hard one, but the thing was that all those transmissions were already paid for a couple of years back, most of them already delivered to Ford so unless they did something with them they would sit in a warehouse or would be sold to satellite manufacturers or other companies, which is not a good business option, at one point a twin turbo, all wheel drive, all wheel steering fusion was on the table but that got axed pretty quickly after the ford 500 tanked with the AWD system

I'm aware, I've still got some reasonably high-up connections at Ford through my family and from the time when I worked there. It's not only an issue of availability of the automatic transmissions and overstocking, but the low-number of manual-transmission mid-size sedans that are requested by customers. It probably just didn't make financial sense. That being said, it's still a sad thing.