The Cadillac Sixty Special name has been used by Cadillac to denote a special model since the 1938 Harley Earl-Bill Mitchell-designed Series 60 derivative. The Sixty Special name would soon be synonymous for some of Cadillac's most luxurious vehicles. This exclusivity was reflected in the introduction of the exclusive Sixty Special Fleetwood Brougham d'Elegance in 1973, and the Sixty Special Fleetwood Brougham Talisman in 1974.
Sixty Special arrived with revised trim and more power (250 hp (190 kW), to be exact) for 1955, and while the $4,342 price was lower than last year, production rose slightly to 18,300 units. The eight chrome louvers – mounted on the lower rear doors since 1950, were replaced by 12 louvers mounted just ahead of the bumper on the rear fenders. Chrome rocker panel moldings – taller than the ones used on Series 62s - stretched from the back of the rear wheel well to the rear bumper. A new grille held a bold eggcrate design, while the rear roof support fashioned a delicate Florentine curve – this design was also shared with the lower-rung Series 62. In back, six vertical chrome louvers were mounted on the panel below the trunk lid – three spaced on each side of the license plate mounting. The tinted band across the windshield header changed from green to gray this year. A new option, the remote control trunk release, debuted this year.
The Ford E-Series, also known as the Ford Econoline in Mexico and Ford Club Wagon, is a line of full-size vans (both cargo and passenger) and truck chassis from the Ford Motor Company. The line was introduced in 1961 as a compact van and produced through four generations. The E-series is available in 2015 only as a stripped chassis and cutaway. Other versions have been replaced by the Ford Transit.
The E-Series has been a separate platform since 1968, it uses many components from the F-Series line of pickup trucks. The Econoline is manufactured at Ford's Ohio Assembly plant in Avon Lake, Ohio following the closure of the Lorain Assembly plant in December 2005.
Since 1980, E-Series has been the best selling American full-sized van, and held 79.6% of the full-size van market in the United States in 2007, with 168,722 vehicles sold.
The E-series was available with a GCWR (Gross Combined Weight Rating) of up to 20,000 lb (9,072 kg) making it a base for recreational vehicles and for towing trailers.
Ninety-five percent of van sales are to commercial or fleet-end users; about half are cargo vans. The E-Series cargo area featured a double-wall design that made the exterior sheet metal less vulnerable to damage from shifting cargo.
In early 2007, the E-Series was listed by Autodata as one of the top 20 best-selling vehicles in the United States, most likely due to fleet sales. In China, the Ford E-Series (E250 and E350) are manufactured by Jiangling Motors with Ford name plates. As of 2014, the Ford E-Series was marketed in North America, the Middle East, and China in LHD only. It has been discontinued in Mexico.
Based on the compact Ford Falcon, the first Ford Econoline was introduced for the 1961 model year. Sized roughly to compete with the Chevrolet Corvair 95 (Greenbrier Sportswagon) and Volkswagen Type 2, which was 172.3 in (4,376 mm) long. It was originally offered as a cargo van, an eight-passenger van with three rows of seats (which carried the Ford Falcon name) and as a pickup truck. A 165 lb (75 kg) counterweight was fitted over the rear wheels to balance the front-heavy vehicle; this was sometimes removed by later owners. The implementation of situating the driver on top of the front axle with the engine near the front wheels is called, in the US, a "cab over" short for cab over engine configuration. In Europe it is called a "forward control" vehicle. The body styling borrowed heavily from the, smaller, UK produced, Thames 400E which had been in production since 1957 and the 1956-64 Jeep Forward Control.
Instead of the rear-mounted engine used by Volkswagen and Chevrolet, the first E-Series had a flat nose with the engine between and behind the front seats. Early models had a 144 CID inline 6-cylinder engine with a three-speed manual transmission. Later models had 170 CID or 240 CID engines with a three-speed manual or automatic transmission. It was an immediate success with utilities like the Bell Telephone System.
