It’s pretty rugged looking for a minivan!

February 2008.
That’s 16 months from now.
It’s possible that there will be a new Caravan, Sienna, Odyssey, VW minivan by then.
Good luck Ford.

It doesnt have the suicide doors.

It’s great looking for a people mover – I hope it sells.

All of those new models are fine as long as Ford gets the Fairlane right – right powertrain, efficiency, safety, features, price.

I think lana hits the nail on the head… 16 months is a LONG time and no doubt Toyota, et al already have minivan replacments in the works that will probably resemble crossovers more than minvans, such as this vehicle. Ford is definately ahead in the idea market however behind in the production end, I fear.

i dont think Honda is going to screw with their odyssey formula, it sells like all hell as it is. Neither will dodge with their caravan, considering they have the Pacifica around to fill that gap, and certainly wouldnt want to intrude into its territory. It is a long time away, and by then the Fairlane will look normal, rather than futuristic.

16 months from now…
36 months since it debuted in Jan 2005…

doesn’t it hurt Ford *strategically* to be showing their competitors (eg Toyota, GM, Honda & Nissan) the exactl models they will be building three years hence?

dumb.

real dumb.

That looks pretty cool.

Looks like a Range Rover van.

Spider: With Ford getting constant criticism from Wall Street and the Automotive Press for “not having enough product in the pipeline”, “not enough product plan transparency”, etc, etc.

In Ford’s position, I don’t think it is a dumb idea to give an early preview of an important new product like this.

I don’t think Ford should be trying this whole retro look with their new product. And especially not with the name. They need to be swooning younger buyers. This “look” and name will do wonders for the aging baby-boomers, but not for 30-40 year olds.

The Edge and Fusion look sweet. Keep on that track, but makes things much more bolder. Retro is over.

^^^ You did read that they are not keeping the fairlane name right? They were just using that for the concept.

My bad. Sorry, I basically just look at the pictures.

Well in that case, I like it a bit more. At least it doesn’t quite look like a minivan. Bold move.

Looks like just another box on wheels that will be very late to market. Bold move? Not yet… keep it up Ford and you will soon be history.

What’s wrong w/ the Fairlane name anyways?

Definatley looks like the Rang Rover.

There will be two problems: 1) it will be built like a true POS, in the Ford tradition and 2) it will come with engine choices except the right ones. Later on there will be some problem like catching fire, tire blow-outs, etc.

ugly… I wouldn’t buy it only because of the grille and the ridges…

What a weird statement to make.. that many insiders can’t tell the difference between the concept and the production model?!? Sounds like Ford has heard the criticism leveled at them about their Zephyr and MKX production vehicles looking very dissimilar to their concepts. Unfortunately, if this means that those horrible side strakes and that Mini/Rover wraparound windshield treatment are staying, then I am not impressed.

Ford should dump this design and bring over a stretched European new Ford Galaxy instead of this ugly joke!

GM brought a niche car (Solstice) to market much faster than this turd is coming, that’s a little absurd. No wonder Ford is going down.

“What’s wrong w/ the Fairlane name anyways?”

being used on a current production car in australian markets for one.

Ford Ownes Land Rover and they are showing that in this one, and I’m sure it will be for a nice price! If its built off the CD3 platform you know it will be untouchable!