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Ford Five Hundred/Mercury Montego

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What is this discussion about? Ford Five Hundred, Mercury Montego, Sedan

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#41 of 3617 Designer by stormdavy Apr 09, 2002 (4:14 pm)
Does anyone know where the designer of the infamous 'catfish' Taurus is today? Still with Ford? I'm interested in factual answers, or if you can suggest a better place to post. Thanks.
#42 of 3617 stormdavy by regfootball Apr 09, 2002 (5:12 pm)
i have some info posted in the taurus topic....his name is doug gaffka, but i don't know where he is today.
#43 of 3617 Gaffka by pluskin Apr 12, 2002 (8:28 am)
He is still at Ford. Believe it or not, I think he did most of the design work on the new Thunderbird. He has also been promoted.   I would suggest anyone interested in the story behind the 96 Taurus, read a book called "Car" Its a behind the scenes look at the entire development process, and why they designed it like they did.
#44 of 3617 'Car' by verozahl Apr 12, 2002 (9:47 pm)
WHY did they design the 1996 Taurus as they did? As I already have enough tormented nightmares in my sleep, I'd rather not know the origins of the Oval Demon.
#45 of 3617 Taurus by pluskin Apr 13, 2002 (12:15 pm)
The reasoning went something like this. They wanted to capture import buyers. Market research showed that even if they built a car that was equal to the Japanese competition as far as quality/performance/etc., the import buyers would still not buy it unless it was priced much lower. The one place they thought they could beat the Japanese though and get these buyers was through design. Much of the success of the 86 Taurus was its cutting edge design. So they wanted to achieve that again. So they set out to build a car that was better then the Camry, and better looking then the Camry.   Obviously, when you go for a design that is not conservative, you run a risk. It could be a big hit or a big dud.   I think the lesson here is that you don't do the risky crazy designs on mass market family vehicles, but rather on niche vehicles or youth oriented products. Notice the very evolutionary changes in the new Explorer and Expedition. They weren't about to make the same mistake.
#46 of 3617 by rea98d Apr 13, 2002 (5:48 pm)
Well, Ford seems to have done pretty well with the Forty-Nine concept and the T-Bird. Do you think they might take the risk of bringing back some cues from the '55 Fairlane for a mass-market vehicle, now that they've tested the waters? They don't have to do anything as drastic as a modern '59 El Dorado, but round headlights & taillights, a big chrome grille (as long as it didn't look too busy), and a rather subtle body crease the shape of the chrome trim on a '55 Fairlane would have a car than would not alienate the mass market, and still give it a bit of old fashioed charm most imports seem to be lacking. Toyotas and Hondas seem to lack any emotion at all. Mustangs and Firebirds seem to say "Get outta my wat or I'll kick your ---!" The new T-Bird and the VW Beetle seem to have, happy, cheerful personalities. Ford needs to give this car a look that has personality, not just something that is different for different's sake.
#47 of 3617 by regfootball Apr 13, 2002 (9:23 pm)
to some extent the 96 Taurus was to be a copy of the Oldsmobile Aurora.
#48 of 3617 by verozahl Apr 13, 2002 (9:45 pm)
The Japanese gave up on sport coupes in the US in the late 1990s, thus leaving the road open for outdated Mustangs and Firebirds.   The Taurus as a copy of the Aurora? Ooops... something went wrong there!   The Five Hundred appears to be naught but an impersonation of the Passat.
#49 of 3617 regfootball by pluskin Apr 14, 2002 (4:36 am)
Where do you get that from? They don't look anything alike, they are in different segments, and I've never heard anything about the Aurora being a benchmark for the Taurus.
#50 of 3617 by upsetter1 Apr 14, 2002 (9:31 am)
I don't think that boring car or copycat is the recipe for Ford. And reason of Accord and Camry success is not that they are boring, but proven reliability and top quality.   BTW there is a comparo test in the last Motor Trend where Taurus was the dead last after Impala, Altima, Accord and Camry. I agree that Camry is the best of the bunch, though if Ford would copy Camry, I would rather buy Camry.   Of all the bunch Camry and Taurus have a lot of similarities according to the test, up to the point that Toyota has implemented New Edge design better than Taurus (though starting with ovaloid extremist car it is almost impossible to make a car complying to the New Edge philosophy without full redesign). If Accord, Altima and Impala has one contingent of buyers who like more sporty cars, Camry and Taurus have the different contingent who like more comfortable, smooth and refined ride.   What Ford could do, to make a more conservative Taurus and more avantguard Mercury, so everybody would be happy. And it has to match quality of ride, braking and steering of Camry. And get rid of exposed screw heads, low quality and bad looking door seals, front bench seat philosophy, that makes sacrifices in ergonomics. Gauge cluster though is well made and easy to read, lacks the modern look with mechnical odometer and doesn't even have transmission mode indication !

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