Since last week's Top Ten list seemed to go over well, I'm going to repeat it this week with a different manufacturer. I'll keep doing this for a bit until I run out of major manufacturers (hard to do a Top Ten list of favorite cars by Tucker, frex). Today's manufacturer will be the Big Blue Oval themselves, the Fix Or Repair Daily, FoMoCo, Fords...
1. 1957 Thunderbird. What can I say? I'm a sucker for the classics. This is one case where Ford played catch-up with General Motors - the T-bird was introduced in1955 as a competitor to the Corvette. Oddly enough, while the Corvette grew leaner in the later years, the T-bird would bloat to land-yachtian proportions...
2. 1964½ Mustang. And we have another Ford first, the Mustang. Designed by a man who would later be credited for turning Chrysler around, the 'Stang was a small (for the time), light car with nimble handling and seating for four. It sparked an American revolution in automotive design, and became one of the most enduring icons in movie and song.
3. 1966 Bronco. One of the first SUVs, the Bronco had a V8 engine, a removal fiberglass top, and four wheel drive. Talk about a vehicle made for summer fun! The Chevy Blazer came out shortly thereafter and caused the Bronco to bulk up a bit, then lose the full top, and before you knew it, it was just another truck.
4. 1970 Torino GT. Not the Gran Tarino made famous by Starsky & Hutch, but its predecessor. The Torino GT tends to get lost in the muscle car era, outflanked by the Boss Mustang from Ford and the Chevelle and GTO from GM. With the 429 Cobra Jet V8, though, the Torino took second place very seldomly.
5. 1955 Fairlane Crown Victoria. One of the classics of the 1950s, the Fairlane is often overshadowed by other iconic cars of the '50s like the Bel Air and the Imperial. It stands out with the glass roof over the driver and passenger seats and for the several tons of chrome it sports...
6. 1969 Galaxy 500. Buddy of mine in high school had one of these monstrosities, and I have fond memories of cruising for breakfast before school started, like 7 or eight guys jammed into the car with the top down. Good times...
7. Excursion. I like the sheer monstrosity of this behemoth. I like the fact that it makes greenies seeth with hatred. I like a 3/4 truck that can tow nearly 10,000 pounds and seat nine comfortably *and* still carry a good chunk of gear in the back.
8. 1986 F-150 Stepside. Another personal choice, one of my closest friends - a Master Mechanic for Ford - bought one of these brand new in '86 and only recently retired it. The styling of the mid-1980s Ford trucks was the best, IMHO; the "wraparound" grill of the late '80s and the bland styling of the early '90s just didn't come close.
9. 1969 Boss Mustang . It's a classic from an era that produced many fine muscle cars. "The Boss 429" was outfitted with enough horsepower to rival the Chevelles and SuperBees out prowling the boulevards; while the Boss 302 - with its iconic stripes - took on the Camaros and Trans Ams.
10. 1932 Coupe. The "Little Deuce Coupe". John Milner's "piss yellow" street rod. The first car to offer a pushrod V8 was a natural choice for hotrodders in post-war America, with that simple body launching countless thousand street rods and fueling the American need for speed.
There's my list of favorite Ford vehicles. I was surprised at how easy it was to put this list together - I'm not a Ford man, having owned GM early on and Mopar now - and look forward to showcasing another manufacturer next week. I'm figuring on alternating GM products between Ford and Chrysler, so next week will be a GM marque and the week after Chrysler...
What are your favorite offerings from the big blue oval?
That is all.
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10 comments:
The new Ford GT, someday.
1985 Merc Cougar. Nothing says "Guilty pleasures of the 1980s" better than that, for me at least.
OK, Big Hair says it better. But still ...
I admit, I was young, and foolish. It's a mercy that some dreams never come true, but this is The One That Got Away for me. Now you know.
That's Mercury.
I'm taking them one-at-a-time... ;)
1936 Ford three window coupe-full race flathead. Wonderful memories.
My choice is the orginal GT40 Mark ll. Not only a great race car for the time, but it was olso available as a street car, makeing it one of first truly outragious street cars ( along with the orginal GTO - the italian one.)
-- and I'd choose the GT350H Hertz Rent-a-Racer as the favorite Mustang. Can you just imagine a Rental Car company doing that Today??
---- and along the same lines does the orginal 427 Cobra count as a Ford?? If so that it too needs to be on the List. As I recall you needed to order it thruogh a dealership.
I'm with the GT guys. That is one HOT piece of metal. I'd also go with any of the early '60s full-size convertibles. My old man had a '62 and it was cool. He also had a '69 Torino with the 351W, factory 4bbl carb, 4 speed and LSD. It was a fast car, but it was very cranky if it didn't get premium. I like the '56 Ford convertible or hard top and any of the 1st generation "aero" fords. This includes the Mustang, the Taurus wagon, the T-bird and the Tempo.
The Torino is a good pick; when I was a child, back in the early '70s, my father had a '69 model with the 429. Dad teased me for years for yelling out "Go Daddy Go!" when we had it out on the highway. Hey, I was only five years old when he got it...
Great motor. Too bad somebody at Ford must have screwed up the rust preventative treatment when our Torino's body came down the assembly line, because the car rusted out to the point that my folks were faced with either selling the car or welding the passenger-side door shut to keep it from falling off. That was in '75.
My parents traded the Torino for a crappy old '69 or '70 model Chevy Blazer 4X4; I think we heard years later that "Go Daddy Go!" ended its days as a dirt-track racer.
--Wes S.
--Wes S.
My second car was a 1968 Galaxie 500 2-door, with a 428 P.I. and a C-6. It was first owned by the State, but not full police equipment, so we're guessing maybe a Game Warden or ???. Got better gas mileage at 90 than at 60.
Oh, I am a Ford girl. There's not a Ford I don't love. I am a wee bit surprised not to see the Model A on the list, though.
I'm on my 3rd big Ford. First was a '70 LTD Brougham, loaded to the gills. Bought it used in '80, but it gave me a good 50k miles, and was still perfect when I sold it.
Put another 100k + miles on an '87 Crown Vic, bought used in '00 with but 24k on the clock. Nearly flawless, but years of marina parking by the boat got the rust monster startd. Averaged 22mpg highway.
I'm on my 2nd Vic now, a '97, bought three years ago with 70k on the clock. I've got 112k on it now, and it made a July trip to Orlando, seeing 26.92mpg by actual measure.
Call me boring, but my favorite Ford would be an '06 Vic with super low miles, equipped with the Performance & Sport options. They quit making 'em in'07, except for fleet (police) sales.
My previous boss owns both a GT and a Brit-built AC Cobra 289.
The GT is an insanely good car, but not worth the penalty of being a moving radar-trap in it's own space-time warp. Plainly spoken, every cop in town wants to pull you over in it for even thinking of stepping on the fast pedal.
Subtle is speed, in usable form.
Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX
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