Cars Of Fiction / Ford

aka: Cars Of Fiction Ford

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A-B (Aston Martin) | C-G (Chevrolet | Dodge | Ferrari | Ford) | H-L (Honda | Lamborghini | Lotus)
M-N (Mazda | Nissan) | O-R (Pontiac | Porsche) | S-Z (Toyota)
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"If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses."

—Henry Ford

Since the creation of the Model T, the very first of its kind that gave rise to automobiledom, Ford has become one of the leading brands to ever appear in numerouse movies, television shows and video games. It offers a huge variety of vehicles ranging from the vintage Model T from the Silent Movie era, to the classic Mustang and Thunderbird driven by the coolest of the cool regardless of time, or something that is simply practical on a daily basis like an Explorer or an F-series pick up. And these can be driven by any character of any kind. Whether a hero or villain, the rich or poor, American or British, Everybody Owns a Ford.

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1932 Ford series

Bob Falfa: Hey, you know a guy around here with a piss yellow deuce coupe, supposed to be hot stuff?

Terry Fields: You mean John Milner? Hey, nobody can beat him, man. He's got the fastest —

Bob: I ain't nobody, dork. Right?

Terry: Uh — right.

—American Graffiti

The 1932 Ford refers to the three models produces between 1932 to 1934; the Model B, the Model 18 and the Model 40, which all serve as the successor to the Model A. It was designed by Edsel Ford, the only child of the founder, Henry Ford.

Differentiating from its predecessor is the Model B uses a fully-updated four-cylinder engine, while the other models utilizes Ford's Flathead V-8 engine producing 65 horsepower, marks it the very first Ford model to ever do so, which would later be the codifier of the American automotive industry where majority of car brands utilize V8 engines. The 1932 Ford was offered in various body types throughout its 2-year production; ranging from 2/4-door sedans, to cabriolets, coupes, phaetons and even pickups.

1932-1934 Fords have been extremely popular with the hot rod culture which would be continued throughout The '60s on a larger scale. 1932s are long sought-after coachbuilders or restomod collectibles of today, typically as a show car used for auction.

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Film — Live Action

• Arguably the most memorable of them all would be John Milner's yellow custom '32 Ford in American Graffiti, considering it is one of the most popular Hot Rod movies of all time.
• The perfect getaway car for the Villain Protagonist duo Bonnie and Clyde is the elusive Ford V8, which could outrun the police with ease. And yes, the bullet holes that were in the film still remained intact, which is considered to be a cult memorabilia, penned as the 'death car'.
• Michael McCord from The California Kid has this souped-up car with flames painted on the sides; a custom 1934 Ford three-window coupé which spawned references amongst rodders and customizers of today. Almost everyone who sees it comments on how cool it is, and the local teenagers are delighted when Michael lets them drive it.
• The main hot rod from The Giant Gila Monster, a Ford deuce roadster seen at the end of the story where Chase uses it to Car Fu and kill the said Gila Monster.
• Hot Rod (1950) is a simple little story about a boy and his car. And said old car he restores is a classic 1932 Ford, transforming a vintage car into a venerable hot rod.
• Another movie with a hot rod name has this so-called Hot Rod Girl, showing the death of The Protagonist's brother driving a '32 roadster during a street race.
• One of Tony Stark's collectible cars in Iron Man and Iron Man 2 has this classic "Hotrod" complete with a Hot Paint Job. It's a 1932 Ford Flathead Roadster and there's nothing cooler than that than just sitting inside his Cool Garage. This car actually belongs to the director of the two movies; Jon Favreau.
• The 'Elvis roadster' of Elvis Presley's 1957 movie Loving You is something that speaks for itself: Awesome car, great hair, cool chicks, and a proper six-volt flathead sound? Oh listen to her purr.
• The Miracle of Morgan's Creek features this American Beauty (pun unintended)... a 1932 Ford Model B driven by the main characters.

Live-Action TV

• The green custom 1932 Deuce Roadster from The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, owned by the hot-rod enthusiast duo Dave and Ricky Nelson.

Music

• "Blinded By The Night" by Bruce Springsteen mentions "revved up like a deuce" or "wrapped up like a deuce", referring to the 1932 V8-powered Deuce coupe of Ford's.
• The Beach Boys released their 1963 album called "Little Deuce Coupe" refers to the 1932 Model 18, a.k.a. the "deuce coupe". There is also the Car Song of the same name, too.
• The drag race scene of "Walkin' on the Sun" by Smash Mouth has the band riding on their orange V8 deuce. And winning!
• The Eliminator hot rod of ZZ Top, which is a customized 1933 Ford coupe, depicted on the album cover of the same name, and appeared in numerous music videos.

