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| 2004
FORD LINE-UP | |
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| FORD
CARS |
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 The
car class from Ford for 2004 includes
a varied assortment of sedans, hatchbacks
and wagons, plus some slick coupes and
convertibles.
Ford
builds four-door sedans like the full-size
Crown Victoria and midsize Taurus that
rank as bestsellers in their class and
contain advanced safety systems.
A
subcompact series grouped under the
Focus label - currently the best-selling
small car in the world - subdivides
into sedans, wagons and sporty hatchbacks
including souped-up SVT performance
models. Meaning Special Vehicle Team,
SVT is the acronym for a group of automotive
engineers at Ford who create high-performance
versions of particular car models by
applying special suspension hardware
and engine tuning, racer-size brakes
with big speed-rated tires and other
accoutrement of lickety-split road romping.
Two variations of the Focus SVT show
up for 2004 as a three-door hatchback
coupe or five-door hatchback sedan.
Coupe and convertible variations packing
strong powertrains represent Ford's
muscle car, legendary Mustang. The series
includes a retro-styled Mach 1 special
edition and the awesome SVT Mustang
Cobra spewing supercharged strength.
Another legendary name at Ford, Thunderbird,
presents sleek two-seat roadster styling
and strong power from a big V8.
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| Ford
Crown Victoria |
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Ford's full-size Crown Victoria sedan
carves out enough room in the cabin
to haul a team of tall basketball players
plus heaps of gear bags stuffed into
the cavernous trunk. The rear-wheel
driveline and a chassis with wheelbase
extending nearly ten feet comes from
a platform also used by Lincoln's elite
Town Car.
There's
ample power from a V8 rigged with high-tech
hardware and tuned for low-torque output.
The 4.6-liter Ford plant in standard
application produces 224 hp. An optional
performance package adds twin exhaust
pipes to boost output to 239 hp. Three
trim versions continue as the base Crown
Victoria, LX series and LX Sport with
equipment added for keen performance
and a monochromatic body coated in shades
like Dark Toreador Red or Midnight Gray.
Side
air bags stand on the list of options,
along with all-speed traction control
system (TCS) with electronic brake force
distribution (EBD) and a six-disc CD
changer.
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| Ford
Taurus |
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The
popular family cars from Ford fit in
the midsize class and come in configurations
of a four-door sedan and five-door station
wagon. All Taurus issues for 2004 wear
a new egg-crate grille up front and
restyled fascia with fresh aerodynamic
styling.
Trim levels encompass designations of
LX, SE, SES and SEL, with SES stocking
more standard equipment like an anti-lock
brake system (ABS) and CD deck but top-end
SEL with aluminum wheels and a six-disc
CD changer. Engines include Ford's 3.0-liter
Vulcan V6, rated at 155 hp, and a dual-cam
Duratec version good for 201 hp.
An
exceptional four-speed automatic transaxle,
reworked with an enhanced torque converter
this year, mates with either engine.
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| Ford
Mustang |
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To
commemorate forty years of production
for Ford's classic pony car, special
badges marking the anniversary dress
the forward flanks of all 2004 Mustang
models. Also, a 40th anniversary package
brings special performance gear plus
racing stripes in Arizona Beige Metallic
streaking the long hood.
Current
designs -- including coupe and convertible
variations in base V6 and GT models
plus powerful SVT Cobra -- trace to
a revival for Mustang in 1994 built
off Ford's Fox platform. Today's Mustang
in base coupe trim or daring drop-top
totes Ford's 3.8-liter Essex V6 that
produces 193 hp. Mustang GT coupe and
convertible carry more power from Ford's
single-cam 4.6-liter V8 pegged at 260
hp.
The
low-to-the-ground Mustang Mach 1 shows
a ram-air scoop on the hood to shoot
fresh air into the engine for more power
and torque. In the cabin, Mach 1 has
leather seats, instruments with retro-look
dials and polished aluminum pedals.
Mustang's power monster SVT Cobra adds
a Roots-type Eaton supercharger and
aluminum cylinder heads on the 4.6-liter
V8 to run it up to 390 hp. Cobra uses
SVT-tuned springs with Bilstein shocks
and 17-inch Goodyear Eagle F1 tires,
with the cabin dressed in leather and
suede. New shades for 2004 Cobra include
Screaming Yellow and Competition Orange. |
| Ford
Thunderbird |
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In contemporary homage to Ford's brilliant
two-seat sports car from 1955, Thunderbird
was born again in 2002. With rolled
edges over finely carved fenders and
tailored components such as retro-round
headlights and chrome-coated grilles
in egg-crate scheme, the indented air
scoop centered on the hood, chrome air
ports on each flank and those round-round
red lamps etched into a curvy-cute tail:
All disparate forms merge together into
a stunning two-seat convertible sculpture
on wheels.
The
2004 'Bird has a big 3.9-liter aluminum
V8 with electronic throttle control
and variable cam timing. It delivers
280 hp with an automatic five-speed
transmission and optional new SelectShift
for shift-it-yourself action. A new
appearance package emerges in Light
Sand tint on the convertible top and
into the cabin on seats, steering wheel
and shifter stick knob. |
| Ford
Focus |
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Formats for Ford's worldly small car
include a four-door sedan, five-door
station wagon, and hatchbacks in three-door
and five-door formats.
Focus
provides surprising room from a concise
cabin with twin buckets in front of
a fold-down bench and back bay for gear.
Prime editions use two editions of a
2.0-liter four-cylinder Ford engine.
The
economy mode with single-cam design
for sedan and wagon earns 110 hp and
high fuel economy figures. The sporty
mode - Ford's Zetec engine - has dual
cams for more spark to 130 hp. It's
standard on Z-cars such as the ZX3 three-door
and ZX5 five-door hatchbacks, or the
five-door ZTW wagon. Focus ZTS sedan
shows a new dual-cam 2.3-liter four-cylinder
engine rated at 145 hp and it's a new
power option for other Focus models.
A performance version - SVT Focus -
continues as a three-door hatch off
the ZX3 and a five-door model based
on ZX5. Power for SVT comes from a pumped-up
version of the Zetec engine that hits
170 hp and connects to a six-speed manual
gearbox. New six-spoke wheels at 17
inches mark 2004 SVT Focus models, and
a new option of Sonic Blue body paint
includes blue inserts added to the sporty
bucket seats. (...BACK) |
[MORE
INFORMATION FROM FORD]
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