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35 Car Models That Ford Probably Regrets Making

Cameron Eittreim December 2, 2020

33: Mercury Topaz

The Topaz and Tempo were both massive sales successes for Ford, and while that was all well and good, their reputation suffered. The build quality of these two compacts was inferior from the start. The cars don’t just look cheap, they were cheap. Common occurrences would be radio dials that fell off, cheap glass, ripped interiors, and worse. Reliability was often questionable right from the showroom floor. The Topaz had a slightly more rounded look than the Tempo, but the car still managed to have its own identity. The problem is that the Topaz wasn’t unique enough to give Mercury its own footing on the market.

Consumers knew that this was a Tempo, albeit slightly dressed up. Ford did a decent job of trying to market the car as an upscale alternative to other compacts that were on the market. Nevertheless, the result was a car that just further tarnished the blue ovals reputation in the automotive industry. To this day, the Topaz is relegated to junkyards all over the country. You seldom see these things on the roadways anymore and with good reason. The build quality was shabby at best and the reliability just didn’t add up. It took Ford decades to improve on the reliability of their compact cars up until the most recent variation of the Focus.

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32: Mercury Mystique

Along with the rest of the ring lineup for Mercury in the nineties, the Mystique was another Ford badge job. The intention was to create a car that was fashionable and comfortable, we understand that. But by just slapping a different grill on the front and changing the nameplate Ford was not instilling confidence in anyone. Here we have the Mystique, a car that was for a long time relegated to rental car fleets. The design of the car was not imaginative by any stretch of the imagination, which didn’t bold well for the reputation. Ford designers thought that by using the Contour as the base car the driving characteristics would speak for themselves.

That unfortunately is not the case, and the Mystique is a car that never amounted to much. Its interior build quality was less than that of even Oldsmobile, a competing brand. When you rode in a Mystique, you thought you were in a cheap compact car, instead of something in this class. The thing is that Mercury was attempting to give buyers a sportier option than other mid-size sedans that were on the market. Needless to say, the Mystique was not this car by any stretch of the imagination, and the result was quite unbearable. There are few of these on the road left, mostly due to a lack of quality and reliability.

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Mercury Mountaineer — Photo Credit: Ford

31: Mountaineer

The first SUV boom caught all of the automakers by surprise, and there was a mad rush during the end of the decade to sell more SUVs. All of the features that the Mountaineer had were basically derived from the Ford Explorer, it was essentially a carbon copy. At least with the Escalade, GM tried to differentiate it a little bit from its humble origins. Not so much the case with the Mountaineer and the SUV remained a carbon copy of the Explorer for its entire product cycle. The first generation was increasingly sad, with limited appeal to the new generation of luxury SUV shoppers that were in the market for it.

Performance for the Mountaineer was originally derived from the same 5.0L V8 that could be found in the Ford Explorer. But as time went on, the SUV didn’t get any improvements over the Ford model. With the Lincoln, Navigator Ford marketed a different engine, the In-Tech V8 but the Mountaineer didn’t get this treatment. Likewise, the interior was identical to the Explorer save the Mercury stitching in the seats and badging. The Mountaineer was such a flop that you might have trouble finding someone who remembers it, but this has helped its resale value a little bit. Nevertheless, this is definitely a car that Ford regrets making at one point in time.

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30: Villager

So we’ve been a little hard on Ford about rebadging vehicles, but the Mercury Villager was a whole different type of travesty. This particular Ford was actually based on a Nissan, so much so that the resemblance is uncanny. Ford opted to sell the Villager as a rebadged Nissan Quest, instead of utilizing the platform that the company was introducing as the Windstar. Why Ford decided to sell two completely different minivans is a mystery to this day, because the Quest was a much smaller van than the Windstar. Maybe it was to give Mercury a bit of difference from the Ford lineup, but even that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. In contrast to the Chrysler minivans that were on the market, the Villager was undersized.

