Tag: ford

  • Moving forward — and backward

    Moving forward — and backward

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    by

    pflienert
    in

    A century ago, my grandmother Mary Lienert knew firsthand about freedom of mobility — both the upside and the downside. The purchase of a family automobile confined, rather than freed this young Nebraska farm wife, who never learned to drive. Before then, my father Bob Lienert wrote in a 1979 essay, my grandmother’s principal mode of…

  • How Maverick might morph into King Kong

    How Maverick might morph into King Kong

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    by

    pflienert
    in

    At the risk of offending fans of Anglo-Irish satirist Jonathan Swift, I have a modest proposal for Ford CEO Jim Farley: Go global with that hot Maverick pickup. You’ll need the right partner to pull it off — to design and build a true “world truck” that appeals to consumers in North America, Europe and,…

  • If it had a Blue Oval in the grille . . .

    If it had a Blue Oval in the grille . . .

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    by

    pflienert
    in

    I’m ignoring the temptation to make a cheesy Jaws reference — but automakers from Ford to Toyota surely must hear that nerve-jangling “da-dump” movie soundtrack playing in the background as they read the dispatches from Mexico on the new BYD Shark. Was there ever a vehicle so appropriately named? No, this Chinese-designed and -built mid-size…