In the early 2000s, Ford had two situations on its hands. For one, the Crown Victoria, whose rear wheel drive Panther platform underpinnings dated to the late 1970s, was largely becoming relegated to fleet sales. For another, they had spent a bundle on Volvo and wanted some return on that nearly seven billion dollar investment.
So Ford took the Volvo P2 platform, which underpinned Volvo's newest transverse-engine sedans and wagons, and developed it into the Ford D3 platform, which would provide the basis for the Freestyle crossover SUV and a new full-size FWD sedan that would eventually replace the Crown Vic.
Inexplicably, Ford decided to call the new car the Five Hundred. This echoed the old 500 suffix used on the top trim levels of Fairlanes and Galaxies, but hadn't been used since 1974, so it was unlikely to be emotionally resonant with buyers thirty years later. Anyway...
It came in three trim levels: SE, SEL (like the Redfire Metallic one in the photo, and Limited.
Power came from Ford's 3.0L Duratec 24V DOHC V-6, making 203 SAE net horsepower. The base SE had this motor backed with a CVT driving the front wheels, while the FWD versions of the SEL and Limited had a 6-speed automatic. All trim levels could be had with an all-wheel drive and CVT driveline.
When Car and Driver put a 2005 Five Hundred Limited with the AWD setup through its paces, they got an 8.0 second zero-to-sixty time and a 16.3 quarter mile at 88 mph.
This one was photographed with an Olympus E-510 and Zuiko Digital 12-60mm f/2.8-4 zoom lens in April of 2025.
No comments:
Post a Comment