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A note to those employees at Ford

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jneary

Performance Fords
323
0
Norcal
So, I have always been a car guy. Since "seeing" (I barely remember) my first muscle car at the age of 5 in the local Dodge dealership (a Superbee) in 1969, I have always wanted to drive cool, sports cars. I have owned and restored my share of cars and have always wanted to make them do more, look cooler, and generally put my own twist on the various cars that I have owned, knowing that I always wanted more than what they delivered.

I know that we as a group tend to complain about the things that our cars don't quite do and that is the nature of our breed, especially those that are pushing the limits out on the race track. That desire to make the machine do just a little more I realized is just the nature of who we are.

Knowing that there MUST be Ford employees out there reading these forums, I just want to take a moment to say Thank You! Thank You for doing the job that you do day in and day out and Thank You for having such passion in designing, engineering and building some of the coolest cars on the road today.

Since making the switch to Ford cars many moons ago, it has sometimes been a challenge. Knowing that my beloved Mustang, F250, Escape, Freestyle didn't always do what I wanted to because of cost, upper management stodginess and just poor corporate decisions has been frustrating at times. Examples are paint jobs that were less than stellar, under rated brake systems, interior designs that were really not ergonomically correct, and the list goes on. However, my Fords have never let me down in general, lasting well over 100,000 miles.

I can say though, as I have looked my new Mustang up and down, the quality that I see in the paint, materials, and design is really just fantastic and this comes from a new breed of car making folks who really do care about what they do and I just wanted to say, Thank You!!!

John Neary
 

four-walling

Kerry, San Diego
The 1982 Mustang GT pictured below, that I purchased new, was of terrible quality and kept me from purchasing a domestic automobile until the 2012 Boss.

I concur, the Boss has excellent paint and fit and finish. The interior plastics are really cheap though...

Image02_002sized.jpg
 
+1. I poured over the details on my 2013 and am quite impressed. Miles ahead of my '03 F150. Last ride was a wrx. That was pretty quick, but terrible paint and generally felt flimsy ( though never broke). Don't even want to remember my Dodge Neon. That thing didn't make it 30000 miles before it spent weeks for fuel system and engine service. Chrysler blamed bad gas and wouldn't help. I positioned it to their Detroit based manager of service and he said to basically screw off. Will never buy another mopar, but based on the quality and obvious engineering effort on the BOSS, I'm sticking with Ford for a long time.
 
Considering the Boss plays with cars worth twice as much I'd say they did the best with what they could at that price point. All of the money went into the nitty gritty (powertrain, chassis, suspension, etc) and there wasn't a whole lot they could do with the interior stuff in order to keep it as a sub $50k car. True...the interior can't hang with a Bimmers interior or a 911's interior, but on the track, the Boss can and then some. If Ford had invested in a plush interior with all the gizmos, and some of the other refinements that those other cars have, you would be looking at a $75k car and they would have missed their target group. Ford got this car exactly right. Its a track car that has a/c and a radio.
 
cbj5259 said:
Considering the Boss plays with cars worth twice as much I'd say they did the best with what they could at that price point. All of the money went into the nitty gritty (powertrain, chassis, suspension, etc) and there wasn't a whole lot they could do with the interior stuff in order to keep it as a sub $50k car. True...the interior can't hang with a Bimmers interior or a 911's interior, but on the track, the Boss can and then some. If Ford had invested in a plush interior with all the gizmos, and some of the other refinements that those other cars have, you would be looking at a $75k car and they would have missed their target group. Ford got this car exactly right. Its a track car that has a/c and a radio.

I agree with that. Easily could have been a $75k ride.
 
Here here, well said.

I have to say, other than a 68 428 mustang in my teens that I was never really fond of, and a 66 ford pickup that was my yard work beater when I was younger. I have never really been a ford guy. I have owned many examples of the muscle car offerings from Chrysler and GM over the years. I have enjoyed most of them. I do however have to say, I never enjoyed any quite as much as my Boss, My 1000 horsepower camaro was fun but not like this.

You guys know what I am talking about. When you get in it, turn the key and it rumbles to life. You start to smile and it doesnt stop to you turn it off.

I had 1 very tiny spot, the size of a pin head in the paint where the bumper skin and headlight come together, it could barely be seen without a magnifying glass. I got factory touchup paint and put a tiny drop in it. I cant even find it now and I knew where to look. Other than that, it was absolutely perfect.

