QOTD: The Right Stuff at the Right Time?
In our question of the day post last Wednesday, we asked you to submit the vehicles that left you wondering what the manufacturers behind them were thinking. Today, we’ll take the opposite tack and focus our attention on the automotive products which came along at exactly the right time.
My selection today was an example of great innovation at its debut. So influential was this new model that it changed the landscape of the segment in which it competed. Just have a look at this aerodynamic beauty:
I selected a picture of the Mercury Sable in particular, because I like the light bar at the front and how it’s slightly more upscale than its Taurus sibling.
Ford began the development of its own new lineup of sedans and wagons in 1981. At the time, the American family car landscape was a bleak one: Leftovers from the Malaise Era, inefficient in their design and questionable in their materials, roamed the country as they rusted rapidly. Consumers wanted front-wheel drive, modern designs which were kinder to the eyes and the fuel economy figures that came with.
Think about what the Taurus replaced. Just have a look:
The midsize Ford LTD originated on the Fox platform for 1983, replacing the Granada. Taurus was a revolutionary step forward, and it existed with its grandfather on dealer lots for only the 1986 model year. The Taurus caught other domestic automakers by surprise when Ford pitted it against entries like the Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera or the K-car Chrysler Town and Country wagon. On sale at the end of 1985, the Taurus and Sable were instant sales success stories. Originally available with four or six cylinders and manual and automatic transmissions, consumers and fleet companies alike threw their money at Ford. General Motors and Chrysler were left with surprised faces and some product development to do. Advantage: Taurus.
Let’s hear your selections for right product, right time.
[Images: Chrysler, Ford]
Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.
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Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40. Don't require to add anything else.
1982 A-body Century and Ciera, proved GM could make competent FWD cars that sold by the boatload. I'd also honestly say the Ford Fairmont- first of the fox body platform, and pretty much the sole reason Ford didn't go bankrupt along with Chrysler in the 70's.