What is Ford?

Haldex said:
I think you need to learn more about cars.
The new F30 is made here in SA, but dont go on dismissing it, its still a German car.
Same with VW and Merc which is made in Uitenhage and El respectively.

The Noble was built in SA, not sure if it was designed here.

Ford Focus, Fiesta and modeos are half British half Australian. Not designed or made in the US. The Focus RS is made in UK, only.
Australia makes Ford Falcons and other V8 Fords to compete with Holden, which also has some stake in Ford Aus.
Click to expand...
There we go with the usual KAK... Again...

Anyways, thanks for the rest of the message after that...
 
VernD said:
No you didn't just call my Mark VI Ford Fiesta Ghia a Figo :mad: :D - check the crest in my passenger window.

A guy in my complex has one in that exact colour :love:

A month ago, I had an incident on the N2 where people placed bricks in the road - attempted hijacking/robbery attempt. It badly damaged two of my rims, in fact, the two in the pic; had it refurbished by a company in Strand - they did an excellent job. I'm sure that there's similar places out on town side. I can ask around for you on the Fiesta forum; guys on there are always modding their cars so they would know where to go.
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Hahahaha, did i say Figo? :whistle:
 
Hi Guys

I have also done some research into this.

Reason being that I bought a new Fiesta Titanium 3dr about two weeks ago.
I could choose between two versions, the previously imported one that comes from Thailand (comes without leather seats and with the 1.6 DOHC engine.) or the one imported from Germany since April 2012 (Comes with leather seats, bluetooth, cruise control, parking sensors and the 1.6L Sigma engine.)

At first I was a bit sceptical as the one made in thailand's retail is R205000 and the one from Germany is R225 000 (This I only found later, the salesman didnt know about this and charged me the wrong price for the German version with a discount! I paid R200K on the road for the German version :D )

Now if you go look at this website http://www.carfax.com/vin_decoding.cfx it actually decodes what your VIN number means.
In my case my VIN number starts with a W meaning that is actually was produced in germany.

I drove both the versions and the build quality between the two is astonishing! My "German" version feels much more solid and the road noise is non existent, also the power in my car feels much more as well!

I was also one of those First_On_The_Dumpster guys... but I took a chance and I was pleasantly surprised by ford.
The other car I was interested in was the Kia Rio Tec, and again you cant compare quality between the two...even the ford's leather is much better! and of course the dynamics of the Ford beats the Kia hands down.
 
Ford obviously started in the States, but it wasn't too long before they realised that if they wanted to be popular on a world wide basis, they would have to start designing European type cars for European markets, and that is when the V8 became the British/German Pilot. In the 30's the engine was the flat head V8 produced in the States, but slotted into a smaller car, more suitable for European roads.

In Southern Africa you had Fords being assembled with roots in Europe (Ford Zephyr, Consul, Taunus) as well as fully blown American spec cars. (Fairlane Galaxie etc) During the 60's the Australian influence kicked in and SA started sourcing their "big" Fords from Oz, whilst continuing with the smaller British and German Fords ( Capri Escort etc) as their bread and butter.

So....basically American Fords haven't been sold in SA since the 60's.

Variations on all the models can be found in the States, usually beefed up to suit the US market.

Someone's already said that the Focus is a World car - designed to be modified from market to market, but the same platform throughout the world.

Hope you like my non wiki explanation for the original question OP....I lived through most of the model changes and influences, so I have to rely on my brain for this one...:)
 
Robvd said:
Hi Guys

I have also done some research into this.

Reason being that I bought a new Fiesta Titanium 3dr about two weeks ago.
I could choose between two versions, the previously imported one that comes from Thailand (comes without leather seats and with the 1.6 DOHC engine.) or the one imported from Germany since April 2012 (Comes with leather seats, bluetooth, cruise control, parking sensors and the 1.6L Sigma engine.)

At first I was a bit sceptical as the one made in thailand's retail is R205000 and the one from Germany is R225 000 (This I only found later, the salesman didnt know about this and charged me the wrong price for the German version with a discount! I paid R200K on the road for the German version :D )

Now if you go look at this website http://www.carfax.com/vin_decoding.cfx it actually decodes what your VIN number means.
In my case my VIN number starts with a W meaning that is actually was produced in germany.

I drove both the versions and the build quality between the two is astonishing! My "German" version feels much more solid and the road noise is non existent, also the power in my car feels much more as well!

I was also one of those First_On_The_Dumpster guys... but I took a chance and I was pleasantly surprised by ford.
The other car I was interested in was the Kia Rio Tec, and again you cant compare quality between the two...even the ford's leather is much better! and of course the dynamics of the Ford beats the Kia hands down.
Click to expand...

Very interesting! Thanks for that! And are you always so lucky or was this your lucky break?
 
Fazda said:
Ford obviously started in the States, but it wasn't too long before they realised that if they wanted to be popular on a world wide basis, they would have to start designing European type cars for European markets, and that is when the V8 became the British/German Pilot. In the 30's the engine was the flat head V8 produced in the States, but slotted into a smaller car, more suitable for European roads.

In Southern Africa you had Fords being assembled with roots in Europe (Ford Zephyr, Consul, Taunus) as well as fully blown American spec cars. (Fairlane Galaxie etc) During the 60's the Australian influence kicked in and SA started sourcing their "big" Fords from Oz, whilst continuing with the smaller British and German Fords ( Capri Escort etc) as their bread and butter.

So....basically American Fords haven't been sold in SA since the 60's.

Variations on all the models can be found in the States, usually beefed up to suit the US market.

Someone's already said that the Focus is a World car - designed to be modified from market to market, but the same platform throughout the world.

Hope you like my non wiki explanation for the original question OP....I lived through most of the model changes and influences, so I have to rely on my brain for this one...:)
Click to expand...

Who needs Wiki when we have you Fazda :D

Thanks for this! Also, very interesting read and somewhat comforting to know i'm not driving a yank mobile around... PHEW... hahaha. I just couldn't bring myself to accept that the Americans built such a decent little car! Got nothing against them, but from an Automobile point of view lets face it, they not great!
 
The first two digits of your VIN will tell you where the car was built. Look on Wikipedia for the list.
 
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