Given that they were the ones who essentially invented the idea of the modern car as we know it today, it’s safe to say that the Ford Motor Company has been around for a very long time. Just exactly how long is an answer that might surprise you.
Back in the day, Henry Ford went through a couple of different financial backers and partners, all of whom supported his dream of building good cars (a total novelty at the time) in an efficient, production line setting (another first).
Ford’s first company opened its doors in 1899 but the real Ford Motor Company, the one that would carry its famous Blue Oval into history, began production in 1903. On a fascinating side note, Ford’s various attempts to get his company off the ground also led pretty directly to two other companies starting up outside of Detroit. They’re called Cadillac and Dodge and they’re not going anywhere either.
Ford has had an unparalleled run of success for almost 125 years, but they have had some major fails as well. Today we are going to take a look at both sides of the coin for Ford during a very difficult time in its history.
We’re going to travel all the way back to the Dark Ages of the 1990s to see how successful Ford was at the dawn of the SUV and Minivan age. Let’s hop in our Thunderbirds and cruise alongside 8 Fords from the 90s that always failed us and 9 that were actually pretty good.
17 1990-94 Tempo (Bad)
We start off with a sad, sad story in the automotive world. The Ford Tempo in its original incarnation from 1984-1987 was a pretty cool car. Many car writers, including a recent piece in Jalopnik, have waxed rhapsodic about the influence Ford of Germany had on the evolution of the first generation tempo and how the Tempo imitated - to a fairly successful degree - European cars like the Merkur XR4ti.
However, and it is a big however, that selfsame Jalopnik article absolutely rails against the later Tempos (or the Topaz, as Mercury named their exact same model) for their completely uninspired lines and design, the base 2.3 liter laugh-a-thon (ugh), and even the fact that, if you got a Tempo with Ford’s V6 Vulcan, it still only had three speeds. The tempo didn’t break down all the time but it didn’t get you anywhere either, physically or emotionally.
16 1999 Excursion (Bad)
Time magazine (you’ve heard of them, right?) called this monstrosity of an SUV a “Mount Rushmore-sized SUV.” They were not being complimentary. The Sierra Club went one further and called it the “Ford Valdez,” as in one of the worst oil spills ever. Get it?
This was a monumental failure for Ford on so many levels. It weighed 7,000 pounds, it was 19 feet long and it stood almost 7 feet high.
It could also tow 10,000 pounds, just in case you brought more home from the grocery store than you expected. Nope, this was a suburban fail all of the way. Don’t believe me? Check out The Simpsons making fun of on YouTube.
15 1996 Taurus (Bad)
This car came in number 24 on Edmund’s list of the 100 worst cars of all time. That’s pretty impressive for a model that has sold millions, has been around since 1986 and is still going strong, albeit sometimes as a station wagon/SUV hybrid.
It’s even the model that replaced the incredible Crown Victoria Police Interceptor as Ford’s offering in the law enforcement vehicle field.
That’s pretty rarefied air for any car, which is why it’s rather surprising to find it on this list of Ford fails. Maybe I’ll just let the guys at Edmund’s explain: “The bulbous blob redesign of Ford's best-selling sedan that effectively killed it in the retail market. Weird when it didn't need to be.” Sometimes redesigns for the sake of “freshness” should be left on the drawing board.
14 1990 Bronco (Bad)
Bronco aficionados didn’t know it back in 1989-90 but their beloved (and unwieldy) early SUV was about to be hit by an express train called the Explorer. Actually, I know a guy across town who still drives a refurbished ’88 Bronco and loves it but he’s weird and unreliable just like his car.
Anyway, the Bronco had a lot of failings, like having only two doors on a full-size SUV, but I think Edmunds said it best with this quick little review: “Tipsy, short-wheelbase SUV based on the Ranger pickup. Rode like there were rocks in its tires.” Really, what else need be said? It's OK though, the Bronco was not long for this world once the mighty Explorer crested the horizon and started charging out of control downhill.
13 1993 Ford Aspire (Bad)
Edmunds is a pretty reputable car magazine, don’t ya think? Don’t answer- you know I’m right. It's actually one of the most reputable, when it comes to valuing cars and their relative cultural impact.
So maybe we should take it to heart when their writers say of the 1993 Aspire that it was “Basically a 1.3-liter four-cylinder engine and four wheels bolted to a prison cell.”
