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Wiley Ford, WV Car Consumer Discussions

Lincoln & The Road Ahead III

by douglasr on Sat Jul 01 18:23:13 PDT 2006

"Charlie, I'm going to do that job, and you're going to help me..." Charles Sorensen in conversation with the Henry Ford, August 1906 with respect to the Model T---the concept of which Ford developed against the wishes of his backers. "When I took over...I felt like I was holding up a collapsing building with an umbrella." ---Bill Ford Jr. in 1998. Six years later, he would add: "Where does all this put us now? I'd say we went from about the bottom of the barrel to about the middle of the pack. But is that good enough?" WCF Jr's answer is instructive: "No...I did not join this company to be average...We aspire to be great, because this is our heritage." Mr. Ford recollects in his 2005 book: "Ford Tough'. From where I sit, I see a ray of hope. For today Mr. Ford has abandoned his desire to build a quarter-million hybrid vehicles (which are NOT profitable)---freeing his company for capital investment in product. His company has opened a tech & design center at Dearborn to rival that of his cross-town "friends" at Chrysler. Despite terrible sales losses, and extreme levels of capital investment, top-line Jaguars have earned a respective first rank place in the marketplace in terms of engineering and quality, as have Astons under Ford Motor ownership. The lessons learned there applied to Lincoln and Continental in the future. The pressure of the competition---especially a GM-Nissan-Renault Tie-Up---will spur a rethinking of future options at Ford, these must ultimately place Lincoln squarely in their plans. I see a rationalisation of Ford's 103 plants world-wide to fight the now global marketplace. Yet due to the lag time between product and market-place, the bets placed at the table must be bold ones, and right ones. "This industry is not for the faint of heart" Lee Iacocca once said in an interview---that feeling echoed by Mr. Lutz in his book 'Guts'. Yet the shocking fact remains that 50 people are reponsible for the options placed on the table that became the 'Way Forward Plan'---thus the closing of Wixom, and the abrogation of Lincoln as a viable marque. 750,000 people wrote Ford Motor when Alex Troutman was CEO---urging Ford not to stop production of Mustang. As a result Troutman repsonded: "$750Mn, and not a dime more." And Mustang lives today. It is, in small and large part, the efforts of the thousands of people working for Ford, my own family included, that has made the company what it is, then and now. To wish for a greater future, to outline a path which evidently is not being taken, to outline ideas worth considering no matter the messenger, and put together pieces within the grasp of the company to make greater products is no delusion. To motivate the people who make the steel real becomes as much of the battle as it is to make it. It is a hard reality. Otherwise Ford would not have hired designers as J. Mays and Freeman Thomas, would not have allowed Dr. Bez alone to sire Astons to victory, nor given Ian Callum a free hand at Jaguar---nor given Peter Horbury bailiwick to revive Lincoln. To consider the future without being well aware of where you have come from, is dangerous at best. Otherwise we would all be riding horses, and Charles Sorensen would never have had the chance to make the Henry Ford's ideas a reality---for they were considered impossible. It is Bill Ford Jr. that speaks of 'heritage'---therefore fair enough to raise the heritage of Lincoln with respect to its future. It was Bill Ford Jr. that rushed to the Rouge the second week of his Chairmanship to aide wounded workers in a Steel Furnace Fire. It was Bill Ford Jr. who chose to revive The Rouge. And if one assembly plant is synonomous with "Ford", than The Rouge is it. That $2Bn investment was no delusion---thus as Ford is The Rouge, then Lincoln represents something in and of itself in the same fashion---to which '...as Lincoln goes, so goes the nation...' It is Bill Ford Jr. that replaced the Blue Oval sign atop the Glass House---a symbol both of the future and the past, and equally paramount to preserve the symbols of Lincoln. And not unlike his famous uncle, Henry Ford II, placed in the seat of one of the largest corporations somewhat unexpectedly---but having to learn on the job, thus his admonishion not to be 'average' . Yet I see that there is a greater path that he can take, far beyond the average, not only for Ford, but for Lincoln too---but he has to walk into The Glass House each day sorting the future for Ford, five years in advance, and that is no delusion. Harley Earl once said that he does not live in the 'present', but only 'four years into the future....', but Bill Ford has to do both---the present and the future. And that is no delusion. Can we afford to let him make the mistake of not considering his public---those that use, own, and want to buy the products his company makes? The answer is a resounding NO, and that is no delusion. The details will make themselves clear enough from this public soon enough---but all great products come from great ideas. As it was once said in this nation: "Some may say when they see things and declare, "Why", but I look at the future and say: "Why Not?" DouglasR Sources: 'My Forty Years With Ford', Charles Sorensen, Collier Books NY 1962; 'Ford Tough', Bill Ford Jr. with David Magee, John Wiley & Sons, Detroit 2005; Speeches of Robert F. Kennedy, JFK Library, Boston, Ma.; 'Guts', Robert Lutz, John Wiley & Sons, Detroit)

