Ford wins NA Car and Truck of the year awards..

[Ice]

I'm pretty surprised there are so many boxy cars/trucks/??? out there and people buy them. I see them everywhere, and I look at the drivers to try and see if there's a certain consumer target, but it doesn't seem like there is a specific demographic driving these.

I guess I don't have an appreciation for the style of these vehicles. They look like toasters on wheels to me. Obviously, for a work vehicle, substance is more critical than style, but as a primary personal vehicle, I just don't get it.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by Ice

They look like toasters on wheels to me.

I'm totally stealing that phrase to describe ugly box cars, henceforth.

[GreenTeaFrapp]

Originally Posted by 4X4

I'm totally stealing that phrase to describe ugly box cars, henceforth.

Like that school bus I was driving last week?

[Burninator]

I'm surprised how much Ford has turned it around in the last couple years. When I bought my car in 2006 I didn't even step foot in a Ford dealership. Now if I needed a new car I would definitely give them a serious look. Although I wouldn't look at this particular vehicle.

[3 Justin 3]

Originally Posted by Table 5

FYI, Ford also released their new Focus. This one is part of their One World plan, so what you get in Europe is what you will be able to get here. While not quite as handsome as the last euro model imo, all I can say is FINALLY.

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/01/11/2...finally-unite/

I didn't realize Ford had a One World plan. This is excellent news as all N.American Fords are hideous and all Euro Fords are brilliant.

Hopefully we get the hot Ford Focus as well.

[Bunk]

The new focus is really nice. I now wish VW would bring their Scirocco over from Europe. Gorgeous!


http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=h...ed=0CBAQ9QEwAw

[Ironhorse]

Originally Posted by Ice

I guess I don't have an appreciation for the style of these vehicles. They look like toasters on wheels to me. Obviously, for a work vehicle, substance is more critical than style, but as a primary personal vehicle, I just don't get it.

The target market for the Transit is delivery vehicles, small business and transportation to dispatch technical personnel (ie Telus / Shaw), not personal use.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by Ice

I'm pretty surprised there are so many boxy cars/trucks/??? out there and people buy them. I see them everywhere, and I look at the drivers to try and see if there's a certain consumer target, but it doesn't seem like there is a specific demographic driving these.

I guess I don't have an appreciation for the style of these vehicles. They look like toasters on wheels to me. Obviously, for a work vehicle, substance is more critical than style, but as a primary personal vehicle, I just don't get it.

I'm a fan of cars from the 80s (love the BMWs and Mercs from that era) so maybe that has something to do with it, but I much prefer a boxy car to the indistinguishable blobs that a lot of cars these days tend to be....you know the blobbly vanilla Toyota, Hyundai, Nissan's etc that are basically the same car with giant lights and slightly different blobular details.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by Bunk

The new focus is really nice. I now wish VW would bring their Scirocco over from Europe. Gorgeous!

I've always been a big fan of the Scirocco/Corrado VW's....or at least the way they looked (technically, not the most reliable, ha). It'd be great if we could get this one.

[Bunk]

Originally Posted by Table 5

I'm a fan of cars from the 80s (love the BMWs and Mercs from that era) so maybe that has something to do with it, but I much prefer a boxy car to the indistinguishable blobs that a lot of cars these days tend to be....you know the blobbly vanilla Toyota, Hyundai, Nissan's etc that are basically the same car with giant lights and slightly different blobular details.

Yeah, 80s cars had such a nice aesthetic simplicity. Cars were also much smaller too, which I liked.

[COGENT]

Originally Posted by Bunk

The new focus is really nice. I now wish VW would bring their Scirocco over from Europe. Gorgeous!


http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=h...ed=0CBAQ9QEwAw

Such a nice car. It looks a lot like the Volvo c30 (or vise versa) which is one my favorite cars on the market right now.

[COGENT]

Originally Posted by fotze

Why the fata do they even call it the focus. That is so unlike the earlier focus its unreal. May as well be a helicopter it is so not in the same planet of ugliness that thing was.

In NA you're right but it's actually not far off what a focus is in European terms, this is the whole point of the world car idea.