Video Games

• The Ford 3-Window Coupé in Asphalt Xtreme transforms this badass hot-rod into an extreme monster truck. Just say it's a hot rod with huge tires and wheels.
• Name any car in Burnout that has the name "Hot Rod". That one is certainly guaranteed to be a 1932 Ford hot rod.
• The Miami Strike map of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War shows a purple custom 1934 Ford hotrod parked in the middle of the street.
• The Robson Avenger in DIRT Showdown is a completely fictionalized 1932 Ford hot rod. A Fragile Speedster that's meant to outrun the competition.
  • The same car would be later re-used in Grid Legends, renamed as the Beltra Hot Rod and classified as a demolition derby car.
• FlatOut 2 and Ultimate Carnage has this 1932 Ford Coupe hot rod-based bonus "Mob Car" only available via Cheat Code.
• Forza features various 1932 Ford models, from the vanilla De-Luxe 5-window coupe (where you can get some achievements out of), to the custom "Double Down" and "Hula Girl" roadsters seen in Motorsport 7 and Horizon 2.
• The 1963 restomod of the 1932 Ford Roadster appeared in one of the updates of Gran Turismo 7. In a major update on late-2023, you can get this car for free by getting all gold in the Master B-License.
• The Hotknife that was formerly exclusive to the Limited Special Collector's Ultimate Edition of Grand Theft Auto V is based on the Model 40B.
• You get to drive this hot-rod with a Hot Paint Job in The Getaway: Black Monday.
• The Smith V8 and the Smith 34 in Mafia II are based on the 1932 Ford sedan and the 1932 Ford Model 18 Coupe respectively. Other than that, you also have the custom Smith 34 Hot Rod driven by one of the Greaser Delinquents in "The Wild Ones". It's available for Vito to drive freely if you have the Vegas Pack installed.
• The Hot Rods update of Need for Speed (2015) adds the 1932 Ford Coupe, where you can transform it into various body types; coupe, sedan, pickup, roadster, you name it. Even it is driven by one of the rivals in Payback.
• Complete the MADBULL Duel in Ridge Racer 3D and you get this hot hot-rod... the Lucky & Wild Mad Bull, this Pimped-Out Car based on the 1932 Ford 18 Roadster. Even Reiko Nagase can be seen driving it!

Ford Crown Victoria

The toughest sedan in Hollywood.

"Ford produced Panther-platform vehicles for 33 years for the North American market. Many of those were Crown Victorias, which borrowed the name of a short-lived Fairlane trim level of the mid-1950s. A great percentage of Panther Crown Victorias were pressed into service as police cruisers. For some readers of a certain age, Panther-based Crown Vics with light bars and police liveries are the one, true cop car—even today, seven years after Ford produced its last one."

—John Pearley Huffman, The History of the Ford Crown Victoria, Car and Driver

Whether if it's a police car patrolling the streets or a taxi you'd find in Times Square, this is certainly the car you'd probably find filling that role in American media.

The Ford Crown Victoria (or the Crown Vic for short) is a full-size sedan introduced in 1992, as the successor to the Ford LTD Crown Victoria. Built under Ford's Panther platform, this is Ford's counterpart of the Mercury Grand Marquis and the Lincoln Town Car. It is by far the largest sedan marketed by Ford in the United States.

For several decades, the Crown Victoria has been widely used by American Law Enforcement, as the fleet of standard issue police cars through vast agencies in the countries, and it is also iconically marketed primarily for taxi cab fleets.

The Crown Victoria ceased production in 2011 as part of The Way Forward plan of 2006, with a total of over 1.5 million units sold nationally.

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Anime and Manga

• In the OAV of You're Under Arrest!: No Mercy!, Miyuki and Natsumi were procured a Crown Vic Expy when they were freshly transferred... ...in America!

Film — Live Action

• In Bad Trip, the Bad Bitch, Trina’s customized, pink Ford Crown Victoria that was a gift from her grandma gets trashed by Chris when tries to stop the car when Bud tries to back out of the trip. And said car was trashed... it was even featured in the movie poster◊!
• Crown Vic is Exactly What It Says on the Tin, which would be this car used by the two LAPD officers of Luke Kleintank's and Thomas Jane's character. Note that Crown Vics were used ubiquitously by American Law Enforcement until its retirement in 2011. Still, it's an Immortal Iconic Car nonetheless.
• The Americanized Foreign Remake of Taxi (2004) features Queen Latifah in her souped-up Ford Crown Victoria.
• Crown Victorias were the LAPD S.W.A.T.'s training car in S.W.A.T. (2003).
• Mark's Ford Crown Victoria in The Sweeper became an Instant Convertible where he goes underneath the trailer of a gasoline tanker, and prompting an obvious "convertible" remark from him afterward.
• Triple 9 features unmarked Crown Vics once driven by Anthony Mackie's character. It's no cruising pleasure, though.

Literature

• Oriscoe Drives Like Crazy here in Claw & Warder, as he shows off his Improbable Parking Skills with his Crown Victoria.

Live-Action TV

• In Chuck, Casey is shown lovingly washing his Ford Crown Victoria. Chuck must later divert an incoming missile by reprogramming it to home in on said Crown Vic. Casey is inconsolable.
• Ben Matlock's signature car in Matlock is this silver Crown Vic.
• Crown Vics are quite common to see in Monk, since it's the standard fleet of the SFPD.
• This has been the standard issue police interceptor fleet in many Police Procedural series, such as NYPD Blue, Law & Order and Blue Bloods.
• ...And on Psych, Lassiter has a similar love for his government-issue Crown Vic. Although it has yet to be completely trashed, it has been (lightly) abused.
• Reno 911! features lots of Crown Vics here, awaiting the mischief it'll happen.
• Since Crown Vics have been long associated with New York taxis, Taxi Brooklyn continues the trend of having the Crown Vic taxi appearing several times.

