Ford makes me laugh in an uncontrollable way.

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Tornado

Tornado

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In 1992, Paramount released a movie that had James Earl Jones, Samuel L. Jackson and Harrison Ford all in one movie, which is one step below Mr. T in awesometude, yet far more articulate. It had machine guns shooting at Porsches. An Irish Terrorist played by someone who doesn't seem to play any other character than Irish Terrorists. Actors they probably mostly hired because they shared names with the characters they portrayed. Political intrigue! Oh, and a brand new Ford E-Series being the launch pad for a drive-by.
A decade and a half later, Paramount could remake this movie down to the letter. Same actors, same guns. And the same Ford E-Series. In fact, the actors would cause more trouble then procuring an E-Series identical to the one in the movie.


However, Ford has had enough. For the 4th generation E-Series' 16th year, Ford is coming out with a huge list of changes to counter how people are starting to realize that the E-Series has been by far the worst van on the market since 2003, and to celebrate how the E-Series is now pretty much the oldest vehicle on the American market.

The amount of changes you are about to see will totally blow your mind, and those with weak hearts should leave the room.



Seriously.


Last Chance.


And...




48627535fj5.png


Yes. In what can only be described as either some terrible Photoshop skills, a very tired engineer, or maybe just Ford being Ford, Ford has completely redesigned the E-Series by giving it a new grill; which is such a thorough redesign that it rivals the multiple restyles of the Mustang from '79 to '93 (and is at least good enough that I'm sure Ford will still sell millions of them). Just in time for its 16th birthday! To all those who complained about the very nicely redone Focus, this should be right up your alley.
So, when Paramount remakes that lovingly created adaptation of the novel "Irish Terrorists Hate Irishmen Who Look Like Harrison Ford" by Tom Clancy, they will at least need to pay someone for an hour or so of metalwork.
 
It's a van....

Even the transit (the backbone of britain!) doesn't have radical changes between models. Why? Because there's only so much you can do and also only so much the consumers want you to do.
 
Unfortunately, Both it and Chevrolet's van are a bit behind the Dodge/Freightliner/reallyaMercedes Sprinter in pretty much every sales category, even Church vans. Here's another example where Ford could've imported a European model, but didn't.

And considering what our new Focus is this is, well, Ford Being....yep, Ford.
 
ExigeExcel
Even the transit (the backbone of britain!) doesn't have radical changes between models. Why? Because there's only so much you can do and also only so much the consumers want you to do.
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The Ford Transit has been completely redesigned twice, and facelifted once, since 1994. This is the first thing Ford has done to the E-Series at all since 1992. And all it is is a different front end and new diesel engines. In America, the period for vans to be redone is much longer, yes (the aptly titled Chevy Van went from 1970 to 1996 with nothing but minor facelifts). But all of the E-series' competitors in America have been redesigned twice since 1992.
Jim Prower
Both it and Chevrolet's van are a bit behind the Dodge/Freightliner/reallyaMercedes Sprinter in pretty much every sales category, even Church vans.
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Incorrect, sadly enough. In America, it seems, full size van sales are in order opposite of quality. Ford has 55% of the market, Chevy/GMC have 40% and Dodge has what's left.
 
Actually, one of them was replaced with something completely different by that time. There is no more Ram Van, just a tall-looking, but surprisingly good handling Mercedes Rebadge.

It's probably Why Red Green stopped making shows. Couldnt' find anything to replace the Possum Van with.
 
Jim Prower
Actually, one of them was replaced with something completely different by that time. There is no more Ram Van, just a tall-looking, but surprisingly good handling Mercedes Rebadge.
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I know, but for the sake of the argument I counted the Ram/Sprinter switch as a redesign.
 
These things are everywhere around Detroit, they don't look awful but I don't think I'd really want to drive around in one.
 
Its funny because on the new Transit (in the UK) they have tried to make it more American, In fact it looks exactly like that picture!

ford_transit_09_04_06.jpg


ExigeExcel
Even the transit (the backbone of britain!) doesn't have radical changes between models. Why? Because there's only so much you can do and also only so much the consumers want you to do.
Click to expand...

I agree, its still going to look like a box because functionality is the only real importance here...... you can only really change the lights a bit and the dash but thats it......

On another note I far preferred the look of the previous gen Transit..... looked clean and sophisticated with the tapered squarish lights. I suppose this model looks more butch and fits with the corporate look now.

Robin
 
Toronado
Incorrect, sadly enough. In America, it seems, full size van sales are in order opposite of quality. Ford has 55% of the market, Chevy/GMC have 40% and Dodge has what's left.
Click to expand...

Ford's E-series is most certainly not lacking in quality construction. THAT is PRECISELY the reason why the E-series is the winner. In vocational work vans and regular duty vans the E-series just wins hands down...mostly to its rugged construction and insane number of options. The GM competeting model while pretty damn solid itself, can't compete due to it not being able to have (to my knolwedge) the larger motors from the heavy duty pickup trucks. The towing/hauling in the E-series is insanely good. Plus, on a personal note I prefer the look of the E-series ove the GM models. But in the looks department--which is a stretch considering we're talking about a WORK VAN--the Sprinter is the best looking. The big one, not the runt.

