Dear Ford, For Your Consideration

Zodiac said:

The Taurus is a terrible car. I wanted to like the SHO, considered one for the wife. Such a big car with a terribly small, cramped interior. It was a terrible numb drive as well

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Having spent a good amount of time in the Taurus, the lack of interior space compared to its size was the first thing that stuck out to me. Those doors better be ungodly safe if they're eating that much into interior volume.

Bravo said:

Rampant - you mention that a platform currently exists... What platform are you thinking?

This would be more than just adding a couple of doors to a Mustang. Whatever we're going to call this thing would likely require an entirely new chassis.

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I didn't mean to totally underestimate the changes to the S550, but it could be used with minimal changes. Look how VW uses the same basic chassis for cars ranging from the Jetta to the Tiguan. Ford needs to do something else with the S550 to make it viable in the long run. The Charger\Challenger\300 are perfect examples of 1 chassis, three cars.

Chevy already tried the V8 RWD sedan with the SS...how were sales on it?

Rampant said:

Name one sedan that is as fun to drive as a Mustang.
And....uh....Ford already has a fun to drive, 2 door car with a V8.....but not a 4 door option.

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Probably the closest would be a BMW M3.

Zodiac said:

I probably would have bought a Falcon if it came to the US with a 5.0.

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I liked the Falcon too. Realistically I would never buy one, but I like them. It seems to me that many Americans are weird about RWD vehicles. Many of them think you can't drive one in the winter.

I think that's why Ford doesn't offer such a thing. They believe it wouldn't sell well enough to be worth it.

TNcoupe said:

Chevy already tried the V8 RWD sedan with the SS...how were sales on it?

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Surely the stupid high price, poor marketing, poor options, and poor name had nothing to do with that. Right?

Hack said:

Probably the closest would be a BMW M3.

I think that's why Ford doesn't offer such a thing. They believe it wouldn't sell well enough to be worth it.

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Exactly my point. The M3 and M4 Gran Coupe prove the market is viable. The ENTIRE reason they split the 3 series into 3\4 was too be able to offer ANOTHER 4 door option using the same chassis. And guess what, sales increased.

And I already showed there is more market for a 4 door than a 2 door like the mustang of you look at industry sales numbers.

DarkestHour said:

Surely the stupid high price, poor marketing, poor options, and poor name had nothing to do with that. Right?

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Don't forget (probably most importantly) bland, pedestrian styling and poor chassis dynamics.

I don't want boring econobox sedan that happens to go fast. I want a cool, bad ass car that happens to have 4 doors.

With the current trend of designing beautiful sedans (Tesla, the Germans, and now KIA with their beautiful silhouetted Stinger), this could be possible for the S550 chassis. It would give Ford an option for people like me who needs 4 doors and can't afford to keep a play car around. Right now, Ford has nothing for me while other manufacturers do, so they will loose a customer (begrudgingly).

I would be all over that. A Falcon would be fantastic, but I doubt we will get it here so most likely will be a Fusion Sport for me.....unless I can hold out until the Ranger gets here. Would love a truck, but an F-150 won't fit in my garage LOL

One other thing to think about -- adding a 4 door option might actually help the Mustang get better and ensure its long-term viability.

Here is a good article (even though I don't agree with the conclusions) on how the Camaro got much better because it shares the platform with the ATS and CTS and engine with the Corvette:
http://www.thedrive.com/new-cars/682/camaro-beats-mustang-heres-why

I don't want Lincoln to sell this type of car (mainly because I can't stand the buck tooth toaster grille on the new Lincolns and their penchant for excessive pricing and dull dynamics), but it does underscore platform sharing helps all vehicles who are on that platform.

I'd buy a 4 door car like the one shown in the first post. I think it looks pretty awesome. I'd get the 5.0 with 10 speed auto.

Zodiac said:

I guess I don't have to add much since you hit the nail on the head. Also not necessarily showing that there is a market for 4 door v8. Don't forget the volume leader will be the v6.

The Taurus is a terrible car. I wanted to like the SHO, considered one for the wife. Such a big car with a terribly small, cramped interior. It was a terrible numb drive as well.

Ford will never make a RWD V8 Sedan in the US. I've unfortunately given up on that dream.

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The SHO is a great car - drove one for almost 5yrs before getting my Mustang. Plop a Livernois 93 octane tune in it and it was a 450hp monster. Would smoke s550's off the line with its AWD traction. Yes its big and heavy, and I wish the paddle shifters had been responsive enough to use, but for a 4 door it was a blast to drive. Fast, good handling and a great cruiser. I even Auto Crossed it a few times and people were surprised at how nible it was for such a big car. I hope they update the platform OR push the Fusion into SHO territory. Ford needs a GREAT 4dr sport sedan to compete.

Rampant said:

Dear Ford,

For those of us that have children and need 4 doors, yet still want to drive something like a Mustang:

You can even call it the Falcon. Just let it have a V8 and a stick shift.

Thank you.

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Did you do that rendering? Holy shit, that's awesome (assuming it has the running gear you described )

MaskedRacerX said:

Did you do that rendering? Holy shit, that's awesome (assuming it has the running gear you described )

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Yes. I did it off a 4 door to begin with, so it would have the correct proportions and be more realistic of a final vehicle (the greenhouse and wheel base were left untouched). This way, it wouldn't be just be a "stretched" Mustang, which wouldn't work in real life due to the dramatically different shaped C pillar and roof line.

You might be surprised how little I had to change from the original image, yet it looks very much like a Ford product (to me). Just goes to show how much the details matter.

Ironically, that was my main point of the post -- to show how Ford could make a great looking sedan off the S550 chassis and some obvious Mustang styling cues -- not so much the viability of such a vehicle (though I still contend it would sell more than the Mustang itself if executed and marketed correctly -- just as the Charger outsells the Challenger).

Ford has been working on a Taurus replacement based on the S550 platform. :gossip:

Rampant said:

Name one sedan that is as fun to drive as a Mustang.
And....uh....Ford already has a fun to drive, 2 door car with a V8.....but not a 4 door option.

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None, driving four door cars sucks. I feel like a pathetic loser when I drive my Focus ST. If they would just give us the good stuff that Europe gets....