I could just be me, but is there anyone else out there who has seen the Ford 500 coming head-on and thought to yourself, "Okay... I know it's just a Ford and it's nowhere near the class and refinement of my LS, but DANG, that overall body styling (headlights especially) comes awfully close to that of my 430. Is my car rally THAT close to looking like a bland box?"







Now, don't get me wrong. I know none of us would ever need to do a double-take. But you'd be surprised at how little attention the general masses pay to automotive styling cues. I wouldn't doubt that many a Ford 500 have been mistaken for our cars from a good distance by your average soccer mom... And vise-versa!

 

I see Audi queues for the cabin with a Ford front.

 

Time to upgrade to a LS 460

 

Perhaps... At least then you'll only get confused with little-brother Toyota.

 

It seems that most care disgners now dayes gone to the same school and inspired by the same person. As I see it most cares now dayes look allot like others.
Example when MD came withe the CLS (withe I hate the look of it, too girly in my opinion) VW, And Audi coped it.
That as example.

 

Never-ending debate. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if there's ever been an era in which most cars didn't look alike. How many of us could tell the differences between a vintage 1929 Rolls Royce Phantom Brewster Convertible and a vintage 1931 Chrysler? Trust me. If you saw them (or almost any of that era automobile) side by side, you'd be hard pressed to tell them apart.

Nothing's changed. Most of the real differences between most cars of today are tied up in stylistic nuance. Car design today is driven by aerodynamics. And there are only so many ways to achieve low coefficient of drag.

 

It generally takes 3 or more years to design and put into production a new version of a car. Yet, it never ceases to amaze me that within a year or so, all cars have the same general design. How do all the manufacturers know what the competion is planning and then all seem to agree that is the popular design to follow?

Something doesn't sound right here. You don't recon that the automotive industry is colluding in this little exercise do you?

 

It's like i said, the number one goal of auto designers today is aerodynamics. The government has got the screws tightening on them to increase efficiency. So for the auto markets, it's all about getting as many mpgs as possible.

You can make the cars lighter by replacing steel with aluminum or carbon fiber. You can engineer better engines. You can add hybrid drive trains. And you can reduce CoD. The coefficient of drag is the one factor that designers can directly impact. And as i mentioned, there are only so many ways to make a car aerodynamic. So it's only a matter of time before they all end up on the same design page.

 

From the front they do look a lot like an 01-03 LS430.

As for refinement and all, I've never driven a Ford Five Hundred/Taurus, but an old CL member "Kansas" who had a 1990 LS and then a 2000 LS until replacing his LS with a Sienna Minivan a few years ago recounted to me one time that he rented a Five Hundred one time on a trip and was surprised by how much it reminded him of his LS when driving it. The interior on them is terrible...

 

So my take from that, ford needed 10 + years to build a car resembling a hight end refund car. And they did not come close. Loll

 

I don't think Fords goal was to emulate the LS with the Five Hundred, the rest of the body doesn't. I think it's just a fluke.

 

Ok. I was just joking sw15ls.

 

.....and get used to sitting at the dealership for repairs.

 

Just look at the panel gaps and you'll know which one is better

 

At a glance, the 500 reminds me of a First generation Ford Focus, that has been on the Krispy Kreme diet for some time...