Nissan went with a compact approach to the Quest, and the Villager was a carbon copy. There were some nice features to the van but nothing that warranted any real competition to Chrysler. As time went on, Mercury would advertise the Villager less and less, and you seldom see these things still on the road. The Villager was a great concept because Mercury was positioned as the premium brand at the time. But as history will show us the market for luxury minivans is minimal at best, and the Villager just never caught on. Mercury had a lot of memorable cars over the past couple of decades but the Villager is probably one of the most confusing Fords to hit the market.

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29: Mercury Marauder

In 2003, the market for performance cars was waning. With the Camaro and Firebird being discontinued in 2002 the guys at Ford figured out that there was an opening for a performance sedan. The Marauder is basically a rebadged Crown Victoria, albeit quite a few menacing touches were added. The smoked headlights and taillights are the first sign that this is not your average police car or taxi cab. The 4.6-liter DOHC V-8 threw out 302 hp, and the rear-wheel-drive design was welcomed. The problem is that the car was basically still a Crown Vic with little to differentiate the two.

Had the Marauder experienced a longer product cycle with a more unique design, it might have been a lot more popular. There was no real competition for a sedan like this at the time, which meant that Ford could corner the market. But the company wasn’t trying to compete with the already existing Mustang. The Mercury brand was also going in another direction at the time where it was trying to focus on female buyers. Failed ideas in the automotive world come and go, and the Mercury Marauder was one of them.

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28: Lincoln Blackwood

Luxury pickup trucks are still a rather new concept, although the F-150 Platinum has managed to garner reasonable sales. But a decade ago there was a different luxury truck concept, the Blackwood. This over-the-top Lincoln was an attempt to build on the popularity of the Navigator and the Cadillac Escalade in the early 2000s. GM had their own luxury truck, the Escalade EXT, which was based on the Avalanche. The Blackwood in itself was based on the F-150 but there were a lot of mistakes that were made with this truck. A satin-lined bed is the first problem, which made the truck utterly useless for hauling just about anything. The truck was also only available in a black paint scheme and a four-door configuration.

The Blackwood was such a limited truck that it didn’t catch on with buyers. Although the design of the truck was elegant and unique, the limited appeal kept a lot of buyers out of showrooms. The unique design of the Blackwood was designed as a halo car for the brand. Lincoln had been fading into obscurity until the success of the Navigator. Had the Blackwood been designed with the common pickup truck buyer in mind, it might have been a more popular model. But the truck failed to latch on with consumers and it was only manufactured for a single product year. Nowadays these trucks are quite rare and finding one can be a costly proposition for a truck that is limiting at best.

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27: 2003 Lincoln Aviator

Perhaps the early 2000s were just a trying time over at Ford because the Aviator was another dud. Based on the Ford Explorer, the Aviator did have some unique aspects to it, the first of which is the powerplant. The engine is shared with the Mustang Mach-1 from this generation, which was a unique addition for an SUV. It definitely had the power behind it but the rest of the thing was a carbon copy of the Ford Explorer. When you are taking such a premium price tag you want something unique as opposed to a dated design. Most of the consumers that were interested in the Aviator were looking at larger models such as the Navigator.

The Aviator was a good concept at first thought, but the result was not a unique vehicle. Lincoln was trying to appeal to a new generation of buyers but the SUV just didn’t latch on. The proximity to the Ford Explorer made the SUV unappealing to most buyers. The high price tag and cramped interior meant that more families chose the Navigator instead. Cost wise the Aviator was just too close to the Navigator, which made the larger SUV a better deal. Lincoln has long been losing market share but the original Aviator didn’t help things out.

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2006 Lincoln Mark LT — Photo Credit: Ford

26: Lincoln Mark LT

Finally, in the luxury truck saga at Ford, there was the Mark LT, a truck released in 2006 three years after the failed experiment of the Blackwood. The truck was based on the F-150 similar to how the Blackwood was, but the company did a few things differently. For starters, the Mark LT actually had a functional truck bed, whereas the Blackwood’s was made of satin. Another thing that the Mark LT did right was to offer different exterior colors. But the truck was still limited in the configurations that you could choose, notably the fact that it was only available in a four-door. The truck was also released at the wrong time, right in the midst of a failing economy.

