Ford US announces massive plan regarding Ford Australia

[sick holden]

My point was that the Capri is extremely ugly and very very boring styling wise. I didn't comment on their reliability or their performance. The $9300 I quoted was the absloute highest for the last model with below average mileage. The average overall seemed to be around $3000-6000 which is around more like 10-25% of original price.
Yes there are lots of Capri's for sale for way more than they are worth.
I absolutely agree about the values of Magnas, Camrys etc, the same of course goes for Commonwhores and Foulcans, once they get 12 or 14 years old they are practically worthless.

[nota]

My point was that the Capri is extremely ugly and very very boring styling wise

and how good does your old Smegma look with 260,000 on it?

[sick holden]

The Magna is a family car, it isn't supposed to look like anything but a family car and the mileage doesn't affect the look of the car, it's not a transformer
The Capri was supposed to be a sports car to challenge those from Europe and Japan, it is fair to say it fell well short of the mark.

and how good does your Smegma look with 260,000 on it?

[nota]

The Magna is a family car, it isn't supposed to look like anything but a family car and the mileage doesn't affect the look of the car, it's not a transformer

So its perfectly ok for a car to look completely bland so long as its a family car - is that what you're saying?

The Capri was supposed to be a sports car to challenge those from Europe and Japan

Not at all .. Capri wasn't a sports car or designed for the Nurburgring. It was our least expensive convertible, a personal suburban runabout with sporty connotations and aimed mainly at women. In general, women have their own aspirations when it comes to cars and there's nothing wrong with that, imo

What model Smegma do you have - a sterile TS perhaps?

[sick holden]

Yes I think it is perfectly OK for a family car to look bland as long as it does what is suppose to and it sells.
Yes we have a TS, not sure if it's sterile though, there is some dirt and leaves and the usual stuff kids bring into cars. I didn't buy it to take to car shows, it's a family car plain and simple, it's on LPG and it does the job better than any other car we have had.
It seems odd to say that Capri wasn't intended as a sports car, what on Earth was it supposed to be then ? A suburban runabout ? A turbo convertible runabout ?

[nota]

Yes I think it is perfectly OK for a family car to look bland as long as it does what is suppose to and it sells.
Yes we have a TS, not sure if it's sterile though, there is some dirt and leaves and the usual stuff kids bring into cars. I didn't buy it to take to car shows, it's a family car plain and simple, it's on LPG and it does the job better than any other car we have had.

Personally I don't mind Mitsushiti Slagmas - like the Capri they are underrated but that doesn't stop them from being ok. However in comparison to Capris I'd say a grotty TS Slugma on LPG has about as much sex appeal as herpes. Limp dick personified

It seems odd to say that Capri wasn't intended as a sports car, what on Earth was it supposed to be then ? A suburban runabout ? A turbo convertible runabout ?

Which of these turbo convertibles do you rate as genuine sports cars:

Renault Megane
Holden Astra
Saab 9-3
Daihatsu Copen

etcetera

[sick holden]

A Magna with sex appeal ? Who was comparing a Magna with a Capri ?

Of those cars you listed I wouldn't really class any of them as a genuine sports car, things have changed a lot if the last 10 years. Back when the Crappi was made it was supposed to be some kind of sports car but lets be honest it failed dramatically. This is the header from the website for the Modern Capri '
"WE ARE DEDICATED TO KEEPING THIS GREAT AUSSIE SPORTS CAR ON THE ROAD!!" ' I guess they consider it was at least supposed to be a sports car.

Personally I don't mind Mitsushiti Slagmas - like the Capri they are underrated but that doesn't stop them from being ok. However in comparison to Capris I'd say a grotty TS Slugma on LPG has about as much sex appeal as herpes. Limp dick personified

Which of these turbo convertibles do you rate as genuine sports cars:

Renault Megane
Holden Astra
Saab 9-3
Daihatsu Copen

etcetera

[nota]

A Sigma with sex appeal ? Who was comparing a Magna with a Capri ?

Well you were slagging off about now-ancient Capris like they're a steaming pile of junk .. but omg look what you trundle around in

(btw I have 22 y/o Benz with 400,000 so I can't talk either )

Of those cars you listed I wouldn't really class any of them as a genuine sports car, things have changed a lot if the last 10 years. Back when the Crappi was made it was supposed to be some kind of sports car but lets be honest it failed dramatically. This is the header from the website for the Modern Capri '
"WE ARE DEDICATED TO KEEPING THIS GREAT AUSSIE SPORTS CAR ON THE ROAD!!" ' I guess they consider it was at least supposed to be a sports car.

Sure it failed @ 0.72 cents to the USD, hardly a fault of the car. When the Capri program was okayed our exchange rate was under 50 cents, so a 50% increase. I wouldn't define any of those as sports cars either. Nor do headers from fan-websites hold 'proof of title' for defining vehicle genres - at least not imho. Its better to hold an independant mind donchareckon?

Case in point: Consider these two ostensibly very similar 10+ y/o vehicles. As a knowledgable car enthusiast would you define either as a sports car, and why?