In its first year, 29,932 standard vans, 6,571 custom Econoline buses, 11,893 standard pickups and 3,000 custom pickups were made. The success of the Econoline led to its layout adopted in 1964 by the Chevrolet Van/GMC Handi-Van and Dodge A100; it would also be utilized internationally and sold by Mitsubishi, Nissan, and Toyota, with microvans called the Subaru Sambar and the Daihatsu Hijet.
Mercury Econoline
In rural Canada, where automobile dealers were scarce, the Econoline was sold as a Mercury alongside the M-Series truck lineup. Only the first generation of Econolines were sold as Mercurys; the next van sold by the division would be the 1993 Villager minivan.
The Ford Escort is a small family car that was manufactured by Ford Europe from 1968 to 2004. The Ford Escort name was also applied to several different small cars produced in North America by Ford between 1981 and 2003. In 2014, Ford revived the Escort name for a car based on the second-generation Ford Focus sold on the Chinese market.
The Mark I Ford Escort was introduced in the United Kingdom at the end of 1967, making its show debut at Brussels Motor Show in January 1968. It replaced the successful long running Anglia. The car was presented in continental Europe as a product of Ford's European operation. Escort production commenced at Halewood in England during the closing months of 1967, and for left hand drive markets during September 1968 at the Ford plant in Genk. Initially the continental Escorts differed slightly from the UK built ones under the skin. The front suspension and steering gear were differently configured and the brakes were fitted with dual hydraulic circuits; also the wheels fitted on the Genk-built Escorts had wider rims. At the beginning of 1970, continental European production transferred to a new plant on the edge of Saarlouis, West Germany.
The Escort was a commercial success in several parts of western Europe, but nowhere more than in the UK, where the national best seller of the 1960s, BMC's Austin/Morris 1100 was beginning to show its age while Ford's own Cortina had grown, both in dimensions and in price, beyond the market niche at which it had originally been pitched. In June 1974, six years into the car's UK introduction, Ford announced the completion of the two millionth Ford Escort, a milestone hitherto unmatched by any Ford model outside the US. It was also stated that 60% of the two million Escorts had been built in Britain. In West Germany cars were built at a slower rate of around 150,000 cars per year, slumping to 78,604 in 1974 which was the last year for the Escort Mark I. Many of the German built Escorts were exported, notably to Benelux and Italy; from the West German domestic market perspective the car was cramped and uncomfortable when compared with the well-established and comparably priced Opel Kadett, and it was technically primitive when set against the successful imported Fiat 128 and Renault 12. Subsequent generations of the Escort made up some of the ground foregone by the original model, but in Europe's largest auto-market the Escort sales volumes always came in well behind those of the General Motors Kadett and its Astra successor.
Just over two months after the launch of the saloon/sedan, Ford announced a three-door station wagon / estate version of their new Escort.
The Escort had conventional rear-wheel drive and a four-speed manual gearbox, or three-speed automatic transmission. The suspension consisted of MacPherson strut front suspension and a simple live axle mounted on leaf springs. The Escort was the first small Ford to use rack-and-pinion steering. The Mark I featured contemporary styling cues in tune with its time: a subtle Detroit-inspired "Coke bottle" waistline and the "dogbone" shaped front grille – arguably the car's main stylistic feature. Similar Coke bottle styling featured in the larger Cortina Mark III (also built in West Germany as the Taunus) launched in 1970.
Less than two years after launch, Ford offered a four-door version of the Escort.
Initially, the Escort was sold as a two-door saloon (with circular front headlights and rubber flooring on the "De Luxe" model). The "Super" model featured rectangular headlights, carpets, a cigar lighter and a water temperature gauge. A two-door estate was introduced at the end of March 1968 which, with the back seat folded down, provided a 40% increase in maximum load space over the old Anglia 105E estate, according to the manufacturer. The estate featured the same engine options as the saloon, but it also included a larger, 7 1⁄2-inch-diameter (190 mm) clutch, stiffer rear springs and in most configurations slightly larger brake drums or discs than the saloon. A panel van appeared in April 1968 and the 4-door saloon (a bodystyle the Anglia was never available in for UK market) in 1969.
