Hey From the US

jaa55 · 02-05-2006, 01:13 PM

i have a 99 mercury cougar, admire almost every car ford makes in AU too bad they hate the US anymore, i want them to make a falcon here!!!!

Fairlane · 02-05-2006, 01:15 PM

Welcome to AFF.

Mercury Cougar hey, nice, are they based of the Mustang/Fox platform or have they moved to FWD?

jaa55 · 02-05-2006, 01:27 PM

The last were FWD, mine is the first year of it 99, 2002 was the last year of the cougar.

: it was one the mustang platform originally then it was the same as a Thunderbird in the 90's

thats my car

AnthonyQLD · 02-05-2006, 01:28 PM

Welcome to the forum jaa55

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Fairlane · 02-05-2006, 01:32 PM

Ok, cool, we got those cars in Australia, branded as the Ford Cougar here, we dont have the Mercury brand here, they replaced the Ford Probe (essentialy a Mazda Mx6 built in the US- so I suppose you got them as wll)and the Modeo ST). They never got a replacement out here though and it has left a bit of a hole in the Ford lineup, though the new focus does pretty much the same job.

FWD sports coupe's never really took of out here, the hatches do, but they only FWD sports coupe's i can think of out here are the Honda Integra and Hyundai Tiburon and the Celica.

jaa55 · 02-05-2006, 01:35 PM

Yep we had the probe, they call our mondeo a contour which they made in an SVT @ 200hp

. we have a focus too but AU cars have different motor options and they look better!!!! i think they make a turbo focus right?

XRchic · 02-05-2006, 02:29 PM

Welcome mate

I reckon you guys would love a Typhoon over there in the US!

Jac

4.9 EF Futura · 02-05-2006, 02:34 PM

Welcome aboard. You'd no doubt be familiar with the flagship ford falcon of the current day sporting the 5.4L modular engines... and the "up and coming" 4.0L inline six turbo...

Have a poke around the site tho... the Falcon name has been going strong in Australia for decades!

02-05-2006, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaa55

Yep we had the probe, they call our mondeo a contour which they made in an SVT @ 200hp

. we have a focus too but AU cars have different motor options and they look better!!!! i think they make a turbo focus right?

Yep the US Focus is a Mk1 (LR) Mexican built bastardisation referred to as the Mk1.5. From what i've been told its got the repuatation of being a cheap economy car, ala Hyundai Excel.

Since mid last year we have the MKII or the LS Focus, avalaible with the 2 litre Duratec with 4 sp auto or 5 sp manual, and lately a 2.5 litre turbo Volvo engine with a 6sp manual (XR5 turbo otherwise known in the rest of the world as a Focus ST.

fiery · 02-05-2006, 02:39 PM

As everyone else has said so far, welcome to the forum..

I like your car, looks really nice..

Bucket · 02-05-2006, 03:12 PM

Welcome mate, Have fun! We've got a great bunch of people here

jaa55 · 02-05-2006, 03:14 PM

haha, i want to move to AU............yeah i think the reason why we dont have a falcon is because of the mustang which also has the modular v8 engine, we just sold our 99 cobra convertible:( ....

.......and for our focus.....well there is no excuse for it sucking, i think EVERYTHING in australia is better........it replaced the escort zx2 which i liked

Bucket · 02-05-2006, 03:19 PM

Let down! :(

The newer mustangs never really took off here...you dont see many about at all...Ford AU, for a brief time had a division called FPE...the Ford Performance Experience (We now have FPV.. Ford Performance Vehicled) through FPE, the Tickford series falcons, RHD Converted Imported Mustangs and Cougars were sold.. FPE never really took off though...it died in the a $ $ after about two years i think.. FPV is here to stay i hope!

jaa55 · 02-05-2006, 03:19 PM

haha oh i forgot to mention even your cougars are better! not only do they say ford......but the headlights are much nicer

jaa55 · 02-05-2006, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bucket

Let down! :(

The newer mustangs never really took off here...you dont see many about at all...Ford AU, for a brief time had a division called FPE (We now have FPV..) through FPE, the Tickford series falcons, RHD Converted Imported Mustangs and Cougars were sold.. FPE never really took off though...it died in the a $ $ after about two years i think.. FPV is here to stay i hope!

they make some awesome stuff....i was checking out there website....very impressed, we have SVT, Special Vehicle Team, which is basically the same thing.......but for the last couple years they havent made anything nice? they used to make a SVT lighting a supercharged 5.4 and even the cobra mustang hasnt been made since the dawn of the new body. although they are coming out soon. in 98 we had an SHO taurus which i think is something similar to a fairlane? correct me if im wrong :P but they used to make it with a ford yamaha dohc v6 which was almost 300hp i think........but they dont make that anymore either.....

BlueRaven · 02-05-2006, 04:50 PM

I continue to read pleasing comments about American's opinions of HSV and FPV cars in Australia. I do feel quite lucky in some regard that we have numerous examples of high performance family sedans on the market, a segment that is almost non-existant in the US.

Its worth noting however, that they are our Hero cars...meaning things like Mustangs will never really take off over here as there doesn't seem to be a market to support it.