That’s not a good look. I suppose Ford could make the claim that the Aspire was actually built by Kia, a fledgling auto maker who hadn’t quite hit their stride yet (though they certainly have now, haven’t they?)
The fact of the matter is that Ford slapped their own name and emblems on it - Go Big Blue - and sold it as a Ford. Whoops!
12 1990 Escort (Bad)
There are some insanely fun and inspiring Ford Escorts out there from various model years. You need look no further than this very article to find one that is considered an icon of 1990’s Ford ingenuity. However, there were also a whole bunch of years where the Escort was doomed to failure.
1990 was one such year, one where Ford ushered in a new decade with a facelift that made the Escort a stinker. As author Giles Chapman (of Cars We Loved) explains, "it was noisy and unrefined, with nothing exceptional in the equipment department, and with plain, forgettable styling."
Hmm, that doesn’t sound very good, now, does it? Don’t worry though, Giles wasn’t done yet, adding that "within just two years of launch the Escort required a comprehensive facelift and a new engine range." We’ll see exactly what that entailed a little bit later.
11 1990 Thunderbird (Bad)
The Thunderbird was once an awesome car. I should know, my Dad had one (a ’65, I believe) that he kept under lock and key in the back of our garage for years (unless he was going to a car show in which case I was definitely not allowed to ride in it!)
Then Ford had to go and build a massive car that only came with a V6 engine option and was still underpowered. But why listen to me when Edmunds said of this model that “it was too big, much too heavy and too expensive to produce. It's the car that killed the T-Bird.”
What a bad choice Ford made on this one! If the Thunderbird had gone through a redesign like the Mustang fourth generation then I’d probably be driving one right now. The death of an icon indeed.
10 1991 Explorer (Bad)
It’s the icon of a generation of cars and a model that helped usher in perhaps the biggest revolution in the car industry of the past 50 years. I’m talking about the mighty Explorer, Ford’s fantastically successful (and ongoing) entry into the SUV sweepstakes (excuse me, market).
The early Explorers also had a really rough go of it, getting involved in multiple fatal accidents that were either the fault of Ford if you listen to Firestone’s side of things, Firestone Tires if you listen to Ford, or both of them if you go by the 174 deaths and 700 injuries Time magazine reported.
The Explorer may be fully engaged in world domination nowadays, but at the time it was touch and go whether the model would survive all of the controversy and lawsuits Ford brought upon itself.
9 1997 Explorer (Good)
I know, I know, I just ranked the Explorer as one of the worst Fords of the 1990s, didn’t I? So what am I doing immediately following up that entry with a claim that it was also one of the best models to come off the lines in that weird decade. Can I have my cake and eat it too? Well, actually, I can.
We all know what the Explorer did. It expanded the SUV market (almost singlehandedly) to what we see today clogging every street in every city and suburb in America.
Car Sales Base puts total sales for the Explorer at right around 10 million vehicles since 1991. That’s in the United States alone, folks.
For a vehicle that started its life with a whole host of problems (see previous entry), the Explorer came through with flying colors. Just don’t put Firestone tires on yours…
8 1992 Escort RS Cosworth (Good)
I’ve written about this bad boy before, notably about the ones in mint condition which Ford has hiding in its “secret” warehouse at its Dagenham factory just outside of London. The RS series was a thing of beauty, one that Complex called “one of the hottest hatches of all time,” and with good reason.
This was a rally car supreme and the 2002 Cosworth were the best of the bunch, even if this one was only available in very limited quantities as a road-ready vehicle.
That sort of thing is bound to happen when an automaker realizes it has made a tiny monster that can hit up to 1000hp (with some tuning help, of course) and also has incredible handling. Said automaker usually turns such a thing into a racer. I’m not sayin’, I’m just sayin’.
7 1993 Mustang, Gen 4 (Good)
There isn’t a more classic representative Ford car than the Mustang unless you count the Model T. The difference there being, of course, that the Model T has gone the way of the dodo and the dinosaurs and the Mustang is still going strong after almost 60 years of awesomeness.
In 1993, the Mustang was due for a massive style change and upgrade and Ford did not disappoint with the fourth generation car.
As Complex tells us, it was a “fun, reliable, and cheap-to-operate ride that you still see cruisin' around all the time.” I just need to say here that I’m pretty sure that back when gas prices were averaging $1.00 a gallon (thanks for the info Dad!) pretty much any car was “cheap to operate.” But wouldn’t you have rather done it in a newly redesigned Mustang???
