Z284ever

http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/art...602030367/1148

Too bad, the SVT Sport-Trac looked cool.

1990 Turbo Grand Prix

I was curious about the SVT Sport Trac, but it seems it will be another "what-if" by Ford as the next Lightning and Forty Nine turned out to be.

SNEAKY NEIL

It is strange that they seem to be killing off all the exciting projects and vehicles. The Adrenelin was supposed to be Ford's return to the sport truck market after the Lightning left, and now it is dead. The LS was the best Lincoln at the time of release and now it is dead. I realize that Ford want s to focus on thier core products but it seems that at least for a few years, there will be very little excitement in the showrooms.

Z28x

Chevy is just as lame if they don't build that LS2 Colorado SS. Make the LS2 package a $4000 option on a Colorado ZQ8 and watch the press and public eatthem up.

96_Camaro_B4C

Had to read the link. Your thread title just says they killed the Sport Trac, which confused me because I thought they had recently released the new for '07 Sport Trac.

According to the article, it looks like they killed the SVT/Adrenaline version of the Sport Trac, but not the regular one. Right?

Z284ever

I don't know Joe, I assumed the whole Sport Trac line. Not sure.

SNEAKY NEIL

It was just the Adrenaline model.

Z28x

Just the SVT Sport trac

Z284ever

Right you are.

SVT is really becoming a hollow version of what it once was. What a shame.

ProudPony

From the article...
"Ford said the upcoming Shelby GT500, an ultra-high-performance version of the Mustang, will fill the void left by the GT."

Ummm NO. It won't.
And I hope someone is zapped in the ******* for even saying something like that in the media.
I noticed they did not quote any person, they just stated "Ford said...".
I am beyond "doubting" this one.

guionM

This does not bode well as an insight to Ford's corperate mind. In fact, it's actually pretty scary.


One of Ford's enduring qualities over the years (love them or hate them) was they had "*****". They wern't afraid to try something different, or go the extra mile when everyone else were making excuses or claims it couldn't be done.

Ford created not just the original Mustang, but the Mustang II (under development at the exact time logic dictated cars were going to be bigger and quicker). When Ford was on the ropes around 1980, they began the "constant improvement" phlosophy, that also included performance. Ford moved from a 120 horse Mustang Cobra in 1981 to SVO turbocharged & intercooled Mustangs, hot handling Merkurs from Germany, V8s that got more powerful every year, duals on everything right down to V6 T-birds.

SVT was another bold idea. An inhouse performance shop, like Mercedes' AMG, responsible for making special Fords. And the darn division actually turned profits! Ford sank a small fortune into the MN12 back in the late 80s. The cars were slammed as overweight and too expensive to make, but the things are arguably more capable handling cars than 90% of today's modern IRS RWD cars... and they still cleared money.

There's no reason to do a Lightning, a Cobra, a Marauder, a Ford GT, even the 2 passenger Thunderbird, let alone a IRS rear drive LS. But all made an impact and defined the Ford Motor Company as a sort of company that could make things happen when no one else could or would.

Camaro (the original & the new one), Corvette, GM Performance division, the Catera, the CTS and by association, the rest of GM's Sigma line, the Northstar V8, Silverado SS (90s version as well as the newer one) and GM rediscovering performance in the 1980s can all be traced to Ford's bold moves.

With Ford killing the SVT Sport Trac (a vehicle which undoubted be more popular than the profitable regular cab Lightining), they just shot themselves in the foot as far as adding excitement to the truck line. Today's Harley F series just aren't the same without the superchargers. Killing the LS instead of restyling and taking out costs is a HUGE mistake. The car never registered on my radar till I drove one. And although I knew the Ford GT would be only a few years running, Ford isn't replacing it with the Cobra (the 2nd Shelby inspired concept of year before last) as planned as late as a few months ago.

Ford DID plan on making a rwd sedan, but I don't see where they are going to make it. All the factories where I suspect they could are being closed. I suppose they could make it at Crown Vics/Grand Marc's plant in St. Thomas Ontario once production winds down in a couple of years, but I don't see any evidence yet.

Ford may be making some pocket change, but their lack of ambition as far as exciting cars (outside of Mustang) and lack of ambition for sales is very disturbing. I'm almost wishing Nasser came back.

Sorry for the mini rant. I haven't been this peeved at Ford's direction since I jumped ship and bought my Z28 about 8 years ago.

guionM

Unfortunately, marketing people who talk to the press aren't the brightest bulbs in the shop. They are locked into the subsitution mindset where if a car with great impact is killed off, they'll point to another vehicle as a subsitute without expending a single neuro transmission. Kind of like those guys on a sales lot who know very little about cars, that don't have what you want and see nothing wrong with pushing you to buy something totally different.

Remember the GM guy who said a Cavalier and Monte Carlo were subsitutes for Camaro?

Then there was the guys hawking Tahoes as subsitutes for Crown Victorias to police departments.

I think either Chrysler does a better job muzzling their guys, actually try to make viable subsitutes, or simply don't even try to make excuses.

Z284ever

While we're on the subject, I wonder what the deal would be with SVT if John Coletti were still around?

I think things would be different.

slayerxxx213

Well, I have to say this is quite a disappointment...The Adrenaline looked really cool. It also seems a bit to soon to end the GT's production run

SNEAKY NEIL

Yeah, not even two years ago, it seemed that Ford had the affordable performance crown all but assured and now it has all but evaporated. The Mustang is the sole performance vehicle at Ford. What happened? All the performance trucks that were around and "on the way" are gone. Every SVT is gone and there are no exciting Mercurys or Lincolns around or even on the horizon as far as I can tell.

In this context, GM doesn't seem so bad off.

Also, is it just me or does it seem that the Ford GT didn't really make as big of an impact as expected? There were some studder steps in the beginning and you really didn't get a sense that this was a vehicle to take on the market. Maybe it seems that way to me because I have never seen one on the road and it is an out of sight out of mind thing. Even in the big comparison tests with the American sports cars, the ZO6 runs away with the big compliments. What does everyone else think?