Not so the GT, diamond painting the result of a number of efficient modifications that were very onerous to spot. Wheelbase was unchanged, but bodyshells had been shared with a brand new customary Lincoln line instead of Ford, the results of a final-minute change in postwar plans. Heading the road had been the bucket-seat 500XL hardtop coupe and convertible in base and GT trim. A pair of low cost “300” sedans was added (renamed Custom/Custom 500 for ’64), and there was more midyear excitement in a set of 500 and 500XL sports activities hardtops with thin-pillar “slantback” rooflines, a bit starchier than the outdated Starliner but again aimed right at the inventory-automotive ovals.
Four-door Ranch and Squire wagons and a brace of two-door hardtops have been added for ’63. Like GM’s submit-1967 intermediates, models divided alongside two wheelbases: 114-inch two-door hardtops and fastbacks (together with semisporty GT variants) and 118-inch sedans and wagons. Membership coupes had been abandoned, wagons grouped in a separate series, and Diamond Painting [browse around these guys] Crestline was renamed Fairlane (after the Ford household property in Dearborn). Adroitly keyed to the changing market, Granada blended American-style luxurious with the mock-Mercedes look then in vogue.
Retaining the 1952-54 shell, the 1955 Ford was fully reskinned, emerging colorful if chromey, broderie diamant with a rakish look of motion and a modestly wrapped windshield. The Cobra fastback coupe remained the most-thrilling of this bunch, although its commonplace engine was downgraded to a 285-bhp model of the ubiquitous 351 small-block first seen for 1969. Excessive-power and big-inch engines started disappearing at Ford and throughout Detroit in 1972.
By 1980, solely a mildly tuned 351 remained as an choice for full-dimension Fords. Numerous refinements marked Escort’s evolution through 1990. There were all the time three-door hatchbacks and four-door wagons, Diamond Painting plus hatchback sedans after 1981. All rode a 94.2-inch wheelbase and employed transverse-mounted four-cylinder engines — a new “CVH” single-overhead-cam design with hemispherical combustion chambers — initially teamed with four-velocity overdrive guide or three-speed automatic transaxles.
A mid-1985 improve introduced a larger 1.9-liter (113.5 cid) “CVH” with 86 horsepower in carbureted type or 108 with choice electronic port gasoline injection. Mid-1970 introduced the ultimate Falcons: Diamond Painting a stark wagon and two sedans derived from the intermediate Torino (which had advanced from the Fairlane). The sporty XLs have been of their final 12 months. Some statisticians additionally had Ford ahead in calendar-yr volume for the primary time since 1935, although the ultimate score showed Chevy forward by a mere 130 vehicles.