The truck was lethargic in terms of performance and didn’t really offer all that much over the F-150. Its exterior styling was also eerily similar to the F-150, which didn’t help to differentiate the truck all that much. Overall, the Mark LT is a truck that will go down as a small footprint in the Lincoln portfolio. The Mark did manage to birth the F-150 Platinum which is one of the most popular pickup trucks on the road nowadays.

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25: Ford Aspire

The 1990s were dominated by the SUV boom, but automakers also needed compact cars to comply with EPA regulations. The Aspire was based on a Kia platform and was sold during the early part of the decade. Although you’ll notice the car was very similar to the Geo Metro, it never caught on with consumers. The small size and the perceived lack of quality were enough to seal the car’s fate.

The price tag was one of the most affordable on the market, but the lack of features and its tiny design just seemed to turn consumers off. The Aspire was one of the many Fords during this period that just never seemed to catch on. Compact cars haven’t bounced back since the Aspire and Metro.

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1999 Ford Contour SVT — Photo Credit: Hot Rod

24: Ford Contour

The Ford lineup during the 1990s was in the midst of a transition as cars were evolving in design. While Taurus was a hot seller for the brand, the company wanted something that was in between the Taurus and the Escort. The Contour was a handsome sedan based on a model being sold overseas. While the exterior design was attractive, the size of the car was much smaller than the segment called for. This created a problem with consumers who were vying for a larger sedan.

The Contour didn’t end up selling well even though there was a special edition SVT model of the car. If the Contour had a more viable interior size and style, the car might have sold a lot better. But the proximity to the Escort gave buyers a confused viewpoint of a car that was supposed to compete with the Accord and the Camry.

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23: Ford Festiva

Perhaps one of the most forgettable Fords was the Festiva. If you’ve ever seen it the Festiva, it was a Kia-based compact car sold by Ford at the end of the 1980s. The Festiva had a good premise as an affordable compact car for a great price. On the other hand, quality was lackluster at best and consumers didn’t react positively to the vehicle. The compact size of the car made it a pain to live with, especially considering the cramped interior.

Build quality was notoriously cheap and gave the Festiva a bad rep from the start. Although initial sales were promising and there was even a limited-edition performance model, the compact Festiva just didn’t sell very well. That made it one of the most regrettable Ford models to come out.

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22: Pinto

The Pinto is a car that needs no introduction. It was one of the worst cars that has ever been made period. A catastrophe of mass proportions, the Pinto suffered from quality issues right out of the gate. Not only was quality flawed, but safety was also a downfall. The Pinto was part of a million-dollar class-action lawsuit due to the position of the fuel tank. These vehicles were proven to explode during an accident and this lead to a lack of consumer confidence in Ford.

The concept, creating an affordable car that was good on gas, for the Pinto was a good one. Sadly, the design was rushed to the market and ended up costing Ford a lot more in lawsuits. Surprisingly, the Pinto has forged a second life in the collector’s community, with V8 swaps being a common mod.

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21: Ford Escort ZX2

We’re not exactly sure if this car was supposed to be a sports car or a cheap compact because Ford marketed it as both. Sadly the build quality was substandard at best, and the reliability was even worse for a car at the time. The ZX2 was sold long after its welcome had been worn out and the platform was aged. Consumers were taken aback by the lack of build quality and reliability, the car just didn’t perform well. Cost-wise, the car was competing against modern models that were much more well put-together.

The ZX2 didn’t do any favors for Ford in terms of design or sales, and the car is a blip in the history of the company. What was initially a good concept ended up being a bit of a letdown for Ford enthusiasts who wanted something affordable and sporty? The ZX2 stands out like a sore thumb in the list of Ford mistakes.

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20: Ford Probe

Just the nameplate alone was enough to scare potential buyers away, but that wasn’t the only thing that was wrong with the Probe. The car had a design that was cheap and didn’t add up to what the company was portraying. There were some in Ford who was positioning the Probe as the modern Mustang replacement. That never happened and Ford ended up having two similar sports cars in the lineup. Although the Mustang always had a V8 powerplant, the Probe received a turbocharged V6.