A really smart strategy for a lot of reasons IMO.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by COGENT

Such a nice car. It looks a lot like the Volvo c30 (or vise versa) which is one my favorite cars on the market right now.

The C30 is such a great looking car...the old P1800 is one of my favorites of all time, so I'm really glad they did brought that idea back. I wish the car itself was a little sportier though, from all accounts it doesnt really compete well with a Golf when it comes to driving.

[burn_this_city]

The 1970s and 80's were the dark age for vehicles. I don't get the love for boxy unstylish cars that looked like shadows of the vehicles produced in the 50 years prior. Manufacturers became obsessed with safety and fuel economy and churned out some pretty sad looking and poor performing cars.

[Bunk]

Originally Posted by Table 5

The C30 is such a great looking car...the old P1800 is one of my favorites of all time, so I'm really glad they did brought that idea back. I wish the car itself was a little sportier though, from all accounts it doesnt really compete well with a Golf when it comes to driving.

The C30 is a great hatch. I test drove the C30 T5 version, which is hella fast at 227hp. Driving down highway 8 I had an ear-to-ear smile. Fantastic, very comparable to the Golf GTI. I much prefer Volvo's interiors to VWs.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Bunk

The C30 is a great hatch. I test drove the C30 T5 version, which is hella fast at 227hp. Driving down highway 8 I had an ear-to-ear smile. Fantastic, very comparable to the Golf GTI. I much prefer Volvo's interiors to VWs.

Not to be a ######, but 227hp these days is pretty unimpressive. I like the look of those cars, too, but they need a version with some more umph if they want to attract enthusiasts to the brand.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

The 1970s and 80's were the dark age for vehicles. I don't get the love for boxy unstylish cars that looked like shadows of the vehicles produced in the 50 years prior. Manufacturers became obsessed with safety and fuel economy and churned out some pretty sad looking and poor performing cars.

The only reason they were obsessed about safety in comparison, is that they never gave two craps about it before!

I'm going to assume we don't have the same taste in cars (from what I recall you seem to be more of a truck/muscle guy), but you are really shortchanging the 80's if you think they turned out sad looking cars. Sure there was a lot of crap (wood panelling wtf?), but imo there were way more distinct cars built in that decade then there are these days. I would challenge you to find as many unique and original shapes from the last 10 years as there were in the 80s.

Apologies for the photo barrage, but one thing led to another and I started looking up some of my favorites from the decade:

The classic Saab 900 - I can only wish that Saab would go back towards the wedge shape...make it happen Spyker.


BMW e30 - Simple classic, and a favorite amongst BMW fans.


190e - Another small classic. Mercedes still considers their late 80's cars to be the company at it's peak.


I was living in Europe at the time, but I remember coming across cars like this as a kid and being amazed. This to me was what America was all about. What a beaut!


I love the original Cherokee....when SUV's were still made for people who actually used them for their purpose.


Even exotic cars looked unique back them. Remember when Ferrari's actually had unique personalities looked different from one another?




My favorite Porsche's are from that era too:

as well as looker 928


Anyway, maybe I romanticize these cars because they are from my childhood, but you gotta give the 80's some respect. They might not have been the strongest or the fastest, but there was some really original thought back then....which I'm not sure I can say of todays cars.

I was gonna do the 70's too, but I didn't feel like killing the server...

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Not to be a ######, but 227hp these days is pretty unimpressive. I like the look of those cars, too, but they need a version with some more umph if they want to attract enthusiasts to the brand.

It's no EVO, but that's actually not bad for a car that small. The 2010 Golf GTI has 210hp btw.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by Bunk

The C30 is a great hatch. I test drove the C30 T5 version, which is hella fast at 227hp. Driving down highway 8 I had an ear-to-ear smile. Fantastic, very comparable to the Golf GTI. I much prefer Volvo's interiors to VWs.

Funny, I remember driving an S40 (same sized Volvo) rental once, and I particular didn't like the plastic feeling interior of that model. Especially compared to the interior of the Golf, ha.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Table 5

It's no EVO, but that's actually not bad for a car that small. The 2010 Golf GTI has 210hp btw.

Yes that's another car that is way underpowered.