Underneath the bonnet was the Kent Crossflow engine also used in the smallest capacity North American Ford Pinto. Diesel engines on small family cars were rare, and the Escort was no exception, initially featuring only petrol engines – in 1.1 L, and 1.3 L versions. A 940 cc engine was also available in some export markets, but few were ever sold.
There was a 1300GT performance version, with a tuned 1.3 L Crossflow (OHV) engine with a Weber carburetor and uprated suspension. This version featured additional instrumentation with a tachometer, battery charge indicator, and oil pressure gauge. The same tuned 1.3 L engine was also used in a variation sold as the Escort Sport, that used the flared front wings from the AVO range of cars, but featured trim from the more basic models. Later, an "executive" version of the Escort was produced known as the "1300E". This featured the same 13" road wheels and flared wings of the Sport, but was trimmed in an upmarket, for that time, fashion with wood trim on the dashboard and door cappings.
A higher performance version for rallies and racing was available, the Escort Twin Cam, built for Group 2 international rallying. It had an engine with a Lotus-made eight-valve twin camshaft head fitted to the 1.5 L non-crossflow block, which had a bigger bore than usual to give a capacity of 1,557 cc. This engine had originally been developed for the Lotus Elan. Production of the Twin Cam, which was originally produced at Halewood, was phased out as the Cosworth-engined RS1600 (RS denoting Rallye Sport) production began. The most famous edition of the Twin Cam was raced on behalf of Ford by Alan Mann Racing in the British Saloon Car Championship in 1968 and 1969, sporting a full Formula 2 Ford FVC 16-valve engine producing over 200 hp. The Escort, driven by Australian driver Frank Gardner went on to comfortably win the 1968 championship.
The Mark I Escorts became successful as a rally car, and they eventually went on to become one of the most successful rally cars of all time. The Ford works team was practically unbeatable in the late 1960s / early 1970s, and arguably the Escort's greatest victory was in the 1970 London to Mexico World Cup Rally, co-driven by Finnish legend Hannu Mikkola and Swedish co-driver Gunnar Palm. This gave rise to the Escort Mexico (1.6 L "crossflow"-engined) special edition road versions in honour of the rally car.
In addition to the Mexico, the RS1600 was developed with 1,601 cc Cosworth BDA which used a Crossflow block with a 16-valve Cosworth cylinder head, named for "Belt Drive A Series". Both the Mexico and RS1600 were built at Ford's Advanced Vehicle Operations (AVO) facility located at the Aveley Plant in South Essex. As well as higher performance engines and sports suspension, these models featured strengthened bodyshells utilising seam welding in places of spot welding, making them more suitable for competition.
After updating the factory team cars with a larger 1701 cc Cosworth BDB engine in 1972 and then with fuel injected BDC, Ford also produced an RS2000 model as an alternative to the somewhat temperamental RS1600, featuring a 2.0 L Pinto (OHC) engine. This also clocked up some rally and racing victories; and pre-empted the hot hatch market as a desirable but affordable performance road car. Like the Mexico and RS1600, this car was produced at the Aveley plant.
The Escort was built in Germany and Britain, as well as in Australia and New Zealand.
The Ford E-Series, also known as the Ford Econoline in Mexico and Ford Club Wagon, is a line of full-size vans (both cargo and passenger) and truck chassis from the Ford Motor Company. The line was introduced in 1961 as a compact van and produced through four generations. The E-series is available in 2015 only as a stripped chassis and cutaway. Other versions have been replaced by the Ford Transit.
