[Shotimes] First look at the new 500

[Ian Fisher]

Damn, you know I tottaly forgot to go to that- (the
mercedes drive). I was even signed up in the same
session with you Tom. hahaha..whoops. It was a hectic
weekend anyway.

Speaking of which, did we ever finalize anything with
the SHO gettogether? Email me offlist so we can
discuss.

Thanks

Ian

--- Tom Smith <tjsmith@monmouth.com> wrote:

> I saw one at the dealer this weekend (did not drive)
> I agree,
> it looks big from the outside. The roofline was very
> tall and
> I could not help think Ford built a nice copy of a
> Passat from
> the side with Mercedes looking rear lights. The nose
> seems pushed
> in to fit the tallness of the rest of the car. The
> one I saw had
> a sticker of over $30k and had 18 inch rims. Shame
> the car will
> "only" have 200HP.  I went to look at the 500 at the
> Ford dealer
> after driving 8 different Mercedes at a local beat
> the cars and
> drive event. Drove the SL500 conv. 6 times around
> the course. Fun
> sliding a $90k car around some cones, so I was
> spoiled when I went
> to look at Fords ;)
> 
> Tom 91+ 95MB MTX
> 
> On Tue, 5 Oct 2004, Donald Mallinson wrote:
> 
> > Replacement for the Taurus?
> >
> > Huge step forward from the Taurus?
> >
> > Well my first look up close at the new 500 was
> underwhelming
> > to say the least.
> >
> > At first impression the car seems HUGE!  Very
> tall, long and
> > wide.
> >
> > First impression at getting into the car is "where
> did they
> > hide all the extra room?".
> >
> > Less headroom by far than in the Gen III SHO at
> least, seats
> > in front are very narrow compared to any year SHO,
> and
> > positively skinny by typical Taurus or any other
> mid/full
> > size car I can think of.
> >
> > Overall fit/finish inside is not a big step
> forward, but it
> > does seem at least as good as my '96.
> >
> > Outside, my '96 has much better fit/finish than
> the 500.
> > Usually after 2-3 years of stamping you start to
> see waves
> > in the bodies as the dies get wear/tear.  If that
> is so,
> > then the new 500 will look like a lake surface on
> a windy
> > day after a year or two.  Rear quarter panels have
> massive
> > waves (compared to the quality you would expect
> today).
> >
> > Paint quality was iffy, with much more orange peel
> than I
> > remember in any Gen III Taurus (I am not that
> familiar with
> > the Gen IV Taurus, or gen III if you count they
> way Ford does).
> >
> > The trunk was huge, and if I could play 8 games of
> golf at
> > once, I would love the new car.
> >
> > For now I am waiting to see what else Ford comes
> up with,
> > because this isn't the big step forward that I was
> led to
> > believe.
> >
> > Didn't get a chance to drive the new one today, so
> I will
> > have to reserve that evaluation for later.
> >
> > Others get a chance to see this car yet?
> >
> > Don Mallinson
> > _______________________________________________
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> > Shotimes@autox.team.net
> > http://www.team.net/mailman/listinfo/shotimes
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> 



		
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