Though wheelbase and engines were unchanged from the 1946-48 models, the '49 was three inches lower, fractionally shorter, and usefully lighter. Even better, it had a modern ladder-type frame with Dearborn's first fully independent front suspension (via coil springs and upper and lower A-arms...
. With that seven-speed manual comes a lower crawl gear for when you want to do some serious off-roading and need that ultrashort gearing to traverse the terrain. We also went with the Badlands trim, which is one step lower than the Wildtrak near the top of the hierarchy; it a...
By the late sixties, the Ford Ranchero and Chevrolet El Camino faced a different sort of competition: compact pickup trucks from Nissan and Toyota. Unlike the utes, the Japanese minitrucks were essentially miniature versions of full-size trucks, powered by four-cylinder engines. They were far ...
Probably a full sized wagon would be about right (aside from the fuel economy, but remember engines have improved in that respect since those cars were offered decades ago). I did buy my last car new, but confess that my prior cars were boug...
The car then reemerged in mid-1986 as the Escort EXP, with a similar new flush-headlamp front, revamped dash, and 1.9-liter engines for two models: 86-bhp Luxury Coupe and 108-bhp Sport Coupe. Though nearly 31,000 were sold, EXP was still unequal to Japanese two-seaters like the ...