6 1997 F-150 (Good)
As Complex says, when an update to that all-time classic, the mighty Ford F-150, comes around, “Construction profit margins increase country-wide.” Yeah I know that they're being sarcastic but let’s be honest, is there any truck in the world ever that you would rather see your local contractor driving? And please don’t get me started on those F-350 monstrosities; an F-150 will do me just fine, thank you.
The F-150 has been around since 1948, so if you think Ford puts a lot of effort into new generations, well, you would be right.
The 1997 version was a huge (huge!) turning point for Ford as they turned this beast into a consumer truck, not just a workhorse. With its increased streamlining, better looks, expanded Super-cab to cart the whole family, and a slew of other options, this was the model that turned a classic truck into a family boat.
5 1995 Fiesta 4 (Good)
There’s always been a lot to like about the Ford Fiesta. At least, that’s always been the case in Great Britain. In America it has been a slightly different story as the Fiesta is a more recent addition to our choice of cars.
In fact, the Fiesta wasn’t introduced here until 2010 and now, according to Car Buzz, it is already gone from our shores once again.
A nimble, agile, little hatchback better suited to the crowded old city streets and country lanes of the U.K., the Fiesta was their best-selling car for most of the second half of that decade.
That fourth generation lasted from 1995-2002 and featured a slew of ranges in engine, styling and options. Given that the Fiesta has sold over 16 million units, it’s fair to say that England loved it.
4 1992 Crown Victoria Police Interceptor (Good)
I know you’re just begging to ask what people thought of this dominant force on the early ‘90s scene, especially since many of us still see at least one of these a day, even if all the cop markings have been stripped off and they’re transporting some mom and her gaggle of kids.
The Crown Victoria Police Interceptor was one heck of a car, one that our ever-present Complex magazine called “a universally understood symbol of authority.”
It began production in 1992 and stayed there until 2011. Why Ford stopped making it is a mystery to me, as I know several cops who still swear by it (and at Ford for discontinuing it) and have heard of many more who feel the same.
I would too, about a 4.6 liter V8 four door sedan that was also heavy enough to batter all of those Explorers to the side of the road.
3 1998 Lincoln Navigator (Good)
If the Ford Explorer made the whole idea of SUVs something for the general public to sit up and take notice of, then the Lincoln Navigator made the luxury market sit up and take notice of SUVs. There is no finer example than the ’98 Navigator, which became exactly the sort of status symbol that Lincoln aspired to in all of its models.
Let’s not make any bones about it, Lincoln simply makes regular Fords that are all tricked out. As Complex said about this car: “it had been a long time since Lincoln had pulled that sort of move off, and if Lincoln's best cars were to be summed up, we'd say that they were flossing Fords. This was a big a deal in the late '90s, as the Continental was in the '60s.”
There would be no Cadillac Escalade, along with many other models, without the trailblazing success of the ’98 Navigator.
2 1998 Escort ZX2 (Good)
The Escort is a lot like the Fiesta except even more popular, especially in Europe where it was a best-selling standard from 1968-2004. Not that it was any slouch in America. The Escort was recently revived for the Chinese market as a replacement for the popular Focus, says Autocar. If it is successful there then all bets are off for total sales figures. That market is rather big, after all.
But the greatest Escort ever, as Complex will tell you, was the ’98 ZX2, a car which Motor Trend also fell in love with after testing out the Sport Package model- a model with 15-inch aluminum wheels, fog lamps, decklid spoiler, chromed exhaust tip, upgraded seats, and obligatory badging. All pretty fancy stuff for 1998, especially when you consider the testers at MT also threw in a CD player mounted in the trunk and tilt steering.
1 1993 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra (Good)
If the fourth generation redo of the mighty Mustang was a seminal moment in the ongoing evolution of that model, then the incredible '93 SVT Cobra was the proverbial icing on the top of that very powerful cake.
Shelby, maker of the legendary Cobra, hadn't been much of a player for quite a while by ’93, but Ford had no problem creating a race car (and insanely powerful street-legal version) with more than a hint of a nod to Shelby.
Stirling Matheson of Complex said “The SVT Cobra wowed the press, destroyed many more expensive sports cars, and left almost everyone behind at the lights.” Well, there’s nothing wrong with that, is there? The SVT (Special Vehicle Team is the moniker, for those keeping score at home) was a seriously high performance Pony that could do zero to 60mph in under 6 seconds.
Sources: complex.com, time.com, edmunds.com, jalopnik.com