Video Games

• Whether if it's a taxi, cop or a civilian, all three variants of the Crown Victoria are available for John Tanner to drive in Driver: San Francisco.
• Civilian Crown Victorias are part of the modern category in Ford Racing 2 & 3.
• Grand Theft Auto IV features both taxis and police cars modeled after the first-generation Crown Victoria. Grand Theft Auto V adds a civilian version of this car, dubbed the Stanier, while its taxis and police cars are now modeled after second-generation Crown Vics.
• The playable bonus LA Cop in Midnight Club II is a Crown Victoria Expy.
• Ever since the Need for Speed series began to focus on police pursuits, the Crown Vic hasn't been that far behind:
  • In general, various games feature Civic Cruiser police units, which are generic Ford Crown Victoria-lookalikes. Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (2010), on the other hand, has fully licensed Crown Vics, and it is the first car you're issued upon joining the SCPD.
  • A non-police example is that you have the Super Taxi Crown vic as a Lethal Joke Car in The Run... it can blast past Formula One top speeds with over 750 horses under the hood, putting all the hypercars to shame.
  • Tyler Morgan can get to drive the FVPD Police Interceptor in Payback as an abandoned car. Seriously, why on earth would an FVPD officer ditch a police car in the middle of Fortune Valley nowhere?
  • The civilian version of the Crown Victoria was finally added in Unbound as a car that can be bought and be fully customized by the player, with a rainbow blobed-patterned Legendary Custom variant available as a reward car.
• The police cars in Police Simulator: Patrol Officers are clearly modeled after the Ford Crown Victoria, the most popular American model for police cars.

Ford Escort RS Cosworth

"What makes the Escort RS truly special is the Cosworth YBT 1993cc turbocharged I4 engine. Its standard output of 224 hp has been tuned to as high as 1,000 hp. Its full-time 34/66 front/rear split 4WD system also give it excellent handling on any surface"

—Description, Forza Horizon

The rally-homologated hot hatch based on the fifth-generation European Ford Escort, serving as the successor to the rear-wheel drive Sierra RS Cosworth. Hence the car's name, it has an all-wheel drive configuration and a 2.0L turbocharged inline-4 engine by Cosworth, with initially 7,200 units produced. Like the Sierra RS Cosworth, one-notable feature of this car is its "whale-tail" spoiler.

Because it's a homologation special, the Escort RS Cosworth was a Group A World Rally Car, intended to compete and win the World Rally Championship, but failed to do so, despite that the car won eight events between 1993 to 1996, courtesy of François Delecour, and 2-time WRC champion Carlos Sainz. IN the aftermath, the Escort RS Cosworth was replaced by the Ford Focus RS for the 1997 season.

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Film — Live Action

• You'd be mistaken if that was an Auto Erotica inside a blue Cosworth in Boy Eats Girl, but looks like the poor schmuck got eaten like a zombie, inside the car.
• In the French action comedy movie Taxi 3 (Yup, The One With… the Sylvester Stallone cameo) Émilien and Daniel spot a group of sports cars conveying in the Swiss mountains. One of it is a black Ford Escort RS Cosworth. ...and they realize they on a rally race.
  Émilien: Don't these cars look a bit strange?

Live-Action TV

• Can be spotted in "Zero to Murder in Sixty Seconds" in Psych. It was considered a grey-import at that time the episode was released.

Video Games

• As a renowned World Rally Championship Group A rally car, it's quite uncommon to see this car show up in a rally racing video game:
  • Originally one of the available cars in the first Colin McRae Rally game, and later in 2005. It returned in DIRT 3 as one of the 90's Rally cars and by the time in DiRT Rally, its notable distinction is the car having 7 gears. ^note Since Group A cars also had to run with a smaller turbo restrictor than previously, which was a particular handicap for Ford, since the rally Escort's seven-speed gearbox was not well suited to a lower-revving engine.
  • In Sega Rally 2, the Ford Escort appears as one of the 6 available cars in the roster.
  • EA Sports WRC features the Group A 7-speed Cosworth that was carried over from DiRT Rally. The other is the Escort Mk 6 Maxi that joins with its brother.
• Don't be surprised if that Cosworth shows up in the Ford Racing series.
• The Cosworth Escort has been present in the Forza series since its introduction in Motorsport 4. In Horizon 5, Ken Block's Hoonigan RS Cosworth is the feature car you drive in your very first Showcase Event in On a Wing and a Prayer, where you battle against a cargoplane... followed by a group of motorcyclists. ...and a man with a wingsuit. ^note Followed by a parachute.
  • Befitting a car roadworthy for off-road races, Horizon 3 introduces a Horizon Edition Escort, which is readily-fitted with rally-based modifications.
• Its rally-car variant of the Escort appears in Gran Turismo 2, all the way up to 6.
• For some reason, the NTSC-J-exclusive Kaido Battle 2 manages to slip in this American car— er... British car to the game, alongside its other rally-based Ford cars. ^note This is due to licensing issues with Ford of Europe, a subsidiary behind these British developed Ford cars.
• Midnight Club II has some examples:
  • Your first car, the Cocotte, appears to be based on the Escort RS Cosworth.
  • The well-balanced Bryanston V belonged to the Always Identical Twins Jewel and Julie. Imagine the Ford Escort RS Cosworth, just without its distincive spoiler, and you have that car.
• The Ozutsu Ronin in the MotorStorm series is a stereotypical rallying-prepared saloon car, based on the Escort RS Cosworth.
• Other than rallying, the Escort RS Cosworth made it in the asphalt, as debuted in ProStreet. Its AWD and phenomenal handling makes it a quintessential grip-event car, to the point one Challenge Series offers this and even one of the Grip Runners (Gavin May) uses it.