Lincoln Loafing & Lexus

by douglasr on Mon May 22 20:31:53 PDT 2006

ST: Admittedly you have a point. Especially the perception that Bill Ford disdains Lincoln---though his remarks in his 2004/5 book published by John Wiley & Co. do not. He rushed to the burning Rouge Works his second week on the job to save lives... But it is his company that is 'burning' now. "Oldsmobiling" the whole thing will not solve his problems. The same kind of thinking that Roger Smith, Ron Zarella, and John Rock espoused during their tennure as executives is why GM is in so much trouble today. The same miasma effects Ford in part. Nor will calling every Lincoln a 'mark x-y-z' solve their problems. VWAG & BMW AG spent $3.5 Billion between them to revive Rolls-Royce and Bentley to sell 10,606 cars last year all toll. Lincoln customers are waiting...waiting...waiting for fabulous cars. Eliminate Lincoln from Ford Motor, and Ford Motor will go the way of the Studebaker Connestoga. The same $3.5Bn could bring great cars back to Lincoln---serving as a benchmark for American manufacturing and engineering. That is what I am after. Generations of my family slaved in Ford factories throughout the 20th century---from Highland Park, Livernous Avenue at Lincoln, and even the Rouge. I don't want what they put into the company to be cast aside like so much used motoroil. 'Give it up'? Never! It is precisely when a company is to the wall that great things, great designers, engineers, and individuals rise to the cause. This is what I wish to bring to Mr. Ford's attention. To challenge him, and all who work for him.... Toyota posted record profits for Q1, 60% of which came from their American sales, and they made an average of $1,539 per car---almost exactly what both Ford and GM spend for health care. Starbucks, like GM, spends more for health care than it does for coffee or steel. This is what we are up against. Yet...our nation rose to the cause in the 1940's, 1950's, 1960's, and we sacrifice even today. Thus it must be for the great cars built for our nation and the world. Give-up? Never...never drive a Kia, no matter how good as my main car...but if Mr. Wagoner, Lutz, Ford, Fields, etc. do not act, that is the only choice we will be left with. The consequences will be far reaching beyond the mere choice of a car to drive. Thus it is not just a name brand. The matter rests with whether or not we remain a manufacturing nation of first rank...in all facets...that we are not merely a giant 'Wall-Mart' for goods manufactured by American owned companies re-exported back to our shores. Our economy can't be sustained with its current standard of living if that becomes a reality. Why I say, "As Lincoln goes...so goes the nation..." It matters not to me if we manufacture Lincoln overseas, as well as we do it at home, and that it is also very best we can do. We did so when labour cost $2.60 an hour, and the average wage was $62.50-$75.00 per week, and 'health-care' was a new fangled idea from President Roosevelt. We can not now say that ideas, and doing our best cost too much, and our efforts aren't worth the sticker price. I am quite tired of watching foreign engineered, designed, and American assembled marques drive by and finding myself thinking: "If they can do there here, why can't we..." Bill Ford can talk all day long about the bitter details of manufacturing in America...what a worker costs, what the doctor to keep him healthy costs, the uneven playing field...but it has always been so...it is his nerve and verve I challenge. Where is the best from Lincoln? He sits behind his grandfather's desk...but he should look over his shoulder at what Edsel accomplished. The modern Ford Motor would not exist without it. And it will not survive without the effort made to revive what once was and must be great again---as the saying goes: "Lincoln inspires the loyalty of those who know it best." ...If our voices remain silent, then we acquiesce in the destruction of what is and must remain a great part of our nation... DouglasR

Police package review...and teo what is this about steering shaft problems?

