What car should I buy?

[lumberjim]

Weeee!

[Griff]

Its a very fun speed racer.

[xoxoxoBruce]

But, but... 4 wheel drive... you could be killed... and maimed... and hurt.

[Griff]

Gee, I heard that somewhere...

If you really want to hate me, my favorite vehicle ever was a 1986 CJ-7.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Oh no, not hate... just pity for your inability to think as an adult, and making childish choices endangering your family and the planet. I weep for mankind.

[Nirvana]

So my PT Cruiser is a Hemi? Vrooooooooooom LOL My tractor's hydraulic pump took a crap so I hooked a chain to my PT Cruiser and dragged a 700 bale of hay out to my cows the other day...

Heee I need another truck What do you all think of FORDs?

[Griff]

I don't know much about Fords (my peekup is a Toyota) but my Dad's Farmall 460 is a hemi.

[tw]

Originally Posted by Nirvana

What do you all think of FORDs?

Do numbers for your PT Cruiser. Hemi is a V-8. Yours has how many cylinders? Salesmen use words to promote myths and lies. PT Cruiser used a higher performance engine originally developed for the Neon.

Appreciate what happened in Ford AND a critical number: 70 Hp/liter. William Clay Ford (an executive who actually had a driver's license) took control in 2000. He discovered bean counters (Petersen and Nasser) played money games and even had no products in development - to cut costs. William Clay in 2000 ordered Ford to design an engine that was developed in GM in the early 1970s - which GM still does not offer in all their cars.

In 2007, Ford losses were at record levels. How can that be if William Clay started designing in 2000? Because informed consumers know it takes four to ten years to design new products. Economics 101. Products started in 2000 would not appear until after 2008.

Chrysler and GM needed government money in part due to no new products and due to obsolete technology six and eight cylinder engines. Management was lying about the only reason for massive losses - even blaming unions. Ford knew work done in 2000 would soon appear as profits after 2008. It takes how long for an innovator to create profits? Ford (while suffering record losses) took no government money. Because William Clay had a driver's license. He understood basic Economics (how long it takes to design anything). And knew record profits were coming due to products designed by engineers (not by finance people).

In a meeting, Mulally said that next year, all Ford products would have a four cylinder option. Because engineers in 2000 were finally permitted to design an engine that GM could have been producing 30 years previously. Because best cars use four cylinders; obsolete technology needs more cylinders. Ford's are superior because four cylinder engines doing more than 70 Hp/liter are available in all Ford cars. Because engineers (not bean-counters) designed those products.

Today's standard technology four cylinder engines do as much or more than a 1970s big block V-8. Today's engines will also be anti-American obsolete in 20 years. Well understood to people who appreciate the product. And problematic to anti-innovation finance people.

But again, don't take my word for it. Get Consumer Reports and do the numbers yourself. Those numbers are in every April issue. Any layman can do this arithmetic. And learn what happens when engineers replace business school graduates as designers.

[Nirvana]

My PT Cruiser was bought so that I could remove the seats to fit dog crates and because it had heated seats. But the primary reasons were one owner who 'order bought' this Dream Cruiser and she was selling it for $2500 under book price. I usually pay cash for cars/trucks. I never buy New.

I have a 1986 Ford truck with a 351 Windsor engine. [4 speed] I can probably move a house with it but the mechanical parts are outliving the body. {I love that it is 4wD} I love that I can see the ground when peering down from the top of the engine. That means I can fit my hands in there while working on it. I love that parts are cheap.

[xoxoxoBruce]

I miss my PT Cruiser, Nirvana, comfortable, easy in & out, good visibility, good power and mileage. You could use tw at your place, make the crops grow fast.

[tw]

Originally Posted by Nirvana

My PT Cruiser ...
I have a 1986 Ford truck with a 351 Windsor engine.

These two vehicles demonstrate innovation. A mid-1980 351 Windsor (carbureted V-8)) engine found in Ford Trucks and Mustang was typically 160 horsepower. A four cylinder engine in a typical PT Cruiser was 150 horsepower.

[Big Sarge]

TW - You seem like a learned man, possibly an engineer? Simply curious. I've noticed you are quite disagreeable, anti-authoritarian, and quick to "put down" others. I wonder if your anger stems from sexual frustration or perhaps your mother didn't breast feed you?

[Lamplighter]

...

[sexobon]

My '86 Ford Crown Vic LX with 302 cu. in. ("5.0 L" - 4,942 cc) Windsor was the first year they put a sequential fire electronic fuel injector on each cylinder in the Crown Vic and I had it for 21 years. The 351 cu. in. (5.8 L) Windsor went into the police car version.

[tw]

Originally Posted by sexobon

My '86 Ford Crown Vic LX with 302 cu. in. ("5.0 L" - 4,942 cc) Windsor was the first year they put a sequential fire electronic fuel injector on each cylinder in the Crown Vic and I had it for 21 years.

Correct. The fuel injected version (which was finally implemented due to government regulations) increased that 351 Windsor to 200 Hp. But mid 1980 trucks (and SUVs) and the Mustang still got the obsolete technology engine.

BTW, the first 1986 Ford fuel injection was throttle body. I never heard of Fords with sequential that early.

Ford 351 was popular with police. Because an equivalent engine, transmission, and other parts in Chevy Caprices failed so often. One police department had a pool on which Caprice transmission would fail next. It was not that the 351 was so good. It was that the other domestic automakers were so bad.