Ford Experimental -Concept Vehicles

[Side-Oilers]

I like everything but the gas cap in the taillights.  Kills the design flow.  Pretty bitchin otherwise.

[honker]

1969 Ranchero Scrambler, Chicago show. Weird perspectives in this shot, is the car that huge, or is the man behind the drivers

door in the distance 

[98SVT - was 06GT]

Lol yea are those the guys that made the continuation 1966 convertible Shelbys,Beverly Hills Ford ?

Jay Brunk who owned Beverly Hills Mustang - a "restoration" shop (not a Ford dealer and no connection to FMC) that did very poor work. It was either him or Ole' Shel himself that dreamed up the idea to build 12 convertibles. Shelby would get 4, Brunk would get 4 and the other 4 would be sold to pay the tab for all 12 cars. This was the event that Shelby renewed his Auto Manufacturer license for. I knew a guy working at Shelby's at the time and he said he had to spend a week or two on each car they got to make them presentable and reliable. As a condition of them be eligible for being "New" they were required to install either 80 or 90% (I forget which) of NOS parts (didn't happen).

[FL SAAC]

Lol yea are those the guys that made the continuation 1966 convertible Shelbys,Beverly Hills Ford ?

Jay Brunk who owned Beverly Hills Mustang - a "restoration" shop (not a Ford dealer and no connection to FMC) that did very poor work. It was either him or Ole' Shel himself that dreamed up the idea to build 12 convertibles. Shelby would get 4, Brunk would get 4 and the other 4 would be sold to pay the tab for all 12 cars. This was the event that Shelby renewed his Auto Manufacturer license for. I knew a guy working at Shelby's at the time and he said he had to spend a week or two on each car they got to make them presentable and reliable. As a condition of them be eligible for being "New" they were required to install either 80 or 90% (I forget which) of NOS parts (didn't happen).

So in essence this commences the start of the "continuation cars"  or as I call them the fakaroos,  fobras, etc

[FL SAAC]

Now this is one cool kitty

[FL SAAC]

1963 Ford-Mercury Cougar II Concept Vignale

In the 1963 Ford shown the third Cougar dream car, it was called Cougar II. This very handsome two-passenger GT sports car would have made a timely contender to the popular Corvette String Ray. (Ford explained that GT, or gran turismo, is a term usually applied to two-seat coupes designed for super highways.) Cougar II featured a fastback roof, conceaied "pop-up" headlamps, and a serious, fully instrumented interior.

Powertrain was a high-performance 260 cu. in. V-8 engine that connected a four-speed transmission with a console-mounted gearshift lever. It was claimed that Cougar II was engineered to reach speeds in the 170 miles-an-hour range. When interior air pressure exceeded 15 pounds per square inch, a reliefpanel across the rear of the passenger compartment opened automatically.

This panel was required, since there was the possibility that at high speeds, the extreme pressure against the rear window might blow it out. Cougar also had a unique spring-loaded window-lift mechanism that allowed adjustment to the curved side windows.

The Cougar II, the third of the X-Car group, was named after the Cougar I which preceded it by a scant 18 months. It was the most radical of the first three show cars and was not based upon an established Ford platform. Instead, the iridescent candy red car was constructed on AC-Cobra tube frame (Chassis #CSX2004) obtained from the newly-created Carroll Shelby Enterprises in California. However, the chassis set up had to be modified: To clear the hood, the high-performance 289 Ford engine was moved rearward in the chassis. Intended as a response to the powerful and lithe Ferrari, it was the most competition-oriented of the first three X-Cars.

The Cobra II was probably the most beautiful of the three X-Cars, but was the least influential in terms of styling. This fastback coupe was designed before the Corvette Stingray. Built on a Cobra frame, the 289 K-Code powered car and wire wheels set a styling standard that was hard to replicate. The candy-red car still exists today

[FL SAAC]

One of the scarcest of all Edsels is the 1960 Ranger convertible, of which 76 were produced. It's prized today, but interestingly, it's also the most conventional of the breed. Facing a backlash against the Edselness of its Edsels, Ford instituted a hasty redesign for the 1960 model year, which would be the ill-fated marque's last.The trademark horse collar grille was gone, replaced with a more conventionally styled horizontal layout. Edsel's once mind-numbingly numerous models and styles were further pared down--a process that began in the 1959 model year. For 1960, there were just seven configurations offered: four-door sedan, two-door sedan, four-door hardtop, two-door hardtop, six- and nine-passenger wagons and the convertible. The full-figured Corsair line was eliminated (the Citation never returned after 1958), so all of the '60 Edsels were either Rangers or Villager station wagons.