There is no denying that the Probe had some serious potential, but it wasn’t enough to warrant phasing out the Mustang. Had the Probe have had a better design and reception the car would have probably sold a lot better. Nevertheless, the Probe is a failed experiment in creating an appealing sports car.

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King Cobra Mustang II — Photo Credit: Ford

19: Mustang II 1974-1978

The Pinto-based Ford Mustang was about as weird of a combination as you could get. The car was nothing like the previous generation Mustangs. The lightweight design was cheaply made and didn’t feel like what you’d expect from a pony car. The Mustang II had a smaller V8 engine than the previous generation cars, and the performance was minuscule at best.

Design-wise the Mustang II also had a bit of an odd look to it, and you could see the Pinto bloodlines. The interior was not the high quality of the previous generation cars. In fact, it differed completely. With the Pinto getting a slew of negative press about safety shortcomings this didn’t bold well for the Mustang II.

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18: 1978-1980 Fiesta

Believe it or not, there was an earlier generation of the Fiesta that was even worse than the later models. The underpowered car was designed after the failure of the Pinto and was poised to compete with compacts like the Dodge Omni. The interior was about as bare as you could get and rear-seat space was minimal at best. The performance of the 54 horsepower engine was nonexistent.

While the retail price of the car was more than affordable enough, the consumers just didn’t gravitate to it. Had the Fiesta has had a more competitive design it might have fared better against the Japanese rivals. But without more features and a better interior, the Fiesta just couldn’t compete.

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17: 1958-1960 Edsel

Then you had the Edsel, a car that was designed to appeal to just about every type of person. Sadly it just didn’t add up to the competition, and the car was notoriously unreliable. Sales were minuscule at best, and it contributed to a sales decline at Ford. The extreme design of the Edsel was just one of the aspects that dragged it down.

The transmission was known for having shifting issues, in addition to the electrics in the car. Ford didn’t spare any expense to the design, but that didn’t help to boost the market share. The Edsel was not for long, and sadly the car just couldn’t last on.

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16: Ford Taurus SHO V8

The oval Ford Taurus of the ’90s was mocked for its extreme styling, but there was a special edition of the car that caught the attention of enthusiasts. The Ford Taurus SHO V8 was a special edition of the Taurus that had a lot of potential. Sadly the Yamaha derived-V8 engine was notoriously unreliable. There were recalls related to the intake manifold gaskets and the head gaskets which lead to consumer frustration.

The radical design of the car also made a lot of potential consumers look the other way. Had the Taurus possessed a more mainstream design the addition of the V8 would have been a welcomed addition. The later generations of the SHO never seemed to capture the magic of the original car.

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15: Ford Explorer (Second Generation)

The second-generation Ford Explorer was a regretful product for Ford. In the design of the SUV, the roof had been weakened which caused the SUV to do horribly during a rollover incident. The design of the SUV resonated with consumers and it became the best-selling Ford of all-time. But the company also spent millions of dollars in lawsuit settlements and court hearings.

This took a toll on Ford as the company went into the next generation. Aside from the rollover incidents the SUV also had a series of exploding tire lawsuits, which also marred the reputation of the Explorer even worse. This generation of the Explorer went on to become one of the most popular cars on the road.

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14: Escort

Few cars have sold as well as the Escort did during its heydey. You’ve probably seen these on rental car lots and used car lots by the dozen. While the Escort seemed like a great value at the time there was a lot that stopped the car from appealing to consumers. The design of the car was cheap and underpowered when you compared it to other sedans on the market. Honda and Toyota both had the market covered in vehicles like this one.

The Escort also had a lot of quality and reliability issues that dragged it down. Sadly, the car just didn’t make it into the next generation. Of course, the nameplate has lived overseas but in the domestic market, the Escort is a thing of the past.