Ford Capri XR2
Lotus Elan (Isuzu engine)

nb: both are FWD turbo convertibles based on japanese econo-sedan mechanicals, are of similar-ish size & also closely akin in styling imo

[Falcon500]

It seems odd to say that Capri wasn't intended as a sports car, what on Earth was it supposed to be then ? A suburban runabout ? A turbo convertible runabout ?

Thats what the MR2 was origonally intended for mr2= Midship Runabout 2 seater ...and the ford capri here didnt have to work hard to be the fastest 2 seater hair dressers cars all considering everything else it competed against was n/a (upon initial release in this country)

[sick holden]

I can't for one second see what difference it makes what car I trundle around in, I also have a 2001 Courier 4x4 dual cab turbo diesel and a people mover for the family. The Magna is our cheap runaround.

Both those cars you listed are sports cars, the Lotus more so due in no small part to it's heritage and ancestry, it goes against the grain to talk of them both in the one sentence.
I don't actually consider them to be a steaming pile of junk but I also don't think of them as anything to write home about, they look very ordinary IMO.
I can't see how the Capri can be classed as anything other than a sports car and I have no doubt that was how it was looked upon when released.
I have an independent mind but I can't just call the car a ute if it obviously isn't

Well you were slagging off about now-ancient Capris like they're a steaming pile of junk .. but omg look what you trundle around in

(btw I have 22 y/o Benz with 400,000 so I can't talk either )

Sure it failed @ 0.72 cents to the USD, hardly a fault of the car. When the Capri program was okayed our exchange rate was under 50 cents, so a 50% increase. I wouldn't define any of those as sports cars either. Nor do headers from fan-websites hold 'proof of title' for defining vehicle genres - at least not imho. Its better to hold an independant mind donchareckon?

Case in point: Consider these two ostensibly very similar 10+ y/o vehicles. As a knowledgable car enthusiast would you define either as a sports car, and why?

Ford Capri XR2
Lotus Elan (Isuzu engine)

nb: both are FWD turbo convertibles based on japanese econo-sedan mechanicals, are of similar-ish size & also closely akin in styling imo

[fpv_gtho]

I seen more of the Ford story on the news it's a very good commitment to building here for a decade, I hate to say it but the same commitment isn't coming from fishermen's bend, Now it could be they dont need to or just don't wont to?. But with Lutz and his big gob something like this from holden would be comforting to the many workers.

Holden could still be riding on the coat tails of engineering VE as a global platform, and probably still feel theres plenty of security in that and their growing export portfolio. Either way, i dont think GM is in a position in America to be able to gurantee Holdens future for as long as 10 years. There could be alot of backlash from them committing here for so long and neglecting the American market, so to speak.

[adrenaline]

going back to the oringinal topic, Im glad that Dearborn finally recognised that Aussies have all the talent

Ford Oz should drop the E8 falcon on america...i reckon it would sell its ass off....assuming they got the price right...

[Falcon500]

going back to the oringinal topic, Im glad that Dearborn finally recognised that Aussies have all the talent

Ford Oz should drop the E8 falcon on america...i reckon it would sell its ass off....assuming they got the price right...

I cant see why it wouldent the crown vic seems to still sell ok (any americans want to comment? im honsetly not shure) and the falcon shure seems to be a much more capeable platform then the crown vic.(and hell its probably near 10 years newer)

[IBrake4Rainbows]

The crown Vic has great fleet market sales. IIRC few (If any) private sales are made.

I think that Ford would need to create a performance aura around the Falcon before 'dropping' it on the US market - the only thing that makes vehicles of it's type sell in the US is Performance - if the Family want to buy a car it's usually an SUV. They could argue about 'Not being Retro' or something.

[Falcon500]

The crown Vic has great fleet market sales. IIRC few (If any) private sales are made.

I think that Ford would need to create a performance aura around the Falcon before 'dropping' it on the US market - the only thing that makes vehicles of it's type sell in the US is Performance - if the Family want to buy a car it's usually an SUV. They could argue about 'Not being Retro' or something.

Well the GTO proved you cant guess in this market...they gauged intrest but they didnt gauge what people thought they where worth (and somethings only worth what your willing to pay) if they properly researched that theyd of found that they liked the idea of 30k odd rather then the 50k odd mark they went for...

Ok now your wondering what im getting at. I read an editorial in Hot rod about 2 years back when the GTO looked like comming over and it seemed like a great car! 320 odd hp 380 ft/lbs odd and around 3800lbs in weight and then they converted our price to what was a stronger american dollar (and didnt think of import tarifs and so on and so forth) and its price looked like 36k (and shit those stats at that price id have one) and then they looked at the falcon and done a similar thing and found out an xr8 was worth 28k in their money and then the editor raved on about vaule rwd muscle for your $ australias a muscle car haven and so on. Yeah they liked it when it seemed like a bargen and then reality kicked in

So theyd need to be competativly priced (of course) but how do we mange to sell the car in either the numbers or the prices required to get people to buy them? the GTO failed whats to say the territory and falcon can mange it?