[Madlock]

Like most, I'm terrifically pleased (and proud) of the renaissance Ford is affecting. In addition to all the way's they've differentiated themselves from their competition, I think most would agree that the most noticeable improvement Ford has made is exactly the kind they should have, the vehicles they're designing and producing.

From the MKS and Taurus to the Fusion and Flex, not even all of the great news is limited to the superior product they've finally gotten-around to to importing to North America. And while Ford may indeed have a ways to go until they're no longer playing "catch up" in areas like public perception, they've made great strides there too. The final piece of the puzzle will be when Ford (and especially its dealers) shed their second-class citizen habits and mindsets and begin to behave like agents of the world-class products they're responsible for representing.

Even so, one inherent feature of change is, well, "change". The trend is decidedly upward, but not every single thing Ford has done prior to its finding religion in 2006 was altogether horrible. Even through simple familiarity, products like the Panther-based vehicles have become ubiquitous and inextricable parts of the American landscape as the backbone of most police, livery, and Florida retiree fleets. For all the good that's coming about, I'm more than a little sad that the Crown Victoria is already inaccessible to the general public, as will the Grand Marquis have become by the end of 2010.

As much as I enjoy the MKS (and the new Taurus too), I happened to like the previous-generation Taurus just fine. There was absolutely nothing "wrong" with it, and its worst vice happened to be its over-conservative nondescript nature which, despite lacking any sense of being cutting edge, nonetheless made for a perfectly capable, comfortable, and pleasant-driving vehicle. In my "perfect world", economics and logistics would support room for both models.

Don't get me wrong. I wouldn't trade Ford's future for its past under any circumstances. But, just like part of going-off to college is the opening of whole new worlds of possibilities, it also usually means having to do one's own laundry (hopefully), and the end of having one's favorite comfort food prepared and waiting on the table. I certainly wouldn't forgo the former for the latter, but that doesn't mean there certainly aren't times when I wouldn't kill for a slab or two of my mom's meatloaf. On the other hand, as I'm sure many former party animals who've gotten themselves "clean" would admit, as bad as those times may have been in retrospect, they probably included at least one or two "sh*t eating grin" kind of memories too.

Has anyone else had the same kind of feelings?

[mickey99]

I think you feel the right way.I too sometimes feel like that.I liked that you shared your feelings with me.It was great to know you.