Autoblog

Automotive News is reporting today that Ford has confirmed to analysts that Lincoln will be getting a seven-passenger crossover vehicle based on the same platform as the upcoming production version of the Ford Fairlane. The Lincoln crossover's codename is D472 and it's expected to reach showrooms next year as a 2009 model. Here's the important nugget of info: the Lincoln crossover will not be a rebadged Ford Fairlane. While it will share "hard points" with the Fairlane, the entire skin should be all Lincoln and sport the double-wing grille, high beltline and thin taillamps that we've been told will be Lincoln's styling cues going forward. Peter Horbury, Ford's Design Chief in the U.S., compared the D472's styling with the "sleekness of a Gulfstream jet." We should expect that by 2009 other vehicles in Lincoln's lineup like the MKZ, MKX and Navigator will also get the double-wing grille treatment to match new products like this seven-seat crossover and the upcoming MKS sedan.

[Source: Automotive News]

It's mostly a 1962 VW Bus. Except for the engine, which is now a 355 small-block. And the aluminum seats. And the 7-inch chop. Oh, and the trademark VW flower vase on the dash was carved from billet aluminum. All that and more makes it one of Hot Rod Magazine's Top 10 Hot Rods of 2006. The photo is linked to a full detailing of the sinister beast.

The other nine top-rated Hot Rods can be viewed by following the 'read' link below, including HRM's Hot Rod of the Year. If you like ungodly amounts of horsepower, you'll probably agree with their choices. If you don't, you might prefer this link instead.

[Source: Hot Rod Magazine via Jalopnik]

Despite what everyone thought was the plan, the production version of the upcoming Ford Fairlane family wagon will not debut at the 2007 North American International Auto Show in early January. Ford claims it was never scheduled to debut in Detroit, though Bob Thibodeau, a local Detroit Ford dealer and senior cochairman of NAIAS, told the Detroit Free Press he had it down on his official list.

What's the reason for the Fairlane's no-show? Officially Ford is saying that the Detroit show doesn't correspond with the vehicle's manufacturing schedule. That very well may be the case, as it doesn't appear producing the Fairlane is going to be the simple conversion of the concept we thought it would be. Word is that Ford's showing a version of the Fairlane at its Showroom of the Future event at Cobo Hall that's less boxy than the concept Fairlane that kicked off this whole thing. This new Fairlane is a wild card, as we've not seen a spy photo or heard any rumblings about it until now. We'll be sure to let you know as soon as it pops up on our radar again.

[Source: Detroit Free Press via Kicking Tires]

In an interview with Ward's Auto, Ford's chief creative officer (CCO?) and VP of design, J Mays explains that the similarities between the concept and the production versions of the Fairlane are profound. So much so, that some employees at FoMoCo can't tell the difference between the two.

The Fairlane seeks to bring an air of luxurious practicality to the people mover segment and considering the amount of growth Ford sees in the CUV segment, hopefully it fill the niche comprised of ex-SUVers and minivan refugees.

As we've already reported, Fairlane badging will not make it to production, instead, a yet-to-be-disclosed name will likely be announced in the next few months. Ford's newer crossover-van thingy will be built at the automaker's plant in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, along with a rebadged Lincoln version.

[Source: Byron Pope/Ward's Auto]

If Ford had made all the Right Moves from around the turn of the century to the present, it wouldn't need a Bold Move to pull it back from the brink. This post will imagine a Ford lineup of today that could have been had the Blue Oval been bold back then. Such a lineup, we believe, would have made Ford a top contender today in terms of product. Instead, for many reasons, Ford is forced to turn itself around while mired in a product lineup that's ill suited for today's tastes. So let's put on our imagination caps and envision the lineup that Ford took a pass on.

You knew this was coming. Ever since Ford confirmed that the full-size Fairlane crossover (pictured) was going into production, the writing has been on the wall for Ford's big box minivans, and Friday the other shoe finally dropped, with The Detroit News reporting that Ford's minivans are dead.

It turns out this week marked the end of production for the Mercury Monterey, and the last Ford Freestar is rumored to roll off the line next spring. As a result, Ford will go down in history as the first U.S. automaker to stop selling traditional three-row minivans. Whether or not this marks the beginning of the end for the minivan, or just signals Ford's inability to compete with the big dogs in the segment (DaimlerChrysler, Toyota and Honda), only time will tell.

Meanwhile, Ford is hoping that it will be more successful competing on a fresh playing field with its new crossover, which debuts in 2008.

[Source: The Detroit News]

With the clock winding down on its slow-selling minivans, a Ford Motor executive has finally confirmed that a production version of the Ford Fairlane concept car is planned for 2008, after months of rumors and reports. According to suppliers, Lincoln will also get a version of the new crossover. This news comes after The Detroit News cited "insiders" within the company last month who claimed the Fairlane had gotten the go-ahead. AutoWeek's source is a company executive who didn't want to be identified.

The new vehicle will replace the Monterey and Freestar minivans in the three-rows-of-seats market segment, but at this stage little else is known about the final form of the car. As we reported back in February, both the Ford and Lincoln models will be built at Ford's Oakville, Ontario plant.

As we reported earlier, the Ford production version of the concept car is unlikely to carry the Fairlane badge. No word on the hybrid version, also rumored in February, but with Ford backing off on its hybrid promises of late, that's not surprising.

[Source: AutoWeek]

Say goodbye to the Ford minivans.The Detroit News is reporting that the Fairlane concept has been green lighted and will debut in production form during next year's auto show circuit. With its minivan sales in steady decline since 2000, FoMoCo has apparently decided to face the problem head-on by attacking that market segment with the new vehicle.

The Fairlane (in concept form, at least) is an attractive take on the current crossover segment, offering minivan-like carrying capacity without the frumpy stigma those vehicles carry in tow. Its large, wagon-like profile evokes SUVs while its low step-in height is more carlike. Sliding doors are ditched in favor of full-sized, rear-hinged "suicide" doors that provide easy access to the passenger cabin when fully opened. Outside, crisp lines and Ford's three-bar corporate face set the tone stylewise.

The interior offers flexible seating that can be reconfigured to accommodate different types of cargo. Fairlane's dashboard and many of the other cabin materials are pure concept car stuff, but given that Ford has done nice work with the cabins of the Five Hundred, Freestyle, and Edge, there's no reason to believe that the interior of the production Fairlane won't be up to snuff.

Now, the paper also reports that there are several aspects of the car that are still up in the air, such as the name (note to Ford: "Fairlane" is just fine) and the final styling direction. Still, news of its approval is an important development. A well-executed Fairlane should easily surpass the numbers being put up by the current minivans, and could help alleviate the pain caused by slower-selling SUVs, especially if it takes an extended period of time for those numbers to start ticking back upward.

Most importantly, this decision demonstrates that the Way Forward plan is not just empty corporate rhetoric and that "Bold Moves" is more than a throwaway tagline. If these are the kinds of maneuvers -- leaving stagnant market segments, approving compelling new products -- that can expect to see from Ford from now on, then there is reason to believe that good things are in store.

[Source: The Detroit News]