IMHO
Like TheRktmn I like the current Cougars. I tried one out when they first came out and again recently. They are a good, reasonably priced FWD sport coupes. I think the styling has faired well since new, the Celica is going to look very silly VERY soon IMHO LOL.
The current Cougar never got the 200hp (or 190 hp) V6 it should have had. It's always been 170. Not bad, not great. But there are a lot of hop up kits available, from the old SVT Contour bits to turbos. The parts were there! They made an 'S' and an 'Eliminator' prototype, one even had 4wd.
Ford's cancellations were no shock to me on any of them. They were all at, or near, or well beyond their cycle. If I were firing 20,000 employees I guess I'd try to make it look like I was doing more too ;-) BTW CNN showed a Mark VIII (old T-Bird chassis) as an example of the Continental (Taurus chassis), the Mark's been out of production since 1998! Guess they didn't even know what a new one was. Can't blame them either, I can't remember seeing an ad for one recently. It was supposed to be a Seville competitor (?)
What's really scares me is the Explorer/Expedition/Navigator. Totally new, yet looks totally OLD. The Mountaineer at least looks fresher. Automobile companies seem to go in cycles. Ford in the 80's was in serious trouble, so they took serious risks and produced some imaginative cars (83 T-Bird, 84 Tempo, and the 86 Taurus) Then they got comfortable, made a few billion $$$$ and stated producing boring cars because it was the 'safe' thing to do. Then profits drop because nobody want a boring car! Chrysler had it's turn in the early 80's and again in the mid 90's. GM is finally on a roll, to some at least. With Lutz as president it should be interesting!
In the long run it will be a good thing. There isn't much in the Ford stable I'd buy right now. In the history of collectible cars, the best cars have been always born out of desperation and competition! The GT40, retro Mustang and new T-Bird are only the start
Tim B
1969 XR7 428 CJR convertible
http://members.aol.com/timbrands/index.html