The E-Series has been a separate platform since 1968, it uses many components from the F-Series line of pickup trucks. The Econoline is manufactured at Ford's Ohio Assembly plant in Avon Lake, Ohio following the closure of the Lorain Assembly plant in December 2005.
Since 1980, E-Series has been the best selling American full-sized van, and held 79.6% of the full-size van market in the United States in 2007, with 168,722 vehicles sold.
The E-series was available with a GCWR (Gross Combined Weight Rating) of up to 20,000 lb (9,072 kg) making it a base for recreational vehicles and for towing trailers.
Ninety-five percent of van sales are to commercial or fleet-end users; about half are cargo vans. The E-Series cargo area featured a double-wall design that made the exterior sheet metal less vulnerable to damage from shifting cargo.
In early 2007, the E-Series was listed by Autodata as one of the top 20 best-selling vehicles in the United States, most likely due to fleet sales. In China, the Ford E-Series (E250 and E350) are manufactured by Jiangling Motors with Ford name plates. As of 2014, the Ford E-Series was marketed in North America, the Middle East, and China in LHD only. It has been discontinued in Mexico.
Based on the compact Ford Falcon, the first Ford Econoline was introduced for the 1961 model year. Sized roughly to compete with the Chevrolet Corvair 95 (Greenbrier Sportswagon) and Volkswagen Type 2, which was 172.3 in (4,376 mm) long. It was originally offered as a cargo van, an eight-passenger van with three rows of seats (which carried the Ford Falcon name) and as a pickup truck. A 165 lb (75 kg) counterweight was fitted over the rear wheels to balance the front-heavy vehicle; this was sometimes removed by later owners. The implementation of situating the driver on top of the front axle with the engine near the front wheels is called, in the US, a "cab over" short for cab over engine configuration. In Europe it is called a "forward control" vehicle. The body styling borrowed heavily from the, smaller, UK produced, Thames 400E which had been in production since 1957 and the 1956-64 Jeep Forward Control.
Instead of the rear-mounted engine used by Volkswagen and Chevrolet, the first E-Series had a flat nose with the engine between and behind the front seats. Early models had a 144 CID inline 6-cylinder engine with a three-speed manual transmission. Later models had 170 CID or 240 CID engines with a three-speed manual or automatic transmission. It was an immediate success with utilities like the Bell Telephone System.
In its first year, 29,932 standard vans, 6,571 custom Econoline buses, 11,893 standard pickups and 3,000 custom pickups were made. The success of the Econoline led to its layout adopted in 1964 by the Chevrolet Van/GMC Handi-Van and Dodge A100; it would also be utilized internationally and sold by Mitsubishi, Nissan, and Toyota, with microvans called the Subaru Sambar and the Daihatsu Hijet.
Mercury Econoline
In rural Canada, where automobile dealers were scarce, the Econoline was sold as a Mercury alongside the M-Series truck lineup. Only the first generation of Econolines were sold as Mercurys; the next van sold by the division would be the 1993 Villager minivan.
The C/K was Chevrolet and GMC's full-size pickup truck line from 1960 until 2002 in the United States, from 1965 to 1999 in Canada, from 1964 to 2001 in Brazil, and from 1975 to 1982 in Chile. The first Chevrolet pickup truck came out in 1924, though in-house designs did not appear until 1930. "C" indicated two-wheel drive and "K" indicated four-wheel drive. The aging C/K light-duty pickup truck was replaced with the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra names in 1999 in the US and Canada, and 2001 in Brazil; the Chevrolet Silverado HD and GMC Sierra HD heavy-duty pickup trucks followed. Until this time, the names Silverado and Sierra were used to identify the trim level of the C/K trucks.
For the first Chevrolet C Series, made from 1911 to 1913, see Chevrolet Series C Classic Six, (the first Chevy).
