Cars Time Soon Forgot - Ford Five Hundred Edition (A new feature I should write?)

"Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif" (lumpy44)
01/11/2014 at 23:18 • Filed to: Cars Time Soon Forgot

Thinking of making this a new feature that I will write periodically. I will feature cars that where only in production for a short time and their influence on cars now. Ok, now on to the story.

The Ford Five Hundred was only in production from 2005 to 2007. It was in the time just before the auto makers fell apart and needed a bailout, which let to the death of many nameplates and the birth of a few more. It was released with the Ford Fusion as a replacements for the Taurus, but then became the predecessor for the 2008 Taurus. The Taurus stayed a big round car as the Fusion became an affordable, slower Jaguar look-a-like (Flame suit equipped). The styling for the Five Hundred was based on the 2000 concept the Ford Prodigy.

The 500 was always too slow for a big car (203hp), compared to its direct competition the Chrysler 300 (250hp) which also had a lot of Mercedes design involved. The 2007 Five Hundred was originally released at the Detroit Auto Show but became the Taurus by the time of the 2007 Chicago Auto Show.

The death of the Five Hundred came at the 2007 Chicago Auto Show due to Mexico soon receiving the Fiat 500 and "meh" reviews on the Five Hundred over its life time. The 2008 Taurus received more power (263hp), a CVT Transmission, and different front and rear bumpers. It was seen as a "New and Improved" Taurus instead of a slightly improved Five Hundred.

Thanks for reading? Is this kind of thing worth my time?

Five Hundred race car!

DISCUSSION (19)

M54B30 > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif
01/11/2014 at 23:42

I liked the 500 and looked for one to buy but without luck. I picture them being really comfortable on long trips but I've never actually ridden in one. I don't really consider it a "lost" car, I think of it as evolving into the Taurus. I think the 500 name should've carried over instead of being called Taurus though. There was a Taurus X, essentially a renamed Freestyle as well. Goofy name, but I liked the wagon looks

thebigbossyboss > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif
01/11/2014 at 23:42

10/10 would read again.

Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif > thebigbossyboss
01/11/2014 at 23:57

Thank ya! Thinking of doing the Crossfire next.

Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif > M54B30
01/12/2014 at 00:00

It wasn't a terrible car but the Taurus somehow won out. I remember the Taurus X too. Ford did the same thing with Mercury Sable/Montego.

mattoverdrive > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif
01/12/2014 at 00:04

Ford didn't take the bailout, that was only GM and Chrysler. Ford was planning on it, but didn't take it when all of the bad press started about the bailout. Ford had a pretty big cash reserve since Mullaly had mortgaged a large number of asserts that Ford owned outright.

I would have commented on the paragraph in question, but it seems kinja isn't letting me do that from my phone.

Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif > mattoverdrive
01/12/2014 at 00:09

I remember Ford not taking it but couldn't really remember the reasons. I was more commenting on the auto industry as a whole there but thanks for explaining!

GhostZ > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif
01/12/2014 at 00:23

Why wasn't this RWD.

etc.

Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif > GhostZ
01/12/2014 at 00:27

Cars can't be everything you want, at best you get 86%.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > GhostZ
01/12/2014 at 02:29

Because the majority of NEW car buyers are not enthusiasts x3

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif
01/12/2014 at 02:31

Really, this wasn;t a separate car from the Taurus, it was the Taurus they were trying to fit in with the "F-everything" naming scheme. They might've been trying to evolve it into their large car, but still it is the Taurus.

GhostZ > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
01/12/2014 at 02:52

The Ford Five Hundred was a flop for new car buyers regardless. It's not so much about enthusiasm, but Ford trying to compete with ze germans.

Trying to replace the Crown Victoria with the Five Hundred was a horrible marketing move, as it cut Ford out of fleet vehicle sales and made it unsuitable for taxi and police service, and it took all the way until the Taurus Police Interceptor came out for them to get back in.

If the Five Hundred was RWD, then there was hope that the Lincoln MKS would have been RWD too, and a legitimate base 3 series competitor.

I guess what I mean to say is, the death of the Crown Vic in favor of a more 'luxurious' car that was, essentially, just an upmarket Taurus, was the start of the decline of Lincoln and why it's struggling now.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > GhostZ
01/12/2014 at 03:39

The "start" of Lincoln's decline? Lincoln has had a stagnant product line since the 80s. The LS was a good start but it was heavily based on the Jaguar S-type. I would argue the Lincoln did it better, but once that went away, THAT was when lincoln was in trouble. The Navigator helped as well but products like the blackwood and Mark LT prove otherwise. Mercury was also part of it as the Milan actually shifted units. Nothing else in their very limited lineup did, but the milan managed to move a surprising chunk of cars despite being an upscale fusion. At least, in the metro detroit area. Lincoln has been a joke since the 80s and this was made painfully obvious when the other brand in that joke, cadillac, managed to turn themselves around in the 2000s. In a decade, Cadillac has been able to get themselves discussed alongside the likes of BMW and Mercedes with a straight face. Lincoln? It remains the punchline to a joke.