My brother works for GM and won't speak to me now. ;D
 

jneary

Performance Fords
323
0
Norcal
Yeah, here is my first Ford:

gt3501.jpg


I sold my GT350 with 186,000 miles on the odo... I am PISSED that I sold it now. I loved that car even though it had sagging paint drips on the rocker panels and a 7.5" rear end but that was a great solid car that ALWAYS started right up and ran like a top. Drove that car from 1990 when I bought it used from Walnut Creek Ford until I sold it in 1996.

Funny but what finally sold me on the Mustang was a buddies 1980 turbo mustang.

1980_00002_01.jpg

Plain Jane coupe that he spent maybe $500.00 to modify (TRX wheels and tires, air cleaner, mods to the turbo and advance to the camshaft) and could outrun and out handle my 240Z. I finally got tired of that and converted to the Mustang.

I have never owned another foreign car since.

John
 

ufnavy06

Some say he has a tattoo of his face on his face.
Jumping onto this thread as well. I couldn't be more pleased with my ownership time with my 2 Mustangs. I was able to get my dad back into a domestic car and he's willing to look at other domestic cars because of my first Mustang. I haven't had anything negative happen between the 73k miles I've put on my 2 Mustangs. Ford got it right and I couldn't be happier to say I've owned a Ford product for the past 7 years.
 
Nice to see some fox bodys on here, I also own a low mileage unrestored all original 82 Mustang GT. The slogan back then was The Boss is Back. Have had many fox bodys thru out the years, they have never let me down once. Since I have had so many 5.0s, I figured it was time for the new 5.0. This time I purchased the real Boss.
Thank you Ford Motor Company for bringing back the Boss, and your enthusiasm for keeping the legend alive.
 

So Boss

Boss at Vancouver (now Finland)
70
1
+1 for Ford Employees.

I also have older Mustang. It's 1971 with big block and I have driven all over in Europe with it - roughly 120k miles. The only problem is terrible mileage 8)
I plan to do at least same 120k with Boss too.
 

steveespo

Lord knows I'm a Voodoo Child
Moderator
4,008
1,924
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
10-20 Years
Cookeville TN
Ford is definitely bringing quality products to the market at good prices. I have owned Fords for 30 years and my family for 30 years before that. Performance has always been important to Ford and the Ford Motorsport/Ford Racing group has been bringing us parts and support to take the cars to track with OEM reliability. I have seen the progress in quality which since the days of my 84 GT, 86 SVO and 87 GT has improved 10 times. Those cars re fun, but squeaked, rattled and wore out very fast. The S197 chassis is solid and the suspensions perform with BMW like precision. I have owned 3 F-150s all gave me great service through years of abuse on construction sites. The direction Ford has and is taking will bring us better and better vehicles in the future. I am proud to be driving an American built car from a great American based company. We need to demand more US manufacturing to help support the companies and workers here in our hometowns. There is nothing wrong with making something with your own hands and selling it to your neighbors, we have a few entrepreneurs right here on this site that deserve our support in this vein.
Steve
 
I never even thought about buying a Mustang until the Boss and man do I love the car...except the clutch/transmission. I know it is probably fine for the street but for a car that was meant for the track, this is a big weak point. My trans has been rebuilt once is going back in this week for the same problem.
 
steveespo said:
Ford is definitely bringing quality products to the market at good prices. I have owned Fords for 30 years and my family for 30 years before that. Performance has always been important to Ford and the Ford Motorsport/Ford Racing group has been bringing us parts and support to take the cars to track with OEM reliability. I have seen the progress in quality which since the days of my 84 GT, 86 SVO and 87 GT has improved 10 times. Those cars re fun, but squeaked, rattled and wore out very fast. The S197 chassis is solid and the suspensions perform with BMW like precision. I have owned 3 F-150s all gave me great service through years of abuse on construction sites. The direction Ford has and is taking will bring us better and better vehicles in the future. I am proud to be driving an American built car from a great American based company. We need to demand more US manufacturing to help support the companies and workers here in our hometowns. There is nothing wrong with making something with your own hands and selling it to your neighbors, we have a few entrepreneurs right here on this site that deserve our support in this vein.
Steve

This is a great post Steve. I wish more people felt like this.
 
jnathan68 said:
I never even thought about buying a Mustang until the Boss and man do I love the car...except the clutch/transmission. I know it is probably fine for the street but for a car that was meant for the track, this is a big weak point.

I didn't want to be the first one to say it.
 

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