Spy Shots: 2008 Ford Escape
by Damon Lavrinc on Nov 2nd 2006 at 9:03AM 
Wow. One of Ford's employees made it way to easy for KGP's shooter to snap a shot of the new Escape in the buff. Seen in a parking lot in the Detroit area, Ford's redesigned soft-roader gets a more butch nose and, surprisingly, doesn't don the three-bar grille that's infecting all of Ford's recent offerings. The nose is decidedly Expedition-esque, with the rest of the body offering little departure from its big brother, the Mercury Mariner.In other similarities to the Escape's upmarket sibling, the interior is rather unchanged, with much of the high-end trimmings being toned-down to define itself as the lesser of the two.
We expect the Escape to make its debut at this month's L.A. Auto Show and now that we've seen it, we'll probably skip the press event.
[Source: The Car Connection]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
CJ 9:19AM (11/02/2006)
Wow. Ford should really give up on these nose jobs. They've never been good at it. This doesn't help the Escape at all... it's a decent car and deserves better!
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Frank-O 9:40AM (11/02/2006)
UGLY! I would take the styling of the Tribute or Mariner ANY day!
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Hamud 9:43AM (11/02/2006)
Not bad, I liked that.
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Artist 9:45AM (11/02/2006)
Yikes. The name - "escape" fully equal to this time. Designers has escaped, when the car was designed
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PuffyC 9:53AM (11/02/2006)
Very nice, especially the interior. If I were in the market for a small SUV this would be at the top of my list.
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Richard Warren 11:39AM (11/02/2006)
Nothing new, nothing to see, move along.
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Buzzsaw 10:24AM (11/02/2006)
I like the addition of more little cubbies in the center console (my current whip is a 05 Mariner). The exterior has a heavy dose of Korean or even Euro flavor, which could attract new buyers to the brand... which means that Ford is going to have to put up impressive numbers (HP/TQ, legroom, cupholders, PRICE) to have any chance at success.
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David F 10:52AM (11/02/2006)
It's an improvement from the original, definitely an upgrade. It's amazing how it's shaping up to look like the explorer from a few years ago, as the explorer grows more rows of seating...
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ohmy 10:34AM (11/02/2006)
interior gets a B+, exterior gets a C-...
the escape was great because of its simple no nonsense sort of look and size, now it looks a bit bloated from the back and way over styled in the front... the interion is nice though (even if a bit too gimmicky)...
nice going Ford, you screwed up something you actually got right the on the first try...
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Buzzsaw 10:41AM (11/02/2006)
Oh I would also like to reiterate that the 08 Mariner's design has sent me running from the brand, perhaps never to return. Sad, since the '05 was such a clean, classy look!
http://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/06/2008-mercury-mariner-revealed/
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Anthony94114 12:03PM (11/02/2006)
It looks kinda Forrester-ish to me. Both ends. Huh. That's always been a car with wierd proportions, but maybe this will be better in person. Cheaper looking too, with that gaping grill and black plastic on the tailgate.The Escape was still looking comfortably good in its geriatric years, but it was definitely due for an overhaul.
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mes 10:57AM (11/02/2006)
FORD GM wake up!!!!!!
Time to change gears and get into the ball game!!!
Its the ninth inning with 2 outs!!!
Get your design engineers in gear!!
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Jim in Tampa 11:00AM (11/02/2006)
The rear window on the driver's side has the hybrid type window. Anyway, looks a little bland. I always thought the XLT Sport and Limited Escapes with the painted bumpers had a nice agressive look to them.
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Ken 11:02AM (11/02/2006)
I like it too. My wife drives an '06 and puts 125 miles a day on it. It's well build and gets pretty good mileage.
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That One Person 11:10AM (11/02/2006)
I have seen a few of these running around Dearborn. It looks a lot better in person. There was a sharp looking black one that really caught my attention.
I personally think this is an improvement over the current Escape...
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Chris 11:08AM (11/02/2006)
Looks UGLY! Instead designing a baby Edge (Beautiful exterior design in my opinion) they made this plain, boring, lost in the crowd, sad vehicle. Just take a look at the sides: There is no design at all! Flat side, generic doors and fenders, there is nothing going on there... I just hope (for Ford's sake) that they started this design before Edge and Fusion time and decided to keep it because they did not have the $$$ to change it.
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KT 12:19PM (11/02/2006)
It's a good looking little SUV. It looks much better in person. This is a plain white pre-production unit and shouldn't be used when making judgment on the redesign. Wait until it hits the dealers and take a look at it then.
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tommcg 11:40AM (11/02/2006)
new mariner - better.
new escape - worse.
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Jeff 11:43AM (11/02/2006)
I drove an Escape XLT for 3 years. It was a dandy little SUV. Other than having to have the sunroof switch replaced under warranty, I never had one single moment's trouble with it. There was one recall with the throtle cable that I had taken care of during the next oil change and the dealership handled it quickly and got me out-the-door post haste.
The only reason I sold it was I hit a magic age number where driving a flashy red convertible seemed like a better idea than a small SUV. I was 100% satisfied with the Escape.
The only drawbacks I ever saw with it was the engine was a little thirsty for the given amount of power. At 200hp, the gas mileage was nothing to write home about, but if Ford could have squeezed another 50 or 60 hp from the engine and kept the gas mileage about the same, it would have been the perfect package.
I think the styling on the revision is fine. A little too Exploreresque, but hey, it's an SUV. They are not sexy sports cars, they are Utility vehicles. They haul your lazy but back and forth to work every day, on the weekends, they allow you to toss a few bags of mulch in the back so you can satisfy the wife and get the yard work done.
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leo 5:47PM (11/02/2006)
i never liked the old one, but this time they seem to have a much better front end adn interior
the C-pliar adn the rear end are still just plain ugly as they used to be
a shame as the competition has much better designs
and yes the Honda CRV now looks better than the escape, so does the Rav4, Torrent adn it's siblings
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