the retro T-bird? The Edsel? The 51 F1?
Here are a couple 83 t birds.
and this is the 86 Taurus
here is an 84 Tempo
Nothing risky that I can see... nothing apart from the crowd. Risk, I mean they could have lost a gamble on a departure from the norm.
To give an example, the Isetta. Nothing even close to it anywhere else in BMW cars.
The Plymouth Prowler... no one has made a car that remote from it's line up since the Isetta.
The Chevy SSR is far from the normal car, it's a Roadster Pickup! RPU! No one's made an rpu since the 1920's
Now that I've explained what I mean by RISKY design, perhaps you can see why I don't find anything Ford has made since the 55 Tbird, or the 51 F1 to be even close to a design break out by Ford... but am I wrong? Am I forgetting (highly likely) some car or truck Ford produced that was a RISK in design?
and this is the 86 Taurus
here is an 84 Tempo
Nothing risky that I can see... nothing apart from the crowd. Risk, I mean they could have lost a gamble on a departure from the norm.
To give an example, the Isetta. Nothing even close to it anywhere else in BMW cars.
The Plymouth Prowler... no one has made a car that remote from it's line up since the Isetta.
The Chevy SSR is far from the normal car, it's a Roadster Pickup! RPU! No one's made an rpu since the 1920's
Now that I've explained what I mean by RISKY design, perhaps you can see why I don't find anything Ford has made since the 55 Tbird, or the 51 F1 to be even close to a design break out by Ford... but am I wrong? Am I forgetting (highly likely) some car or truck Ford produced that was a RISK in design?
And had great success? Without a doubt it is with the '83 Thunderbird and '86 Taurus. The '83 Thunderbird saved the model name, and the '86 Taurus saved the company.
ReplyDeleteWell, I asked about the car they went into production with that had a risk in design. The Taurus was an oversized Tempo. The T Bird was very similar to the other mid eighties big damn cars with nothing of note, like the crown vic. Am I mistaken? I was asking about something Ford took a design of unusualness, and went into production with it. Not something quite similar to the other cars they already made the previous year, or similar to the other car company cars.
DeleteCompared to what Ford had been making at the time, both designs were nothing short of radical. From boxy to jellybean in one fell swoop. Ford was so successful with this, we take it for granted. The whole industry followed them so we don't remember how a radical departure from the status quo these moves were. Ford bet the company on the Taurus and won. There are few other automotive design/risk/success stories that can compare.
DeleteI most emphatically did not ask what Ford has done to stay in business. Nor for Ford success stories. No doubt, the Taurus was a winner. The T Bird was another car from the same cloth. I think you and I don't define RISKY DESIGN the same way. To give an example, the Isetta. Nothing even close to it anywhere else in BMW cars.
DeleteThe Plymouth Prowler... no one has made a car that remote from it's line up since the Isetta.
The Chevy SSR is far from the normal car, it's a Roadster Pickup! RPU! No one's made an rpu since the 1920's
Now that I've explained what I mean by RISKY design, perhaps you can see why I don't find anything Ford has made since the 55 Tbird, or the 51 F1 to be even close to a design break out by Ford... but am I wrong? Am I forgetting (highly likely) some car or truck Ford produced that was a RISK in design?
2002-2005:
ReplyDeleteThe Retro 'Bird...
Last of the T-Birds?
From its introduction in 1955 to its most recent departure in 2005,
Ford produced over 4.4 million Thunderbirds.
To give an example, the Isetta. Nothing even close to it anywhere else in BMW cars.
DeleteThe Plymouth Prowler... no one has made a car that remote from it's line up since the Isetta.
The Chevy SSR is far from the normal car, it's a Roadster Pickup! RPU! No one's made an rpu since the 1920's
Now that I've explained what I mean by RISKY design, perhaps you can see why I don't find anything Ford has made since the 55 Tbird, or the 51 F1 to be even close to a design break out by Ford... but am I wrong? Am I forgetting (highly likely) some car or truck Ford produced that was a RISK in design?
Oh, I get it. You mean risqué design. The lack of that is the fault of the people whose responsibility it was to make sure Ford stayed in business. The only people in the U.S. who like Isettas are die hard Isetta fans. The Prowler (V6 powered, what a joke) and the SSR were obviously not commercial successes, otherwise they would still be in production. What difference does it make how unique a car is, if it cannot be a commercial success? Ford learned some lessons in the late '50's and early '60's with risky design, eg. the Edsel and unibody pickup, and they got burned. Maybe they' were still a little gun shy, but to say that Ford is afraid to take design risks is not giving them enough credit. Ford also came up with a new design in the mid-'60's called the Mustang. Ford's only problem with it's design risk image is that they have been so wildly successful, that no one remembers how big a risks they took. The Mustang and the Taurus were unlike anything in the U.S. market before them, and the rest of the industry soon copied them. Ford's radical new designs became the industry standards.
ReplyDeleteI do not mean Risque Design. I'm not talking about a Barris or Roth creation... I'm talking about having the courage to pioneer a thing.. Like the Prowler, the SSR, the minivan, the VW bug, the Lotus 7, the Morgan, the 55 T Bird, the Corvair, the Corvette, and the list is long and not all failures nor successes. I'm not bashing on Ford, nor bashing the Taurus, (but man, you sure are on that bandwagon leading the parade! ) Sure it was a success, no, it was not a risk, especially not a big risk. No risk at all. It was a bit more aero dynamic than the 70's and earliest 80's cars. That's about it. It was a 4 door that was just upsized Tempo, and similar to the 83 Cougar but a 4 door with some better aero. Ford did not need to, in your words "stay in business" when they made the van, the 55 t-bird, the Pinto, etc... they were all departures from the norm in design, and good examples of Ford design that took a RISK, not risque.Same with the flat nose truck/van
DeleteI added photos of the Tempo, Taurus, tbird as examples of how blah they were in design.
DeleteSorry, Jess- that is at least an '86 Tempo. Both the '84 and '85 models did not have flush mount headlights, and their front fender marker lights were a different triangular shape (top surface was flat, not angled) Not shown is a lack of third taillight...
ReplyDelete