Ford Escort Twin Cam/RS series

"The Ford Escort Mk II won the World Rally Driver's and Constructors Championship in 1979. A favourite with all rally drivers, this model was restored and upgraded by Colin McRae, with extensive engine and chassis modifications."

—Description, DIRT 3

A British staple of The '60s and The '70s.

Before hot hatches were even born, there was there is fast and fun small car that punched above its weight. This was the successful series of rear-wheel drive small cars: The Ford Escort RS series. While it is made from an American brand, the Escort is considered to be a British car due to being under the Ford of Europe marque.

It all began with the Escort Twin Cam, based on the Mk1 Escort in 1968. An as the name implies, this variant utilises the 1.6L Twin Cam inline-4 engine, which was also used for the Lotus Elan. The Twin Cam trim was phased out and replaced by the high-performing Cosworth-engined RS1600 ^note RS denoting for Rallye Sport with 1600 implies the engine's displacement of approx. 1,600cc.. Ford also did the RS2000 as an alternate but less-powerful version of the RS1600, featuring a 2.0L Pinto engine. The second-generation Escort RS got a slightly larger and heavier body, but its drivetrain remained intact, while its engine is somewhat less powerful than its predecessor. The RS era ended in 1980, where the Mk3 Escort switching to front-wheel drive but never saw lasting success than the previous two generations.

Nonetheless, the Mk1 and Mk2 Escort series saw it popularity in Rallying, which saw success with Frank Gardner winning the championship 1968, as well as its greatest achievement in winning the London to Mexico World Cup Rally in 1970.

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Film — Live Action

• Tej Parker purchased a MK1 Escort RS1600 during a car auction in Fast & Furious 6. The same Escort is driven by Brian O'Connor during a chase against Owen Shaw in a frickin' tank, about to crush Roman Pearce's car as he jumps away from his car and onto Brian's Escort.
• George Lazenby's only James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service sees Bond and Tracy trying to escape Blofield's Mooks in a Hot Pursuit as they plow and crash into an ongoing icy rallycross race, where numerous drivers in Mk1 Ford Escort RS are partaking, and the race became a demolition derby as these poor Escort drives crashed out due to the pursuers rubbing lots of paint on. Considered as a Product Placement as the Escort RS was still brand new during the film's release.
• Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels features this black RS2000 as an old easy-to-steal car. A perfect ride for Kenny and Gary, indeed.

Live-Action TV

• The Professionals, a British TV series where almost Everybody Owns a Ford... literally. While the Ford Capri is CI5's signature Cool Car, Raymond Doyle's car of choice is a Diamond White Mk2 Escort RS2000 with a black top. It's a vintage cult classic worth a four-figure price tag at its time.

Video Games

• Any rally video game would feature this classic Escort RS as it is indeed a car with a rich history of tackling gravel.
  • Colin McRae Rally usually uses the Mk1 Escort RS1600 as a bonus car, were is 120 horses under the hood is compensated with easy cornering skills, while the DIRT series features the Mk II Escort. Its notable distinction of this car is for its red and black "Colin McRae Motorsport" livery, usually paying the moniker's tribute. And guess what? Travis Pastrana in DIRT 2 invites you to try your hands on this sweet rally classic as part of the Colin McRae Challenge.
    Travis Pastrana: Colin's worked on this baby himself, so you know it's going to deliver. It's big and brutal, but offers an exhilarating, fast drive. Hop on board if you dare!
    • Even Ken Block has his own version version in DIRT 3, and he calls it, the "Ken Block Special".
  • In Rally Trophy, a rally game with a Genre Throwback to 1960s and 1970s era rally racing, features this Mk1 Escort as one of the cars in the lineup. ...and it even serves as the game's cover car◊ as well as most of the game's intro.
• It ain't Ford Racing without all the Ford Escorts. In 3, it's classified an off-road car where many of the pickups belong, while in Ford Street Racing, it's one of the starting Classic class cars.
• While Forza features both generations of this "rallye sport", enjoy recreating scenes of the aforementioned Fast & Furious 6 with Brian's pre-tuned Escort in Horizon 2 and Motorsport 6. Another brilliant example is Ken Block's gymkhana car; the black Hoonigan Escort.
• The Mk1 Escort appeared outside of the rally world in Grand Theft Auto: London 1969 as the S-Cart. A police car variant of the S-Cart also appears the "Copper", with the name itself being British slang for a police officer. Another stand-in for the Escort appears in Grand Theft Auto Online as the Retinue.
• Another non-rally example: the classic RS1600 Escort making its only appearance in Shift 2: Unleashed, via Legends Pack.
• And with the mention of Slightly Mad Studios who did the aforementioned Shift 2 above, the devs added the Mk1 Escort in Project CARS, available in stock, racing or rallycross form. The later most is a one-make Vintage RX car.
• Appears in Wreckfest as the Boomer. A tuned-variant, the Boomer RS pays homage to the Mk1 Escort RS rally car that that appeared in the aforementioned Rally Trophy as part of the latter game's 20th anniversary.