Now onto the topic of the facelift. I think its a good thing.

This:
9151039734_untitled.bmp


Is better than this:
802a.jpg


And as a bonus those headlights are lower down to prevent them from blinding you just like the '08 Super Duty. Its actually a good feature.

Just like the Crown Vic this is restricted to fleet and work duty. They are cheap to make, cheap to buy, cheap to run (minus gas), and gets the job done quite nicely.
 
JCE3000GT
The GM competeting model while pretty damn solid itself, can't compete due to it not being able to have (to my knolwedge) the larger motors from the heavy duty pickup trucks.
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You can now get the 6.0L V8 or the 6.6L diesel engine in the GM vans which is the same as the 3500 HD GM trucks. I don't know if this is new or not, vans really aren't my thing.

**You can apparently also get the van in AWD.
 
Robin ///////
Its funny because on the new Transit (in the UK) they have tried to make it more American, In fact it looks exactly like that picture!

ford_transit_09_04_06.jpg




I agree, its still going to look like a box because functionality is the only real importance here...... you can only really change the lights a bit and the dash but thats it......

On another note I far preferred the look of the previous gen Transit..... looked clean and sophisticated with the tapered squarish lights. I suppose this model looks more butch and fits with the corporate look now.

Robin
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Hm...Transit merged with Fusion...You see, that'd sell over here. They could even Gilletteify it if they really wanted, since it almost is, anyway.
 
It's funny how Vans are always separate from SUVs... It's also funny how vans are wayyy more practical than SUVs. I remember my dad's old '78 Ford van it was a piece of junk but it was still nice to be able to move from the front of the van or the back without doing origami to myself. Try doing that in any SUV. It also had a **** load of room in the back.
These days it's just not cool or it's creepy to own one.
 
Thing is, not too many individuals buy full size vans.
They are used mainly for industrial purposes, and by schools to haul small amounts of people about.
Hell, the school my son teaches at has an Excursion for those duties.
The school he went to has maybe one van, and a couple of Suburbans for the purpose of hauling small groups.
My point is, almost nobody buys these things for hauling the family.
Who cares if they remain so "visually stimulating"?
I don't. I hate having a mini-van, I'm in no hurry to replace it with a less-than-mini-van.
 
Meh most of the time people who own vans are in the same boat as people who own SUV's. They think it makes them safer or something and that they need the room of a small house. The thing is most people who own vans, mini-vans, or SUV's can do the same thing with an estate.
 
hey what would happen if you took one of those vans and:

1. slapped 2 small-block chevy V8's into the back
2. hooked it all up to a 4wd system.
3. and took it onto the drag strip?

Note: it would therefore have a V18 or something like that. definitely not your grocery vehicle.
 
BayConRong
hey what would happen if you took one of those vans and:

1. slapped 2 small-block chevy V8's into the back
2. hooked it all up to a 4wd system.
3. and took it onto the drag strip?
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It would explode into a fireball with tons of flying metal.
 
You would die. Upside down. Backwards. At 130 MPH. On fire.
I am kind of partial to the "Ford Aerostar SWB AWD with supercharged V6" idea, myself.
 
Toronado
You would die. Upside down. Backwards. At 130 MPH. On fire.
I am kind of partial to the "Ford Aerostar SWB AWD with supercharged V6" idea, myself.
Click to expand...

ooo then we can drag each other in our very own "death on wheels".
 
At the very least, GM took a hint a few years ago and has signifigantly updated the Savannah and Express vans to keep up with the newer versions of the trucks. If I'm not mistaken, the Chevy/GMC is based on the decade old GMT800 chassis, however, has the majority of the GMT900-spec mechanical bits ready.

And in a way, hell could freeze over next year, as GM is planning on putting the 4.5L light-duty diesel in them. Yay!
 
Question: Is the van still selling?

If the answer is yes, there's no point in arguing over the design. If the answer is no, then it's probably the last attempt at doing a workover before killing it.

And the movie is Patriot Games.
 
I wouldn't see why it isn't selling well for commercial use, there are about a million configuration you can get the thing in...much like the Transit. I can't imagine many people buy them as an everyday vehicle but vans really aren't meant for that.
 
It's an Econoline van, not even a minivan. At the risk of sounding like a about-to-be-banned-newbie:

Who F-ing cares?
 
When I first saw the thread title, I was expecting to go "yup" to another perfectly-justified rant about the american market not getting cars like the Falcon or European Focus, or something in that vein.

Instead, I have to say...it's a commercial van. You don't want a commercial van to be "new and improved," you want it to be "tried and tested." If it keeps going with as little unexpected maintenance as possible and can hold a lot of stuff, great. That's all it needs.
 

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