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13: Tempo

When you think of the Tempo, you think of one of the best-selling cars in the world. The Tempo sold over three million cars the first year. The design of the Tempo made it lack a lot of the features that you’d suspect in a sedan in this price range. Consumers were aware that Tempo had a reputation for quality issues, but the affordable price made it worth pursuing. The Tempo’s performance improved over time but was not enough to bolster sales.

As the decade went on Ford was directing energy to different vehicles, and the Tempo was at the forefront of this. Had the company had innovated more and improved it quality, the Tempo might have lived on longer.

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12: Cortina

Another cheap car that made the rounds in the Ford lineup was the Cortina. It was a car that needs no introduction because you’ve probably forgotten it anyway. Why did the Cortina fail? Well, the design was lackluster at best. Reliability was not a strong suit for the car, and the performance was nonexistent. There were very few features that you could get on this car and it was barebones transportation.

The Cortina had a lot of what compact car consumers were looking for, but the lack of the car delayed a lot of the potential consumers. Few cars have failed as badly as the Cortina managed to in the short period that it was released.

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11: Ford Mustang SVO

The special edition of the Mustang that had a turbocharged four-cylinder engine was a shock for the pony car market. The car had a good amount of performance, but Mustang purists were confused by this odd edition of the Mustang. As Ford was feeling the pinch from the EPA the company had to downsize the car’s engine.

The SVO didn’t seem to catch on like the GT and the 5.0, which most purists are more acquainted with. The SVO had a lot to offer in terms of quality and the design of the car, but the turbocharged engine was not the most reliable. The car had a lot of shortcomings which lead Ford to cut the SVO pretty quickly.

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10: Ford F-150 SVT Raptor

The first generation of the SVT Raptor had a lot going for it in terms of design, but the truck also had some drawbacks. The V8 engine was fun to drive, but the reliability issues were catching up with the car early on. The Raptor had a menacing demeanor, but the high price tag made consumers turn to other pickup trucks. Another problem with the SVT Raptor was a timing chain issue that wasn’t covered under warranty.

A lot of consumers experienced these same issues with the Raptor, and the truck has gotten a reputation for that. Ford eventually evolved the Raptor to a great degree but the truck still has a high price tag and a lot of reliability issues.

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9: Ford GT

True, the Ford GT is one of the most well-known sports cars in the world, but there were also a lot of downfalls. The GT is among the most expensive sports car that you can get, but there are also competing models. The Ford GT limits what you have to work with. There is no V8 engine and the styling is stuck in the past. The turbocharged V6 did a great job of propelling the car with authority but the same reliability issues would creep up.

The lack of any cargo space or a back seat also causes issues with the Ford GT. Exotic sports cars are evolving more and more as time goes on. The Ford GT has a lot of competition on the market and the car just hasn’t managed to keep up with the times.

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8: 1955 Ford Thunderbird

The first generation of the Thunderbird was a unique car in a lot of aspects, but there was also a lack of features. The performance of the Thunderbird was not very strong, especially at a time when expensive V8 engines ruled the roost. The convertible aspect of the car did make it stand out from the ordinary convertibles on the road.

The road manners of the Thunderbird was a great part of the car, as handling was extraordinary. In addition to the road manners of the Thunderbird, there was also a comfortable interior, which was ahead of the time. The Thunderbird improved as time went on but it wasn’t enough to lead the car into the next generation.

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7: Ford Bronco II

The original Ford Bronco was a hit for the carmaker, but the smaller version of the SUV was just confusing. Instead of opting for a four-door version like the competing Blazer, the Bronco II went for a compact design. The SUV had a lot going for it had the design have been tweaked just a bit. The interior was very cramped and the quality was mediocre at best, which didn’t do the SUV any justice.

Reliability was iffy at best, and the base engine was lacking in the same type of power that the Blazer had. Still, the Bronco II has managed to catch on with a secondary market that has an appetite for vehicles like this one.

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6: Focus SVT

Every automaker was trying to get on the bandwagon of hot hatches during the early 2000s. The Neon SRT-4 was the most popular of the compact performance cars but Ford wasn’t going to be outdone. The Focus SVT was a good concept on paper, but when it came down to the actual product, the car was lacking.