Ford Explorer

"A smash hit in the beginning, a roller-coaster ride along the way, but the Explorer shows why Fords are Built Tough."

—Davies Elabha, History of the Ford Explorer, TopSpeed

The Ford Explorer is a range of SUVs manufactured by Ford Motor Company since 1991. The first four-door SUV produced by Ford, the Explorer was introduced as a replacement for the two-door Bronco II. Similar to the the Ford Ranger, the Explorer derives its name from a trim package previously offered on the Ford F-Series pickup trucks.

The Explorer has been offered in multiple chassis and powertrain layouts: The first two generations were directly derived from the Ford Ranger, the third and fourth generations had a model-specific chassis, and the fifth generation adopted a variant of the Ford Taurus chassis, being repackaged as a crossover SUV.

The Explorer has many variants: Alongside the five-door Explorer wagon, a three-door Explorer wagon was offered from 1991 to 2003 (officially referred to as the Explorer Sport after 1999), serving as the direct replacement of the Bronco II; the 2001–2010 Ford Explorer Sport Trac was a crew-cab pickup derived from the model line. The Explorer is also known for its police use, with the Ford Police Interceptor Utility been derived from the fifth and sixth-generation Explorer to replace the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor (and the later Taurus-based Police Interceptor Sedan). Through rebranding, Mazda, Mercury, and Lincoln have sold versions of the Explorer; for example, Lincoln markets the sixth-generation model line as the Lincoln Aviator.

By 2020, it was reported that the Ford Explorer range was the best-selling SUV of all time in America.

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Advertising

• The new 2023 All-Electric Explorer begins a new adventure in this promotional ad, when it was also used to promote Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

Film — Live Action

• The Heffley family's minivan primarily used throughout the first 3 Diary of a Wimpy Kid movies is a silver-grey Ford Explorer XLS Sport.
• John McClane would use this car to escape from the terrorists throughout Die Hard.
• Almost everyone in one of Josie's suburbs appears to have the same brown Ford Explorer in Josie and the Pussycats
• All the tour vehicles in the film franchise Jurassic Park are Ford Explorers, due to Steven Spielberg owning one, which he particularly liked.
• In exchange for the Cherokee from the first film, the most important car of Scream 3 is a 1991 Ford Explorer XLT, which Dewey drives.

Live-Action TV

• Explorers have been the one of the law enforcement's SUV unit in many Police Procedural series.
  • In NCIS: New Orleans, the team uses their Ford Explorer to ram armed suspects down when they need to.
• A green Explorer is owned by Adriana La Cerva of The Sopranos, [[spoiler:where Richie Aprile borrows it and runs over Peter Gaeta. Its fate remains unknown though it's implied Adriana ditched it following Richie's incideent.

Video Games

• Surprisingly, you get to play this SUV in Asphalt Overdrive. It's a Turf 2 car with a x1.25 takedown Score Multiplier.
• Explorers have been a prominent off road car in the Ford Racing series, whether if it's the XLT pickup, Sport Trac, or simply its SUV counterpart.
• While it's not a playable car, Need for Speed has examples of the Explorer, mainly uses as a traffic car or mostly as The Heavy of law enforcement. One of which would be the car used by Lt. Frank Mercer in Need for Speed Heat, before it got ambushed and T-boned by Lucas Rivera in his just-repaired Camaro.

Ford F-Series

The Ford F-Series is a series of light-duty trucks marketed and manufactured by Ford Motor Company since 1948. The F-Series is marketed as a range of full-sized pickup trucks; in the Ford truck lineup, it is positioned above the mid-size Ranger but below the larger Super Duty. Alongside the F-150 (introduced in 1975), the F-Series also includes the aforementioned Super Duty series (introduced in 1999), which includes the heavier-duty F-250 through F-450 pickups, F-450/F-550 chassis cabs, and F-600/F-650/F-750 Class 6–8 commercial trucks.

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Film — Animation

• Chuvo, a member of the Dune Ratz team in Hot Wheels: World Race is the driver of a 1997 Ford F-150. This F Series truck came with the regular Dune Ratz abilities, such as Sand Tires, and a Parachute.

