Ford Futura Spring GT/A Wagon shows C&D's lighter side
With all the talk of impending doom in Detroit, Car and Driver decided to ease the tension in its current June 2006 issue with a mock review of the 2006 Ford Futura Sprint GT/A Wagon. The facts, figures and specs surrounding the Futura Sprint are written with such a straight face that at times author John Phillips has us believing this punchline exists.
Some interesting notes about the fictitious Ford include its dual driver's side and mono passenger side doors, single three-person front bench seat (that's it for seating), airbag-less five-spoke steering wheel, Hurst shifter and narrow-angle Miller-cycle 3.0L V6.
If you look closely at the pictures you can see a Mazda6 wagon peeking through the expertly applied Photoshop, but the engine pic looks like the Yamaha 3.0L unit from the Taurus SHO, the taillights are from the Fusion, and the dash from the Mazda6. Shout out if you see any other car parts in the Futura's collage.
Thanks Jamie C. for the tip!
[Source: Car and Driver]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jose 3:04PM (5/09/2006)
i see some ford fusion in the front end (by fender), the headlights seem to be from the ford focus. but the whole thing is based on the mazda6
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Fred 3:18PM (5/09/2006)
Note the following in the specs:
"GT/A package (includes performance exhaust system, high-flow air intake, Tornado air-management system, fuel magnet), $2250."
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Glenn A. 3:28PM (5/09/2006)
Those guys at C&D have too much fun. They should have put this in the April issue.
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Bill 3:33PM (5/09/2006)
Truth is- there are some elements of it I like a lot!
- I like the Fusion, and I think a Fusion wagon would be very attractive
- I like the driver's side suicide rear door. Also could make this a slider. I have had many wagons, and besides the drivers door, this door is the most-used. I put more cargo behind the drivers seat than in the cargo area.
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Bob 3:47PM (5/09/2006)
I may be a freak, but I actually like bench seats too. At least in old pick up trucks.
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Michael D 3:55PM (5/09/2006)
Isn't that a little Magnum in the rear passenger side? Perhaps X-type Jag wheels as well?
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Jeff 4:17PM (5/09/2006)
i've always wanted a fusion wagon, and was pretty let down where i found out this "sport wagon" based on the fusion turned out to be a CUV called the edge. The edge is cool, i'd still like to see a fusion wagon though.
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Pinkerton 4:25PM (5/09/2006)
> Shout out if you see any other car parts
> in the Futura's collage.
Um... the steering wheel was lifted from a 1920's Chris Craft speedboat. Ok, that's just a tongue-in-cheek guess.
BTW, shouldn't the double doors be on the passenger side? Would be more practical for dropping people off curbside.
Agree with #4, this is nice for a wagon, something that Ford of Australia would have before us.
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Rob 4:43PM (5/09/2006)
Note the designer is Emmett L. Brown. GREAT SCOTT!
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John Smith 6:00PM (5/09/2006)
I got fooled too! I remember reading it thinking: "What an odd car. It must be from Europe."
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D 6:48PM (5/09/2006)
I hope the front end of the restyled Focus looks like this.
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Jamie C 7:17PM (5/09/2006)
Two door wagon....that side looks pretty good.
Now chop the rear roof off and bring back the Ranchero. Piece of cake.
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Tim UF 7:25PM (5/09/2006)
sad that editors with photoshop can pen a car as good looking (or better) as what the ford designers have penned.... and, ill take that yamaha SHO engine in a fusion, could be fun.
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chewy 7:54PM (5/09/2006)
Read the data panel, that's were the real fun begins. They also caught some peeople because this is not in the issue that comes out in April.
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AdamT 1:08AM (5/10/2006)
This was in the print issue I got in the mail.
I got fooled too...until I got to the really obvious stuff.
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Krishna Das 1:53AM (5/10/2006)
I got fooled too. I double checked if it was an April issue. Then I saw the Tornado air management stuff and the fuel magnet, ahem.
There is a tire brand called Fulda !!
But the wagon as such looks pretty neat to me.
I like Car and Driver, they are real fun. They need to be able to survive.
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Galley 7:55AM (5/10/2006)
Is it just me, or do all of the new Fords look exactly alike?
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Mad Scientist Matt 10:12AM (5/10/2006)
I like that passenger side view too, save for the goofball exhaust placement. For some reason, I just have a thing for two door wagons. Ford ought to hire that Photoshop crew to design them a real car.
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Marcus 10:25AM (5/10/2006)
I was actually kind of put out when I realized it was a fake (somewhere between the Dodge Ram SRT10 shift linkage and the "Mullholland Drive" suspension setting) because I thought it looked pretty sweet, especially from the two-door angle on the second page. Having just returned from college, a big, slightly finished load space in the back of a sleek little nouveau-Nomad sounds like an awesome transporter for my junk..
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JT Tripp 1:02PM (5/15/2006)
I love it
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