by chevyrog1 on Mon Jan 29 20:46:45 PST 2001

this was taken straight out of Lawandordermag.com Impala Durability Testing Chevrolet selected the Chicagoland Emergency Vehicle Show to demonstrate the power and agility of their police package Impala. They also selected this show to announce a first in law enforcement; a long-term, real- time durability testing with fully instrumented Impalas in actual police service. Police car enthusiasts across the Midwest gather for a weekend of shows and cruises at an annual event organized by Chicago police officer Greg Reynolds. The show attracts restored, daily driver, DARE and in- service police cars of all makes, models and years. For example, this year’s “best restored” police car was a 1971 Plymouth Fury with Streamwood, IL, police markings. The “best-of-show” was a 1956 Ford from the Harwood Heights, IL, police. In addition to the static car show, past events have included a real EVOC course open to vintage police cars and in-service cars, alike. This year, Bruce Wiley, Manager of Chevrolet Special Vehicles, provided a half dozen police package Impalas for all to drive on the half-mile, 15-turn EVOC course. Some of the Impalas were unmarked, 9C1 package cars while others were fully-equipped, complete with radios, MDTs and prisoner partitions. Not only did drivers compete against one another in their own police cars, the new Impala was pitted against the best police cars ever made. Was Chevrolet really ready for their V-6 FWD Impalas to run against the 440 cubic inch, big block V-8 Dodge Monacos and the LT-1 powered Caprices? In heads-up, no holds barred competition? Wiley said, “Yes.” Cars running the EVOC course were divided into classes based on their decade. The times got quicker with each era. Nostalgia aside, the big block V-8 powered monsters were beat by the small block V-8 Sedans of the 1980s. That was a surprise. However, it was no surprise that the LT-1 Caprices from the 1990s were faster than all the other generations of police Sedan. The shock came from the new Impala times. Against a field of V-8 powered, rear drive cruisers pushed hard enough to frequently smoke their tires, the Impala set the fastest time of the day! In fact, the average time for the drivers who ran the Impala was equal to the fastest time from the LT-1 Caprice. The consensus was clear, the Impala 9C1 is the fastest and best handling front drive American police car ever built. Performance is one thing. Durability on the street is another. In a year’s time, the Impala has also started to build a reputation as the most reliable and durable FWD police car ever made. Dodge and Plymouth introduced FWD police cars in 1982. Chevrolet and Ford joined the effort in 1984 and 1990, respectively. Each FWD attempt has been better than the previous car to the point where the 2000 Impala took five of the six test phases over the V-8 powered, rear drive Crown Victoria including acceleration, handling and ergonomics in the Michigan State Police evaluation. The Impala is gaining increasing acceptance among police officers and fleet managers alike. The usual reaction is concern over how small the car appears from the outside, followed by surprise at how roomy the car is from the inside. By far the largest user of the Impala for uniformed patrol is the New York City Police. They purchased 600 in 2000 and have rolled over the contract to buy between 700 and 1000 of the 2001 Impala. Not only are these Impalas used as precinct cars, they are also used by the NYPD Highway Patrol, complete with the unique McDermott multi-level light rack. The Highway Patrol Bureau had long been the stronghold of powerful, rear wheel drive, interceptor-class, traffic enforcement cruisers. But the legacy of poor durability from earlier FWD police cars of all makes haunts the Impala. So Chevrolet took the opportunity of the Emergency Vehicle Show to discuss the first, real-time durability testing of its kind involving four fully-instrumented 9C1 Impalas. These police package cars have been fitted with sensors, instruments and on-board computers to read and record what it is like to be on duty with both an urban police department and a state police department. The on-board computers record engine oil temperature, transaxle oil temperature, power steering oil temperature, alternator loads and battery loads. Other sensors detect g’s of acceleration, g’s of deceleration (braking) and g’s of lateral acceleration (cornering). Perhaps the most important sensors on the FWD car are the ones linked to the front suspension. Literally all the forces and loads acting upon the front suspension and steering components are measured and recorded. Every jounce. Every pothole. Every railroad track. Every curb. The sensors pick up the low level vibration from smooth roads and the harsh vibration from rough roads. While the drive train and suspension monitoring are going on, another set of sensors will record the forces exerted on the driver’s seat. For the first time, Chevrolet will be able to measure what happens to a seat other than fabric wear. Seat comfort, and the resulting back support and health, is a major issue among many police officers. This is the first time this kind of information, and this detail of information, have been collected from a police vehicle. “We have never known how a car actually performed in the field, other than by word of mouth,” said James Boerkoel, Chevrolet Manager of Specialty Vehicle Activity. “At the end of the study, we will have real-time data.” Chevrolet has four of these fully-instrumented Impalas in police service. Two are with a northern state police force; one is at its Academy’s EVOC track where instructors and recruits alike are trying to kill the car. So far, they haven’t. The other Impala is in a major metro area doing median-jumping traffic enforcement. Later, this traffic unit will move to the far north part of the state to allow recording of vehicle performance under frigid conditions. The other two test cars are in-service with the Mesa, AZ, Police and the Detroit Police. The Mesa car is at a satellite post near GM’s Desert Proving Grounds, to experience extremely hot conditions. For Chevrolet to get a true understanding of the worst- case urban police environment, they had to have an acid test. That is where the Detroit Police and its 9th Precinct come in! This precinct has the most calls, the heaviest traffic volume and almost non-stop action. The Impala assigned to the 9th PCT is a true “squad” car, it literally gets run 24-hours a day. One shift brings it in, removes their gear out and without shutting the car off, tu

by quadrunner500 on Thu Mar 02 11:09:54 PST 2000

Didn't mean to say the suspension was better, just the ride. Why did I add air bags? For a level ride. No complaints about mushy Z71's. If you pump up the air bags to the the same spring rate as the 2500, with no compensating load in the cargo bed, you get bounce just like the big truck. But when you add just enough air to offset a load, then it rides, feels almost the same as when empty. They make them for your truck too. This months issue of Truck Trend states that adding as little as 1000 pounds in the bed of a Silverado 2500, or Ford F250 is enough to cause the headlight aim to rise where oncoming traffic will flash their brights at you, and that the high-beams are useless in this circumstance. Did I really want the 2500? A bit uncharacteristic for the Wiley Coyote to get per-snipity with quadrunner, but I will answer with honesty anyway. No. My mind was made as soon as I found out it didn't have the aluminum heads. Doesn't mean I don't find some things appealing, like the exclusivity of something rare, in short supply. Gasoline is like that now too. Would love a 300 hp 6.0L vortec, but with AL heads. It's coming. Have to agree with you about one thing, this truck rides nicer than any 1/2 ton I have driven too.