Film — Live Action

• The Halloween scene of Diary of a Wimpy Kid has the Terrible Trio teenagers ride in Pete Hosey's Ford truck while hosing Greg and Rowley. With power tools in their hands, Greg accidentally tears off the fender's paint, Pete is not gonna like this...
  Pete: ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I'M GONNA RIP OFF YOUR ARMS AND PUNCH YOU IN THE FACE WITH YOUR OWN FISTS!
• When not racing, Brian O'Connor would use this 1999 Ford F-150 SVT Lightning as his work truck while working at The Racer's Edge during The Fast and the Furious (2001). It's the truck that hauls parts and kickstart his build for the Toyota Supra.
• It's not just the Gran Torino Walt Kowalski only has since he also has the 1972 F-100 he drives most of the time than the said Cool Car.
• A 1993 F-150 is used to transport the dinosaurs to the island in Jurassic Park. Another example would be the beat-up looking 1985 model used by dinosaur smuggler Rainn Delacourt and his Mooks in Jurassic World Dominion when pursuing and capturing Beta.
• Although there's lots of F-series to spot in Mad Max, the spotlight goes to the F-100 in Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, which is also known as the 'snake truck' used by Lord Humungus's Marauders.
• Mr. Majestyk's canary yellow 1968 Ford F-100 pickup is the car that brought all the axle-busting action in the film.
• A red F-150 pickup was used by John Saint and his goons in The Punisher (2004), and ran over the remains of the Castle family.
• Dewey and Gilleece in Unstoppable race alongside it on a parallel track in a Ford F-150 with a draisine rig and trying to jump aboard, as means to stop the 777 train.

Live-Action TV

• There's lots of character who are proud of being "Built Ford Tough" in Fargo, but amongst them all is the one owned by the Blumquist family.
• Duke DePalma of Team Knight Rider drives the "Beast", a modified Ford F-150 pickup, capable to be driven off-road.
• The Ford Super Duty is the grand prize for the winner of every Tough as Nails season, alongside $200,000.

Video Games

• Several F-150 and F-450 variants appear in the Forza series, though they mostly appear in the Horizon games. The F-100 has also made appearances throughout the series since the first Horizon game, appearing as a barn find in Horizon 5.
• There is a fuckton of F-series pickups in Ford Racing ranging from the 1948 F1 to the modern day SVT Lightning.
• You have the 2011 SVT Raptor of Gran Turismo Sport, a heavy big boy which has an "F-150 Survival" one-make event.
• All of the pickups made by Castro or Patriot in MotorStorm are all based on Ford F-series pickups.
• The Heavy of Need for Speed is none other than this F-150 SVT Raptor that screams to be Built Ford Tough:
  • While this Mighty Glacier is playable in console versions of Most Wanted (2012), its mobile version has this as the #9 of The Most Wanted list.
  • The Leader of the Free Ember Militia, Faith Jones in Payback uses her Ace Custon F-150 as the perfect car for offroading, and some daredevil maneuvres. It'd surprisingly return in Heat after completing all the Off-road Story Missions.
  • When you reach Heat level 5 in Unbound, beware the Heavy, they are F-150 Raptor SWAT trucks that are a total Lightning Bruiser which have little to no weaknesses.

Ford Focus series

Yes, Snake. The Focus SE is the perfect vehicle for driving around Shadow Moses Island.^note Just so we're clear, this is a real line from a real commercial.

"I'd buy it for buttons... then I'd make sure the suspension was absolutely mint... because the first-generation Ford Focus is the best little hatchback I've ever driven."

— Chris Harris

The Ford Focus is a series of compact cars that have been manufactured by the company since 1999. The car's conception came about by Alexander Trotman's "Ford 2000" plan, meant to globalize model development and sell one compact vehicle worldwide^note This wasn't the first time Ford attempted this, as the original concept of the 1981 Escort led to the infamous creation of two cars for Europe and North America that were so different from each other that the similarities they did have were superficial at best and history repeating with the 1993 Mondeo and Contour/Mystique. The car has four generations of its model, lasting from 1998 to 2025.

The first generation of the Focus lasted from 1998 to 2004, primarily designed by the German and British teams of Ford of Europe and replaced the various Escort models. Given the code name of C170 for its development, the Focus' name originates from a 1991 concept car from Ghia and continued Ford's New Edge styling philosophy from the 1996 Ka and 1998 Cougar, though this styling would be polarizing to say the least.

The second generation of the Focus lasted from 2005 to 2010. The Focus Mk 2, as it is called, is much larger and heavier compared to its previous generation and included technologies like a KeyFree system and Bluetooth phones and voice control to name a few. Mk 2's build quality and interior serves as an improvement as it pays better attention to material quality and overall finish in comparison to the previous generation.

The third generation of the Focus lasted from 2011 to 2019. This generation of the Focus became the best-selling car in the world in 2012. This generation of Focuses would be the first cars designed under Alan Mulally and his "One Ford" plan, which sought to leverage Ford's global resources into creating more competitive vehicles that could be globally marketed with minimal changes. This generation also reunited the North American and global Focus lines, discontinuing the North American version of the second generation. Ford used its "Kinetic Design" to build the car, making it appear similar to the Fiesta. This generation also redesigned its cabin, changed the materials used and had an "infotainment" system built in.

The fourth (and current) generation of the Focus began production in 2018, with its production being set to end in 2025 as the company shifts their product line to focus on electric vehicles. This generation also marks the brand's 20th anniversary. Unlike the first generation, this generation of the Focus began production in Germany and China. This generation also served as the end of the Focus line-up in many regions, like the Americas and Southeast Asia.