A new, more modern look came in 1967, along with a new nickname: "Action Line". It was with this revision of the C/K truck that General Motors began to add comfort and convenience items to a vehicle line that had previously been for work purposes alone. Updated styling features for the 1967 Chevy Pickup trucks came with new body sheet metal that helps fight rust and a pickup box made of double-walled steel. The majority of 10 and 20 series Chevrolet trucks from 1967 to 1972 were built with a coil spring trailing arm rear suspension, which greatly improved the ride over traditional leaf springs. However, the leaf spring rear suspension was still available on those trucks, and standard on 30 series trucks. The front suspension on all Chevrolet trucks were independent front suspension with coil springs. GMC models came standard with leaf springs with coils springs optional; all four-wheel drive models (Chevrolet and GMC) had leaf springs on both axles.
1967 was the only year for the "small rear window" (RPO A10 offered a large rear window as a factory option). The standard drivetrain came with a three-speed manual transmission and one of two engines; the 250 in3 straight six or the 283 cu in (4.6 L) V8. The optional transmissions were the four-speed manual, the Powerglide and the Turbo-Hydramatic 350 and 400. The 292 six and the 327 in3 V8 were the optional engines. The 1/2 ton trucks came with a 6 x 5.5–inch bolt pattern, the 3/4 and 1 ton trucks came with an 8 x 6.5–inch bolt pattern.
The Ford E-Series, also known as the Ford Econoline in Mexico and Ford Club Wagon, is a line of full-size vans (both cargo and passenger) and truck chassis from the Ford Motor Company. The line was introduced in 1961 as a compact van and produced through four generations. The E-series is available in 2015 only as a stripped chassis and cutaway. Other versions have been replaced by the Ford Transit.
The E-Series has been a separate platform since 1968, it uses many components from the F-Series line of pickup trucks. The Econoline is manufactured at Ford's Ohio Assembly plant in Avon Lake, Ohio following the closure of the Lorain Assembly plant in December 2005.
Since 1980, E-Series has been the best selling American full-sized van, and held 79.6% of the full-size van market in the United States in 2007, with 168,722 vehicles sold.
The E-series was available with a GCWR (Gross Combined Weight Rating) of up to 20,000 lb (9,072 kg) making it a base for recreational vehicles and for towing trailers.
Ninety-five percent of van sales are to commercial or fleet-end users; about half are cargo vans. The E-Series cargo area featured a double-wall design that made the exterior sheet metal less vulnerable to damage from shifting cargo.
In early 2007, the E-Series was listed by Autodata as one of the top 20 best-selling vehicles in the United States, most likely due to fleet sales. In China, the Ford E-Series (E250 and E350) are manufactured by Jiangling Motors with Ford name plates. As of 2014, the Ford E-Series was marketed in North America, the Middle East, and China in LHD only. It has been discontinued in Mexico.
Based on the compact Ford Falcon, the first Ford Econoline was introduced for the 1961 model year. Sized roughly to compete with the Chevrolet Corvair 95 (Greenbrier Sportswagon) and Volkswagen Type 2, which was 172.3 in (4,376 mm) long. It was originally offered as a cargo van, an eight-passenger van with three rows of seats (which carried the Ford Falcon name) and as a pickup truck. A 165 lb (75 kg) counterweight was fitted over the rear wheels to balance the front-heavy vehicle; this was sometimes removed by later owners. The implementation of situating the driver on top of the front axle with the engine near the front wheels is called, in the US, a "cab over" short for cab over engine configuration. In Europe it is called a "forward control" vehicle. The body styling borrowed heavily from the, smaller, UK produced, Thames 400E which had been in production since 1957 and the 1956-64 Jeep Forward Control.
Instead of the rear-mounted engine used by Volkswagen and Chevrolet, the first E-Series had a flat nose with the engine between and behind the front seats. Early models had a 144 CID inline 6-cylinder engine with a three-speed manual transmission. Later models had 170 CID or 240 CID engines with a three-speed manual or automatic transmission. It was an immediate success with utilities like the Bell Telephone System.