I just tried beating this into someone else so I'll keep this brief - the luxury heavy FWD taurus was the right move to replace the panther platform. The majority of those cars were fleet sales to taxi companies and service vehicles with the government and other agencies. Now that dodge AND GM have come back in with full sized sedans and Nissan aquired the taxi rights with its dustbuster van thing, I think Ford made the right call. Their Taurus sold 80k in 2013. The Crown Vic sold 46k in its last year because of it being the final year. 2010/2011 sales were a touch over 30k. Maybe they could;ve made a brand new RWD chassis to replace the outgoing Panther but I'm not going to pretend to know why it was or wasn;t a good idea as I think like an enthusiast. The numbers don't lie, Ford made a good choice with the current Taurus.

Now perhaps you could argue that Lincoln could stand for a unique, RWD chassis and I don't think that's a bad idea. Clearly it works for cadillac as their Sigma platform basically underpinned 3/4 of their lineup for several years and was unique to them. But the five hundred flopping had little to do with it not being RWD and had everything to do with it being a dumb name change on a bland vehicle that projected zero confidence from Ford. I was working for a leather supplier when the Five Hundred was launched. Before I left, the Taurus name was back. From the meetings I was in, it was clear they had ZERO idea what the hell they were trying to do with the "Five Hundred". Forget consumer confidence, the name "Taurus" means a lot internally too. With the five hundred, they were all over the place and felt like they had no idea what they wanted. When they decided on bringing back the taurus name, I remember the phrase "premium value". They wanted consumers to both "want the upgraded features because they seem like a good value" and "interact with the car in such a way that it feels as good as cars that cost more". It wasn't a specific model or price point, they just wanted bits and pieces that made the customer think "I got a very good deal on this car" but they also wanted customers to want the best options. When they did the refresh to change the five hundred back to the taurus, they did a decent first step, but the new taurus has been a smashing success for Ford because it feels like they know what they want to do with it.

I apologize for ranting but I have had the advantage of working as a supplier and my mom was corporate GM and my dad is a master tech who has worked for several dealerships so I know a fair amount.

tl;dr - the "five hundred" flopped because Ford had no clue what they wanted to do. Lincoln has been dead for some time, no matter how good of a face they put on the lower market Fords. They could, at any time, take the cadillac approach and free it of the lesser paltforms with a bespoke "premium" setup of chassis and technology but so far, they haven't. Forgetting lincoln and Mercury, the current Taurus has been a smash hit for Ford and has vindicated their choice with high sales and a loyal and satisfied customer base.

mattoverdrive > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif
01/12/2014 at 08:59

Oh, that makes sense then.

I personally think Ford was originally planning on taking the bailout because they viewed it as free (or relatively inexpensive) money from the government.

The Compromiser > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif
01/12/2014 at 10:18

I drove one once . In Chicago, to the plant that was making them. It was nice and comfy. Not a head turner in the performance or looks department but seemed solid. In retrospect, I think I should have spent the companies money better and rented the mustang convertible they offered for another $20...

Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
01/12/2014 at 11:53

Essentially it was but because it was a separate car with different styling and a cool story I did it. I expect it to get another F-name in the not too distant future. (Falcon, Fairline, or Fairmont perhaps?)

SCR - The Soup Of The Day is Bread > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif
01/12/2014 at 13:11

From everything I've read, these (and especially the later Tauruses) were tremendous long-distance cruisers. Only real complaints I've seen are about the CVT/3.0 combo that the earlier ones got

Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif > SCR - The Soup Of The Day is Bread
01/12/2014 at 13:23

They are a huge and comfortable car. New systems always have their issues.

JasonStern911 > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif
01/12/2014 at 13:58

the first time I saw a Ford 500 was on the freeway in, I believe, 2008. I had to look it up online as I had never heard of it, and neither had my passenger. needless to say, Ford failed to properly advertise the car if multiple people had never heard of it during its entire production cycle.

Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif
01/12/2014 at 17:56

My aunt had a 500, she loved it. And that's the perfect descriptio, "The Ford 500, a car your aunt loved."