The Focus Mk 1 WRC made its debut in the rallying scene in 1999 at the World Rally Championship with two of them (one of which being driven by Colin McRae) setting many of the fastest stage times at the event... or at least they would've if not for an illegal water pump that excluded both of them from the event. The Focus Mk 1 WRC would be victorious in the Safari Rally and Rally Portugal. This car would eventually be replaced with an Mk 2 WRC that would be responsible for defending Ford's title in the 2007 season of the World Rally Championship. In 2011 onwards, the Ford Fiesta replaced the Focus for rallying.

The Focus was also used for touring, winning the second season of the 2009 British Touring Car Championship and being responsible for winning the championships of the Argentine TC 2000 in four separate years. It also showed success in the 2013 China Touring Car Championship and won its class in the 2014 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour.

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Film — Live Action

• The live-action film version of The Cat in the Hat, taking Everybody Owns a Ford to its logical conclusion, has (nearly) everyone drive a yellow or lime-green Ford Focus hatchback.
• The local police (who were on Hernan Reyes's payroll anyway) in Fast Five were procured Focus PPVs to prevent from Dominic Toretto and Brian O'Connor from escaping with the vault. All were destroyed in the process when Dom used the vault as a wrecking ball to smash it.
• A black third-gen Ford Focus ST is the Cool Car used by Regan and Carter in The Sweeney, where it was the Product Placement when it was fairly new.

Live-Action TV

• The 26th season of The Amazing Race had everyone drive a Ford Focus through Germany as part of the fifth leg.

Video Games

• Name any Rally Racing Game that features the Focus (especially the WRC rally car from 1999 to 2010). It would certainly count as that.
  • Considering Colin McRae has driven the thing, it was expected to see the Focus WRC appear in Colin McRae Rally (where the focus is both the star car and the cover car fro 2.0 and 3). It also appears in its sequel series, Dirt, usually seen in the hands of Ken Block.
  • Ryan Carter, the Wild Rush Master of Gravel would use McRae 1999 Focus WRC for his Duel Boss against you.
  • Even if that Focus rally car was meant for off-road ralling, Rena Hayami of R: Racing Evolution can even use that same Focus rally car for drag races.
• Focuses are one of the modern-day hatches of Ford Racing, either in Vanilla, a modified/tuned FR200, or the race-built Air Force Reserve Focus.
• Forza has several versions of the Focus to use in its games. The Horizon games even feature the Hoonigan Racing version of the Focus RS driven by Ken Block (and a variant of the car with better braking) and Horizon 5's Rally Adventure expansion lets you drive Colin McRae's Focus RS.
• Ever since Gran Turismo 2, the Ford Focus is the go-to hatchback for everyone, and is highly regarded as one of the quintessential rally cars other there, especially Mikko Hirvonen's 2008 WRC car, or the third gen Focus ST which served as the basis for a Gr. B rally car.
• Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012) features the Focus. It's treated as a Joke Car considering it's a hatchback in a game with tons of exotic cars capable of going 200+ MPH. Also, you get the previous-gen Focus RS500, an off-road pocket rocket.
• Overtake: The Elite Challenge features the Focus as one of the six cars in the game.

Western Animation

• A Lawyer-Friendly Cameo version of the Focus is one the cars driven by the White Dragon's crew in Sym-Bionic Titan.

Ford (Gran) Torino

You'd rather get off his lawn than steal his car.

Hutch: Whoa! Your stock just went up in my book, my friend. Pop the hood, let me see what you got under
Starsky: Hey! Hotshot! What do you think you're doing? This is a Ford Gran Torino. It's not some crappy camper slash apartment. There are rules.
Hutch:' Okay, okay.
Starsky: You do not bang on the hood. You never under any circumstances drive. And you will certainly not put your coffee mug on the roof of the car. In fact, no coffee in the car whatsoever. Coffee goes on the ground, you get in the car, we go.

—Starsky & Hutch

Initially the redesigned upscale variation of the then-existing Ford Fairlane, the Ford Torino is a series of mid-size muscle cars produced for the American market between 1968 to 1976.

The name Torino is named after the city of Turin, (Torino, in Italian), which was considered to be the Detroit of Italy, which was also the name originally proposed for the Ford Mustang while in development.

Majority of the Torinos were typically offered in either a four-door sedan or a two-door hardtop coupé. Ford also produced some of the high-performance muscle cars of the Torino, many of these said version would be called the "Gran Torino" or the "Gran Torino Sport", which they're fitted with powerful engines, such as the 428 cu in (7.0 L) and 429 cu in (7.0 L) "Cobra-Jet" engines, similarly used in a Boss 429 Mustang.

The Torino had played an active role in NASCAR, where its 1968-69 Torino was used with a wind-cheating design and improved aerodynamics which proved is competition effectively. Its dominance spawned two limited-edition models; the Torino Talladega and the Torino King Cobra.