The Focus SVT had a lot of design flaws that affected the reliability of the car. Also, the SVT Focus was only available in the hatchback variation, and this just wasn’t a feasible option for a lot of buyers. The Neon had four full doors which lead more buyers to go in that direction.

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5: 2003 Ford Thunderbird

By the 2000s, the retro car revival was in full swing, and Ford was going to jump on the bandwagon as well. The retro-inspired Thunderbird was a pretty unique offering, to say the least, with a unique design. The two-seater design was a departure from previous generations of the Thunderbird and the underpinnings were based on the Lincoln LS sedan.

Consumers were not persuaded to buy the Thunderbird because of the high price tag. The lack of options and the fact that it was only a two-seater. These have managed to hold their value after all these years but for the most part, this generation of the Thunderbird was avoidable.

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4: RS200

One of the cars famously owned by Tim Allen, the RS200 is a purist rally car in every sense of the word. A unique design has made the RS200 a reputable car in the rally scene and on the auction block. The small form factor of the car and the short wheelbase also have a lot of drawbacks. The engine was also not the most reliable which lead a lot of enthusiasts to go the way of the Lancer EVO or the STI.

Nevertheless, this was a piece of Ford history. The company has long held a presence in the international rally racing circuit, and naturally, the RS200 stands out from the crowd. But this is such a limiting car that there are better options to choose from.

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3: Excursion

A car that was designed to compete with the Chevy Suburban, the Excursion didn’t have a lot that was particularly special about it. The thing was lacking the same kind of refinement that the GM offerings had, and this made it less popular. The interior was massive and the SUV was based on the heavy-duty offerings from Ford. But the lack of a more refined motor and the lack of fuel economy sent buyers the other way.

Ford has had a tough time competing with GM in the full-size SUV segment, especially when it comes to a vehicle as large as the Excursion. The thing had a lot of potentials and there has since been a resurgence in used models. But for the most part, the Excursion just failed to catch on with consumers.

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2: Ford Windstar

After Chrysler innovated the minivan segment, every automaker was trying to hop on the train. But the Windstar wasn’t what you’d expect from a minivan and it just didn’t compete with the Caravan on a real level. The Windstar had a lot of shortcomings in addition to reliability issues, and its cookie-cutter styling wasn’t doing much for it either. Ford was trying to appeal to a market Chrysler was already dominating.

The van had a lot of innovative firsts, but at this point in the industry, it was too late. The Caravan was the dominant minivan for the majority of the time. The Windstar just couldn’t add up to the hype Ford had put around it.

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1: Ford Freestar

With the Freestar Ford was trying to innovate again, but at this point, the Freestar fell on deaf ears. Although the van was more refined than the outgoing Windstar, it also looked a lot like the outgoing model. The Freestar had a lot of shortcomings when it came to reliability as well, and the van just failed to catch on with consumers.

After this, Ford moved onto crossover vehicles like most of the automakers did. Chrysler dominated and created the minivan segment, and only the Japanese rivals have managed to make a dent in companies’ market share.

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35 Car Models That Ford Probably Regrets Making

33: Mercury Topaz

32: Mercury Mystique

31: Mountaineer

30: Villager

29: Mercury Marauder

28: Lincoln Blackwood

27: 2003 Lincoln Aviator

26: Lincoln Mark LT

25: Ford Aspire

24: Ford Contour

23: Ford Festiva

22: Pinto

21: Ford Escort ZX2

20: Ford Probe

19: Mustang II 1974-1978

18: 1978-1980 Fiesta

17: 1958-1960 Edsel

16: Ford Taurus SHO V8

15: Ford Explorer (Second Generation)

14: Escort

13: Tempo

12: Cortina

11: Ford Mustang SVO

10: Ford F-150 SVT Raptor

9: Ford GT

8: 1955 Ford Thunderbird

7: Ford Bronco II

6: Focus SVT

5: 2003 Ford Thunderbird

4: RS200

3: Excursion

2: Ford Windstar

1: Ford Freestar

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