NEWS
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FORD brings ‘year of the car’ ROAD SHOW
TO PARK CITY FOR INTERMOUNTAIN EVENT
DEARBORN, Mich., August 5, 2004 - Ford Motor Company, amid the largest rollout of all-new products in its history, has sent the three pillars of its “Year of the Car” - the fifth generation of the legendary Mustang, the Ford Five Hundred flagship sedan and the Ford Freestyle, which bridges the gap between sedans and SUVs - on a tour of North American cities this summer.
The tour arrives in Park City, Utah, Thursday, August 12, as part of the Intermountain Mustang and All Ford Stampede, sponsored by the Northern Utah Mustang Owners’ Association. The Stampede also will feature more than 250 classic Mustangs and some 50 other various classic Fords. It will be an exciting blend of Ford nostalgia and new products as classic Mustang club members celebrate the car’s 40th anniversary.
On Thursday, August 12, from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., the 2005 Ford Mustang, Ford Five Hundred, and Ford Freestyle will be on public display on the show’s grounds at the Park City Mountain Resort. The vehicles also will be on display the next day, Friday, August 13, until approximately 1 p.m.
“Between last fall’s launch of the new 2004 F-150 pickup and this fall’s launch of the all-new Mustang, more than 60 percent of the Ford showroom will be new designs, and that includes so many new cars that we’re calling 2004 the ‘Year of the Car,’” said Andy Benedict, Executive Director of Global Facilities Materials & Services Purchasing for Ford, who will help host the Park City stop on the tour. “We want to show consumers in Utah how we’re trying to change the game in every segment of the car market by offering safety features, roominess, versatility, powertrain technology and great design in combinations you can’t find from any other company.”
The three vehicles on display include:
An American Icon: Ford Mustang - Since its debut on April 17, 1964 at the World’s Fair in New York, Mustang has become inextricably linked with American culture. The car has been featured in more than 500 films; it has inspired countless rock and roll songs, including “Mustang Sally,” graced postage stamps and has been the personal car of presidents. More than eight million Mustangs have been sold. Now, Ford is preparing to launch only the fifth all-new Mustang in history.
The 2005 Mustang retains the classic “muscle car” styling cues of a long hood and short rear deck in a design that is modern, muscular and immediately recognizable as a Mustang. Designers have described the boldly styled interior as a “$30,000 interior in a $20,000 car” in the case of the V-6 model. In an industry first, Mustang owners can customize their instrument panel lighting to any of 125 colors, thanks to Light Emitting Diode (LED) technology.
The heart and soul of any sports car are its engines and chassis, and the 2005 model charts new ground for Mustang while preserving technologies essential to the car’s legions of fans. For example, Mustang’s architecture is an all-new design for improved steering, ride and handling. But it retains the solid rear axle beloved by drag racers for its durability and traction-enhancing geometry.
Power also is part of the Mustang mystique and the new model will be the first to offer a base 300-horsepower V-8 straight from the factory. The Mustang’s V-8 is a far cry from traditional Detroit iron of the 1960s. The new engine is an all-aluminum 4.6-liter V-8 that uses three-valve cylinder heads, instead of two-valve heads, for improved torque, horsepower and lower emissions.
Customers for the Mustang V-6 will enjoy 210 horsepower and performance that rival Mustang GTs from the 1980s and 90s in a well-equipped car that Ford promises will have a base sticker price under $20,000.
Ford's New Flagship: Five Hundred - This all-new flagship of the Ford car showroom was developed in the U.S. with a vehicle architecture developed with Volvo, which is part of Ford's Premier Automotive Group. The Five Hundred is about the same length as a Ford Taurus, but it boasts about twice the rear-seat knee room, and a bigger trunk than the much larger Ford Crown Victoria. In fact, the trunk is so well designed it can hold up to eight full-size golf bags.
Another feature that drivers and passengers will immediately notice is the Five Hundred's Command Seating™ position. A car with Command Seating gives drivers an SUV-like view of the road because their “H-point” - the pivot point of the hip when seated - is up to four inches higher than such competitive vehicles as Toyota Camry.
Under the hood, the Five Hundred boasts sophisticated powertrain technology, including six-speed automatic and continuously variable transmissions. These new transmissions - rare in affordable North American sedans - allow the car to out-accelerate similarly sized sedans with larger, thirstier engines.
Ford’s fuel-saving transmissions complement Five Hundred’s 3.0 liter Duratec 30 V-6, which has exceptionally clean tailpipe emissions. Five Hundred - along with the Mustang and Freestyle - will be certified to a government standard that is twice as clean as the Ultra-Low Emissions vehicle standard.
Another invisible but potentially invaluable feature is the Five Hundred’s available all-wheel drive system. This system, which requires no driver action whatsoever to engage, can shift power between the front and rear wheels almost instantaneously to keep the car moving confidently in rain, snow and sand.
Ford Freestyle: Bridges the Gap - Freestyle is an all-new vehicle that bridges the gap between SUVs and traditional passenger cars by combining SUV design cues and available all-wheel drive with car-like ride and handling. But its watchword is versatility. Freestyle can carry up to seven passengers across three rows of seats, or almost any combination of people and cargo - including a10-foot extension ladder. That’s because Freestyle’s third- and middle-row seat backs, as well as the front-passenger seat back, fold flat.
And unlike many other six- or seven-passenger vehicles, passenger comfort is not sacrificed to fit three rows of seats. Freestyle will have best-in-class second- and third-row legroom and third-row legroom and third-row knee clearance, plus natural chair-like seating positions.
Freestyle shares many of the same pioneering technologies as the Ford Five Hundred, including its fuel-saving and performance-enhancing CVT, powerful but clean V-6 engine and advanced safety features, including an available Safety Canopy air curtain system that protects all three rows in side-impact collisions and rollovers.
Pricing and Availability: The Ford Freestyle, Five Hundred and Mustang will begin arriving in Ford showrooms in the fall. Pricing for all three vehicles will be announced closer to launch.
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August 2004
