Thursday, January 26, 2006

AutoBlog article "Reflex and Fairlane to part of Way Fordward?"

Interesting article over at AutoBlog, apparently Mark Fields mentioned the Reflex and Fairlane concepts (clay models of each flank him in picture) as part of the Way Forward plans at Ford.
Here's the much circulated picture of the Fairlane concept, the CUV which is rumored to be replacing Ford's minivan. There are aspect to like and dislike about it and we'll know more when a production version is revieled at a future autoshow.
More important to me and possibly to Ford is the Reflex compact sport coupe. I wouldn't expect to see a Diesel Hybrid with electric motor driving the rear wheels or the solar panels in the roof to assist recharging the batteries. But I love the styling and could appreciate a front wheel drive version with 1.5 or so liter I4.
I absolutely love the styling and can see this in my driveway. I'm thinking a blue or green one with a moonroof, leather and nice stereo. I'd love a Diesel, but a peppy little gas engine will do, as long as I can expect at least 30 mpg on the highway (prefer 40 mpg.) And since I'm dreaming a 6 speed manual would be nice too. I like the hatchback, keep it glass and make it functional. Price it around $22k well equiped, I don't care what the base price is, I wouldn't buy it stripped. I don't care about the scissor doors, conventional doors will do fine. But don't loose those lines, this car looks fast standing still.

Here's my pledge to Ford, build what I want and I'll buy it, and I think others would too. Believe it or not, I would actually buy this over a new Mustang. I like the styling that much.

I even like the name Reflex, it would be a nice departure from those damn F names. And the only down side is that now that damn Duran Duran song is running through my head. Oh well, as much as I try to forget the 80's they keep haunting me. Hey! There's an idea, use that song in the ads for the car, maybe even dust of the members of Duran Duran for a concert or something. Or even better, have a new group do a cover of the song. Get the young people and older people like me. This car just makes too much sense the more I think of it.

Ford are you listening????? I want this!

No comments: