Road Test
Isn't it wonderful the way our free market keeps confusing shoppers with a blur of choices? You're hearing a little self-interest in that statement, of course; you wouldn't buy many copies of C/D if new cars were as predictable as T-shirts. Let's just say we're feeling extra secure these days, what with Ford's new Five Hundred crowding into the spotlight beside the Chrysler 300.
Both are all-new mainstream four-door family haulers. Both are incredibly roomy in the manner of the Ford Galaxies and Chrysler New Yorkers baby boomers grew up with. And relative to the cautious sedan offerings of recent years, both are as radical as the flat tax.
One more detail adding to your editors' job security: Although Congress will never pass the flat tax, both of these Detroiters are here and itching to complicate your new-car shopping.
If you want a quick summary of Dearborn's new entry, this much is undisputed around C/D headquarters- yawn!
The four-pillar greenhouse profile brings on déjà vu. A fat Passat? Or maybe an Audi before they made it gorgeous?
Yeah, we're cruel. But the Five Hundred can take some ribbing because it has the right stuff in categories that win over families. This is a whopper of a sedan, 200.7 inches overall, 3.9 inches longer than the Chrysler. It has 21 cubic feet of trunk room, five more than the 300, and more rear passenger space, too, if only by an insignificant percent. Maybe the front buckets on our top-of-the-line Limited test car didn't delight the editorial trouser seat, but few will complain.
Still, there is the nagging yawn! problem. Let's confront it, acknowledging right up front that virtue is rarely exciting. Cavernous space? Yawn! More than decent fuel economy (EPA 19 city, 26 highway)? Yawn! Dignified styling? Yawn! All-wheel drive for only $1700 extra? Yawn! The same high view from the driver's seat that makes SUVs so appealing? Nice, but yawn!
Actually, let the record show that seat height is merely halfway to SUV altitude, up only three to four inches above the typical sedan's.
Yawns happen in cars long on prudence, short on verve. Instead of another venturesome Taurus-the first two generations were incredibly brave-Ford is just saying no to risk. Having maxed out its credit cards buying Aston Martin, Jaguar, Volvo, and Land Rover, all with iffy finances of their own, Charming Billy now has to take the best from these acquisitions and, without stepping into any puddles, build a high-volume money maker. That would be a car with broad appeal, something for everybody. And with no risky aspects that provoke vetoes.
