(EXPANDED FROM 1/1/2019)
The 1962 Ford Galaxie was the long-reigning champion of the Generic Ford of the Century Award. This was a remarkable feat when you consider the stiff competition. However, year after year the car was judged to possess the most colorless, odorless and anonymous design to ever come out of Dearborn, Michigan.
Every once in a while Ford designers tried to steal the crown from the 1962 Galaxie . . . but failed. Perhaps the most ambitious attempt was with the 2004-2007 Ford Five Hundred.
Automotive writer Dan Neil famously described the family car’s almost identical corporate sibling, the Mercury Montego, as having a “profoundly geriatric feeling about it, like it was built with a swollen prostate. To drive this car is to feel the icy hand of death upon you, or at least the icy hand of Hertz, because it simply screams rental,” Neil concluded (2004).
Neil is rarely bombastic, so this may well be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Nevertheless, the Five Hundred and Montego possess a wee bit of design flair that kept them a distant second place to the Galaxie, which has a starkly utilitarian look inspired by Ford executive Robert McNamara. To make matters worse, the stylistic details of the 1962 models display all of the finesse of a seventh grader with a ruler, a circle maker and a fascination with toasters.
Ford finally outdoes itself with the 2018 Expedition
Fast forward to the 2018 model year, when Ford introduced a new Expedition. This sport utility vehicle’s engineering was noteworthy for its unprecedented use of light-weight materials such as aluminum. Why then did Ford choose to wrap such technical innovation in styling that is more anonymous than even the 1962 Galaxie?
The answer to that question is unknown — and could very well haunt automotive historians for generations. Let’s explore the possibilities. But before looking at the following photos, you are advised to down a caffeinated beverage.
Also see ‘General Motors trumped Ford’s 1962 foray into mid-sized cars’
The front of the Expedition is a masterful display of existential nothingness. The basic look evokes one of those vehicles in a car insurance ad, where they take an already generic design and airbrush in further changes to mask its identity. If there wasn’t a massive Ford logo plastered onto the front of the Expedition, one could easily confuse it with a Range Rover because of the cheese-grater grille and relentlessly horizontal fascia.
Ford throws a Tahoe and Range Rover in a blender
The Expedition’s profile looks like it was designed by a Chinese automaker adept at mimicking Western competitors. Here we have a mash-up between a Chevrolet Tahoe/Suburban and a Range Rover, replete with a squared-off greenhouse and a beltline crease.
Also see ‘2019 auto design: One step closer to machine guns?’
Only in the rear can one find a hint that this may indeed be a Ford. The taillights are shaped to vaguely resemble those used on recent Ford trucks. Even so, the Expedition’s taillights have a chunky — nay, bloated — quality. This could lead one to do a double take, kind of like when you see someone who looks sort-of like an old acquaintance but with 75 extra pounds.
“Gosh, I’m sorry, Fred. The lighting isn’t very good in this room. I wasn’t sure that was, uh, you.”
Good thing that the Expedition’s rear end also has a massive Ford logo.
Were some Chevy buyers tricked into buying a Ford?
Perhaps Ford purposely made the Expedition so bland because it might confuse at least a few Tahoe buyers into entering a Ford showroom. If so, the strategy seems to have worked. In 2019-20 the Expedition significantly closed its sales gap with the Tahoe.
Ford also may have wanted to avoid repeating the experience it had with the 2000-2005 Excursion, which was vilified by environmentalists. The Sierra Club nicknamed Ford’s then-largest SUV the Valdez, in reference to a supertanker that caused an oil spill in Alaska (Wikipedia, 2021).
Also see ‘CO2 emissions: Automakers still partying like it’s 1975’
Could Ford management have decided that it was better for the Excursion Expedition to fly below radar in order to maintain sales for these highly profitable vehicles. The long-wheelbase version of the Expedition, called the MAX, is similar in size to the Excursion as well as the Suburban.
This is all purely speculative. What can be stated definitively is that the 2018-21 Ford Expedition is the proud champion of the Generic Ford of the Century Award. Expedition, we salute you!
NOTES:
This is an expanded version of a story first posted Jan. 1, 2019. Calendar-year sales from Wikipedia.
Share your reactions to this post with a comment below or a note to the editor.
RE:SOURCES
- Neil, Dan; 2004. “A senior moment.” Los Angeles Times. Posted December 8; accessed August 1, 2018.
- Wikipedia; 2021. “Chevrolet Tahoe,” “Ford Excursion” and “Ford Expedition.” Accessed Nov. 16.
ADVERTISING & BROCHURES:
- wildaboutcarsonline.com (Automotive History Preservation Society): Ford Five Hundred (2005)
- oldcarbrochures.org: Ford Galaxie (1962)
After the problems with putting the 1960 Ford “Quicksilver” design into production, a car that Joe Oros and his design team created from rumors about the 1959 Chevrolets, that he believed G.M. would never build as it was judged too ugly and quirky to become U.S.A.-1, the 1961-1963 Fords were the true successors to the 1957 and 1959 Fairlane and Galaxie.
The 1962 Ford Galaxie was styled more elegantly than the 1962 Chevrolet Bel Air and Impala, although the Ford interiors were not as spiffy as Chevrolet. Today, the Ford F-150 is the # 1 vehicle, but the Chevy Tahoe/Suburban owns its market segment. The Expedition/Excursion is not distinctive and is just another vehicle on the road. If most auto manufacturers had a car that was as beloved as the 1962 Ford Galaxie, I think they would be happy.
I disagree, the beveled front end of the Expedition, along with the grille texture. has a similar appearance to other Ford SUVs. Notably the Explorer. Any resemblance to a Range Rover would surely be appreciated by the designers.The Expeditioon is pretty boxy from the cowl back, especially the long wheelbase models. I prefer the sculpted sides of the Explorer which has gained a more athletic appearance. The Suburban has also taken on the “city bus” look. The mid size designs, the Explorer and the Aviator are much better looking in my opinion.
I find the ’62 Ford pictured to be quite attractive, I like the T Bird inspired roof and it has a pair of big round tail lights in back, pure Ford.
Ford produced about 240,000 five hundreds in the states for the run. I don’t know if this was considered successful.