24th Oct 2011, 18:10
You show me in print the actual interior specifications for say a 1985 Ford Crown Victoria, and compare them to a new Focus. You will find that your claim is quite wrong. It was true that many of the down-sized cars from the 80's were just as roomy (except for hip room) as their predecessors from the 70's, however your statement is wrong.
25th Oct 2011, 14:09
Fine. A quick search on the internet shows that the last generation of the Crown Vic had a total interior space of 109.8 cubic feet.
On the other hand the 2012 Ford Focus hatch has 114 cubic feet. So in other words, the Focus has more interior space.
Anyway, this is a tiresome, pointless argument. Time marches on. Things change. Just because something "looks" bigger, or might even be bigger, doesn't automatically mean it's better or even roomier - as clearly demonstrated above.
26th Oct 2011, 12:46
OK then, full size cars may not have as much interior room as some mid sized ones these days, but they without a doubt have more room under the hood, and that's what matters to Joe Soap when he needs to do his own work on his own car.
26th Oct 2011, 12:52
Who cares? The car is dead. Accept it and move on. If the American people really wanted cars such as those again, then the automakers would have no choice BUT to keep making them like that. But the MAJORITY does not want old dinosaurs like that. Such as everything in life, MAJORITY rules. It is what it is, and it was what it was. Get over it and move on, or visit your local used car salesman and see just how screwed you can REALLY get!!!
26th Oct 2011, 15:39
The overall cubic feet is not a valuable piece of data. You need to compare actual measurements like hip room, leg room, etc. I am sure the Focus has a tall cabin, so much of the increase in cubic feet is useless unless you are over 6 feet tall.
26th Oct 2011, 15:58
I just did my own search online; according to my research, the 2011 Mercury Grand Marquis had 108 cubic feet of passenger volume, and the 2012 Fusion has 100.
26th Oct 2011, 16:09
That measurement includes the hatch space, an area where people don't actually sit. Full size cars have what they call trunks for cargo space; an area in my car that a hatchback Focus could probably fit in.
26th Oct 2011, 22:47
Thank you for your comment, but we are talking about actual passenger space, and not passenger space including cargo space, which takes the place of a trunk on a hatchback.
27th Oct 2011, 13:19
Let's get one thing straight, the ordinary guy down the street has to accept that he will no longer be able to buy a full size domestic car new. The only near full size RWD cars will be the Mopar, Fords and GM overdone retros, which are really void of style, and are not really true full size anyway. If you want to buy a new full size, then you have to look at Mercedes Benz, BMW, Lexus, and the few other imports that the ordinary guy will never in a million years be able to afford new.
27th Oct 2011, 16:08
Folks, I am in defense of the fact that the full-size Crown Victoria and Grand Marquis (as well as pretty much any large car made in the last 40 years) are roomier than a Focus. There is a reason the Focus is classified as a mid-size car. The government classifies cars by size class based on their interior volume, not overall exterior dimensions. However, a Ford Focus is not available with a hatchback here in the US to my knowledge.
27th Oct 2011, 17:16
Sorry, but this car is far from "dead". Just because it's not manufactured anymore, isn't going to change the fact that they run forever, and will still be on the road. I bought my 96 five years ago when it was 10 years old, and at the time, it was and still is a reliable road warrior, and from 96 through now, the reliability factors have not changed. These are well known to be 300,000 mile cars. Therefore ten years from now, the last generation Town Car will be alive and well, floating down the road for a MAJORITY of people who appreciate them, and not these rinky-dink econo boxes that domestic companies are spitting out today.
27th Oct 2011, 17:50
The fact that we're down to brass tacks when talking about interior comparisons between a small compact car and a huge, out-of-production full sized car, more or less proves my point: Small cars of today are surprisingly roomy, offer every bit as much in terms of comfort and safety, as well as even having almost the same, and in some cases more interior space, are more fuel efficient, and cost less overall to buy and operate. There is nothing really to argue here, because the case has already been made.
28th Oct 2011, 15:00
I'm 22, and my generation, or whoever else likes these fat blob, pigs of a car nowadays, can praise, worship, and spew all the advantages they please, while I'll still be driving my Crown Victoria, riding in comfort and REAL STYLE! And no, the Town Car is not dead! Not when they will be gliding down the avenues, boulevards, and highways 30 plus years from now.
28th Oct 2011, 16:44
Well 17:50, if almost good enough cuts it for you, then great. For those of us that want the best, a mediocre "me too mobile" just doesn't cut it. I know I for one will be moving to SUV's from now on. The new "large" and mid-size cars are just not anything I would ever want to spend hard earned money on.
28th Oct 2011, 23:11
Mercedes Benz, BMW, Lexus... Yes, cars that the ordinary guy can't afford. Why? Because they are overrated, overpriced cars, that stole most of their luxury ideas from domestic luxury cars for decades, and they are very expensive to fix and a S.O.B. to work on.
29th Oct 2011, 19:01
This whole debate is hilarious. I mean seriously - we're talking about a hopelessly outdated, outmatched car that is no longer made. I think that fact speaks volumes. Thus this isn't even worth debating. The comment about "Fat blob pig cars... etc" is sort of amusing too, given that cars like the Crown Vic and Town Car are perhaps the shining example of what I'd suppose a "Fat pig" car would be.
23rd Oct 2011, 16:11
I disagree that "most" people want a full-size car these days. Yeah, there will always be folks who want something big. But I can for fact say that I have numerous friends who do quite well financially, and drive Priuses, Focuses, Corollas and Fiestas. Why? Because today's small cars are wayyy different than small cars awhile back. Interestingly enough, a modern Ford Focus has MORE interior space than a great deal of the full sized and medium sized cars from the 80's. There has been massive improvements in interior structural design since then. A lot of these small cars actually have more horsepower and torque than the full-sized V8 in my Mercury. That, and many get close to 45-50MPG because they're direct-injected. So it's not like buying a small car is doing a disservice.
As far as working on cars, well I've worked on both FWD and RWD cars. Both have their pros and cons. Given that my Brother's 14 year old Avalon has 300,000+ miles on it and nothing has gone wrong, whether its RWD or FWD hasn't made a difference, because it was well-engineered to start with.