[FL SAAC]

Ford Division's Ranger III, a refined version of the Ranger II introduced last year, is an ultra-modern pickup truck with a custom-designed passenger compartment. The vehicle converts in seconds from a conventional two-passenger pickup (top) to a four-passenger pickup/sedan combination (bottom). Other Ranger III "better ideas" include a power-operated hood that can be opened from inside the vehicle and hydraulic aircraft-type canopy doors that operate at the turn of a ke

[FL SAAC]

1968 Ford Fiera

The 1968 XL-based Fiera featured several styling modifications. Among these were a lowered roofline which altered the angles of the front and rear windshields resulting in a very sleek looking car. The mostly stock-looking grille was deeply recessed and had auxiliary rectangular driving lights positioned on either side of the stock grille divider. Under the louvered hood was a 428. Vent windows, side moldings, front side marker lamps, and rear side reflectors were deleted. Racing-style outside mirrors replaced the stock units. The rear wheel openings were enlarged a bit and a pair of brake cooling vents was installed just ahead of the rear wheels. Wide-oval white wall tires were fitted to a set of custom wheels. A wide trunk molding extended to the taillights; the extensions replaced the stock back-up lamp assemblies.

[FL SAAC]

The 1968 Techna, an engineering experimental car with more than 50 new ideas in safety, electronics, powertrain layout, and body and chassis design, has been unveiled by Ford Motor Co. Harold C. MacDonald, engineering vice president, explained the car's doors push straight out instead of swinging on hinges and over all it gives engineers "an opportunity to evaluate innovations realistically and to decide which ones have the most promise for future products"

[FL SAAC]

1968 Ford Thunderbird Saturn Show Car

The 1968 Thunderbird Saturn Show Car started as a design exercise at the Ford Design Center in Dearborn, Michigan, and when approved for assembly, began its life as an ordinary 1968 Thunderbird Tudor Hardtop. The modifications to the stock car were done in California, and the car was kept under lock and key until it debuted at the 45th Annual Southern California Automobile Show, which was held at the Pan Pacific Auditorium in Los Angeles. The changes it underwent from stock to show car were fairly simple, especially when compared to other show cars. Ford lowered the roof two inches, and in a preview of things to come, added a sloping fastback roofline which would appear on the 1970 Thunderbird two door models in a slightly toned down form. The hood was extended four inches to emphasize the long, low look of the car. The grille section remained mostly stock, but the head lights were concealed behind clear covers, which gave them a European look. Door handles were removed and concealed up near the beltline. To open the door, pressing on one side of the panel that concealed the handle allowed the panel to open, revealing the handle.

One of the most unique features of the show car was the concealed back up lights. When not in use, they were flush with the rear quarter panels. When the transmission selector lever was moved to "Reverse," the light assemblies popped out from their housings to illuminate the area behind and to the side of the car. When the tranny lever was moved out of "Reverse" the lights swung back to a concealed position in the rear quarter panels. These lights were mounted just below the mid-body line, under the stock 1965-1967 Thunderbird script, which was mounted just above the mid-body line. A Saturn nameplate was also affixed to each rear quarter panel, next to the Thunderbird script. Up front, the slender front turn indicators wrapped around the outboard edges of the hood. The exterior was finished in an iridescent Candy Apple Red finish.

Inside, individually contoured front bucket seats with built-in head rests appeared, another preview of things to come in 1970. The interior was upholstered in a red knitted vinyl, sewn in a wide waffle pattern. This same vinyl material was also used in some production Mustangs at the time. The custom center console between the front seats contained a Trip Programmer, another peek into the future!

Although many show cars are doomed to destruction when they've served their duty, it is believed that the Saturn may have actually survived

[Side-Oilers]

Neat looking show car.

I can't recall seeing it before, even though I would've been at the LA Auto Show with my dad that year.  (I was probably distracted by the Shelbys.)

"The grille section remained mostly stock"  Huh?  It almost gave me parallax vertigo looking straight-on at that weird grille. 

[FL SAAC]

Indeed it's very kool. What caught my interest was this:



One of the most unique features of the show car was the concealed back up lights. When not in use, they were flush with the rear quarter panels. When the transmission selector lever was moved to "Reverse," the light assemblies popped out from their housings to illuminate the area behind and to the side of the car

Neat looking show car.

I can't recall seeing it before, even though I would've been at the LA Auto Show with my dad that year.  (I was probably distracted by the Shelbys.)

"The grille section remained mostly stock"  Huh?  It almost gave me parallax vertigo looking straight-on at that weird grille.

[shelbydoug]

Indeed it's very kool. What caught my interest was this:



One of the most unique features of the show car was the concealed back up lights. When not in use, they were flush with the rear quarter panels. When the transmission selector lever was moved to "Reverse," the light assemblies popped out from their housings to illuminate the area behind and to the side of the car

Neat looking show car.

I can't recall seeing it before, even though I would've been at the LA Auto Show with my dad that year.  (I was probably distracted by the Shelbys.)

"The grille section remained mostly stock"  Huh?  It almost gave me parallax vertigo looking straight-on at that weird grille.

Ford did know and understand it's market. The show car could never work in real life.

You wouldn't be able to wear your fedora and smoke your cigar.

I do find the gold custom colors very appropriate to the show cars and acknowledge that they aren't so in real life production. I find that a strange contradiction.

I think of the Mangusta show car with the glass roof like that. It's the only one every produced and to this day no one can match the exact color.

[67 GT350]

That El Gato with the girl in the picture could have gone against the Buick Riveria and WON!