In its first year, 29,932 standard vans, 6,571 custom Econoline buses, 11,893 standard pickups and 3,000 custom pickups were made. The success of the Econoline led to its layout adopted in 1964 by the Chevrolet Van/GMC Handi-Van and Dodge A100; it would also be utilized internationally and sold by Mitsubishi, Nissan, and Toyota, with microvans called the Subaru Sambar and the Daihatsu Hijet.
Mercury Econoline
In rural Canada, where automobile dealers were scarce, the Econoline was sold as a Mercury alongside the M-Series truck lineup. Only the first generation of Econolines were sold as Mercurys; the next van sold by the division would be the 1993 Villager minivan.
The Mitsubishi Eclipse is a sport compact car produced by Mitsubishi between 1989 and 2011. A convertible body style was added during the 1996 model year. The Eclipse was named after an unbeaten 18th-century English racehorse which won 26 races,[2] and has also been rebadged and sold as the Eagle Talon and the Plymouth Laser captive imports through Mitsubishi Motors' close relationship with the Chrysler Corporation. Their partnership was known as Diamond-Star Motors, or DSM, and the vehicle trio through the close of the second-generation line is sometimes referred to by the moniker "DSM" among enthusiast circles. In Japan, the first two generations were sold at a specific Japanese retail chain called Mitsubishi Car Plaza.
The Eclipse was officially marketed in North America, Oman, South Korea, the Philippines, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, and China. At the end of August 2011, the final Eclipse rolled off the assembly line, and was auctioned off, the proceeds donated to charity.[3] It was not related to the Mitsubishi FTO while having a similar marketing approach.
The Eclipse has undergone four distinct generations: the first two generations (1G and 2G) share the automobile platform and parts with the Eagle Talon, and the Plymouth Laser, while the third generation (3G) shared a redesigned platform with the Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Stratus. During May 2005, the fourth, and final, generation (4G) Eclipse was introduced, abandoning the Chrysler platform used in the first three generations and replacing it with the PS platform.
The second generation car maintained the market focus of the first generation car, but had a major redesign and was fitted with different engines between trim levels. A convertible model, named the Spyder was introduced in 1996. The Spyder was available in two trims; the GS and the GS-T. The Spyder GS model was powered by a 2.4L I-4 non-turbo 4G64 engine. The Spyder GS-T was fitted with Mitsubishi's turbocharged 4G63 engine. The GSX model was also powered by this engine but with the addition of a high performance all wheel drive system. No convertible model was powered by the Chrysler's 420a engine, nor was there a convertible with all-wheel-drive.
The turbocharged engine option continued as the 4G63. It was also updated for more power as compared to the previous generation (210 hp vs 195 hp). The non-turbo equipped car had two different I-4 engines depending on the market they were produced for. The US version engines were producing 140 hp, found only in the hardtop RS and GS trims, was a modified version of the Chrysler Neon engine, the 420a, manufactured by Chrysler and delivered to and installed at the Diamond Star Motors facility. The European market engines were naturally aspirated 4G63 with 141 hp (105 kW; 143 PS).
The Talon was discontinued in 1998, along with the rest of the Eagle line, leaving only the Eclipse for sale during the 1999 model year.
As the width dimension and larger engines were offered to Japanese consumers, it was now regarded as a luxury car, as this generation no longer complied with Japanese Government dimension regulations, and Japanese consumers were liable for annual taxes as a result, which affected sales.
A special version of the Eclipse, called the "10th Anniversary OZ Rally", was sold at the end of the 1999 model run with unique 16-inch Enkei wheels with the OZ Racing logo. It also included the leather interior package, accented exhaust exit, and hoop-style spoiler that were available as standard equipment on GS-T and GSX models. The special edition package was only offered with the 420A engine.
A unique version of the 2G Eclipse was sold in some European countries. It used a normally aspirated Mitsubishi 4G63 motor, similar to what was available in the 1G, unique sideview mirrors, and unique amber rear turn signals.