Bucket · 02-05-2006, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaa55

they make some awesome stuff....i was checking out there website....very impressed, we have SVT, Special Vehicle Team, which is basically the same thing.......but for the last couple years they havent made anything nice? they used to make a SVT lighting a supercharged 5.4 and even the cobra mustang hasnt been made since the dawn of the new body. although they are coming out soon. in 98 we had an SHO taurus which i think is something similar to a fairlane? correct me if im wrong :P but they used to make it with a ford yamaha dohc v6 which was almost 300hp i think........but they dont make that anymore either.....

No..the Taurus failed miserably over here...it was competing against the Falcon for sales (thought that may not have been fords intention) and the Falcons had been here a lot longer with an allready built up following. Wheels Magazine actually did a comparrison of the SVO Taurus and a Falcon when quite a few years ago...thought i dont remember that model falcon it was...maybe an XR8 or EL GT?

Bossxr8 · 02-05-2006, 10:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bucket

Let down! :(

The newer mustangs never really took off here...you dont see many about at all...Ford AU, for a brief time had a division called FPE...the Ford Performance Experience (We now have FPV.. Ford Performance Vehicled) through FPE, the Tickford series falcons, RHD Converted Imported Mustangs and Cougars were sold.. FPE never really took off though...it died in the a $ $ after about two years i think.. FPV is here to stay i hope!

It was FTE, Ford Tickford Experience.

BPXR6T · 02-05-2006, 10:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaa55

EVERYTHING in australia is better

Grass is always greener on the otherside. I plan on heading to the US to live for a bit soon. Love the new mustang!!!

jaa55 · 02-05-2006, 11:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FourBarrel

Love the new mustang!!!

i have to agree with you, they are awesome........ford did their homework

superpursuit83 · 02-05-2006, 11:45 PM

Hi jaa55, welcome. I was in the states for a while and actually missed our aussie style muscle cars and noticed the lack of anything like our utes. Whats the general opinion on our Aussie Falcon range over there. (I know you like them).

John

jaa55 · 03-05-2006, 02:41 AM

well most people dont even know they make them. everyone ive shown the car to said that if ford had it here, they'd buy it! go to fords american site to see what they offer us........its disappointing, everything except the mustang....But answering your question, the Falcon would be a huge seller

AWD Chaser · 03-05-2006, 04:12 AM

mmm, I do wonder if Ford did export the falcon range, how big the sales would jump compared to holdens sale which include the export figures... then again... same thing. Some like Holden, some like Ford... but either way, I think the Americans would like the big body sedan, vs. the nimble euro figures....

ImpulseTaco · 03-05-2006, 10:11 AM

You guys should pick up the June '06 Car and Driver (Do you get that magazine down there?) They have a great article called "The cars that could save Ford now". They did a write up of the XR6, FPV GT, and a Territory and shed a very positive light on them. They also went so far as to contact Ford US, which responded that, while they won't definatively say "no" to importing Falcons, they have other plans for the US. I'm thinking this means along the lines of the Five Hundred.

MITCHAY · 03-05-2006, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by au3 chaser

mmm, I do wonder if Ford did export the falcon range, how big the sales would jump compared to holdens sale which include the export figures... then again... same thing. Some like Holden, some like Ford... but either way, I think the Americans would like the big body sedan, vs. the nimble euro figures....

I have read somewhere that a large proportion of hits on HSV site are from the US. If Ford exported the falcon over there it would be safe to say it would be badged as a Ford where as a Holden would be Chev or Pontiac. So pretty much same deal as here I reckon.

But American sedans suck ***. We are lucky to have the choice we have.

superpursuit83 · 03-05-2006, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ImpulseTaco

You guys should pick up the June '06 Car and Driver (Do you get that magazine down there?) They have a great article called "The cars that could save Ford now". They did a write up of the XR6, FPV GT, and a Territory and shed a very positive light on them. They also went so far as to contact Ford US, which responded that, while they won't definatively say "no" to importing Falcons, they have other plans for the US. I'm thinking this means along the lines of the Five Hundred.

I consider us Aussies lucky to have gone our own way with our style of muscle. I reckon you US guys would love our FPV's GT's

ImpulseTaco · 03-05-2006, 11:11 AM

You guys are luckier than you think in 2 ways:

First the obvious....FPV

Secondly, Australia gets lots of good Japanese 2nd hands that we don't get here in the US. I'm not talking about cars like the skyline, but other goodies like real silvias, or bluebird SSS, also Land Cruiser 70s. I'm sure you guys can name more, because I'm not an expert in jap. cars.

jaa55 · 03-05-2006, 01:12 PM

haha time to pack up the bags..............any nice houses for sale?

Des · 03-05-2006, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaa55

haha time to pack up the bags..............any nice houses for sale?

I'll sell you a nice place in Sydney....Big yard, 85+ years old, 2ft thick double brick walls, central location, cable internet and digital TV, will soon have a new kitchen/bathroom. Renting it out at the moment, but it'll be up for sale soon probably.

ImpulseTaco · 03-05-2006, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaa55

haha time to pack up the bags..............any nice houses for sale?

Better watch the taxes down there, and the speed cams.