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Film — Live Action

• The Alleged Car of The Big Lebowski increasingly becomes this, as The Dude's beaten-up yellow 1973 Ford Gran Torino would have a abusively crappy story over the course of the film that got into a world of shit. Literally. ...and it was burned for good by the Nihilists.
  The Dude: Well, they finally did it... They killed my fucking car.
• NYPD Lieutenant Frank Ochoa of Death Wish drives a red Ford Gran Torino sedan
• Fenix Calderon, The Dragon of drug lord Arturo Braga in Fast & Furious drives a Gran Torino fitted with a nitromethane engine, used to chase down Dominic Toretto and Brian O'Connor around the U.S. Mexico border. That was the same car seen in a Flashback where Letty Ortiz gets shot by Fenix and "dies".
• The Cool Car where the film's title gets its name and everybody's attention at. ...and that is bar none other than the Hero's Classic Car of Gran Torino; a classic 1972 Ford Gran Torino Sport, owned by Walt Kowalski, a Shell-Shocked Veteran and retired Detroit automaker, where the car itself is fully centralized on, hence the name. It's a MacGuffin prized possession where everybody wants to get their pie on.
  Walt: What the hell does everybody want with my Gran Torino?
• The beginning Need for Speed (2014) has Tobey Marshall partake in an illegal street race in his blue Torino GT Fastback, in desperate need for cash. The character's portrayer Aaron Paul was received that Cool Car by the production company as a parting gift.

Literature

• Amelia Sachs gets a Ford Torino Cobra as replacement for her totaled Camaro in Lincoln Rhyme.

Live-Action TV

• Shaun's close friend, Lea in The Good Doctor inherited her Grandpa Rod’s mint-condition, red Gran Torino a year ago after he passed away.
• Axl's '75 Ford Gran Torino The Middle is what would be a punching bag as it met its demise, when a county fair official took a guess about the rusty, faded old land yacht and waved Axl into the demolition derby.
• Sergeant Dennis Becker drive this in one episode of The Rockford Files.
• The red 1976 Ford Torino with a white vector stripe is David Starsky's iconic signature Cool Car used to patrol around Bay City in Starsky & Hutch, much to his partner Hutch calls the Hero's Classic Car "The Striped Tomato". The red Torino remains intact for its 2003 film.
• One episode of The Streets of San Francisco has Det. Lt. Mike Stone in his Ford Galaxie hunt down a crook who is driving a red Torino, who also was Racing the Train at one point.

Music

• "One Week" by the Barenaked Ladies would take something out of Starsky & Hutch, as one of the band members at Steven Page drives a the same red Torino as the series during the video's interlude.

Video Games

• The first car you'd start off in the first two events of the World Tour Burnout Dominator would be the Classic Muscle, a... ahem... "classic muscle" based on the '73 Torino.
• One of the movie challenges of Driver: San Francisco puts you in a red Ford Gran Torino used to take down a Getaway Driver.
• Both the beaten-up Shaker and the fully restored Scorpion of FlatOut are Torino lookalikes.
• Torinos are the classics in Ford Racing, with the 1975/76 Gran Torino Sport being well prominent amongst other Ford vintages.
• The first classic muscle car available in the beginning of Juiced 2 Hot Import Nights would be the Ford Gran Torino. It a Rookie class car, where you won't get the next muscle car until you reach League 5.
• A black Samson Drifter is Lincoln Clay's prized Cool Car in Mafia III, which is based on a 1970 Ford Torino GT, which would be a source of Anachronism Stew, given that the game is set in 1968 and Lincoln mentioned that the car was his pride and joy, even before he was enlisted. He would've gotten a '63 or '64 instead.
  • The Definitive Edition of the two games would also feature Lincoln's Samson as part of a Game Ownership Bonus, where the anachronism levels get even worse. Who'd know a 1970 car would even show up in The Great Depression?

Ford GT(40)

If you can go 7,000+, then be prepared to go like hell.

"Was this the greatest hypercar of them all? Well, that's a question I've never really been able to answer, because the GT40 is 40 inches tall... and I'm not."

—Jeremy Clarkson, Top Gear (UK)

After an attempt to buyout Ferrari went awry, Ford decided to build a racing sports car as an effort to Beat Them at Their Own Game in endurance racing.

It all began in 1964 when Ford negotiated with Lola to help build their racing sportscar. Thus, the Mark I was completed and was named the Ford GT, though it was named the GT40 due to a reporter gave it a Fan Nickname, as it refers to the total height of the car, measuring 40 inches. The car was powered by Ford's own all-aluminium 4.7 L V8 OHV engine, mounted amidship. The car made an impression at the 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans, setting lap records, but none of the car finished the race due to reliability issues. The same happened in 1965. In 1966, Ford took another chance at the Le Mans, with their advanced Mk. II GT40s with an improved engine and chassis made by Shelby American. Not only it managed to achieve victory, but also dominated the race with flying colors in an impressive 1-2-3 finish position win. The GT40 had been the Le Mans winner for 4 years in a row, and the only American manufacture at its highest class to ever do so.

Flash forward in 2002, where Ford announced its revival heritages at the North American International Auto Show as part of the brand's 100th anniversary, unveiling the Ford GT Concept, a sports car that pays homage to the Le Mans-winning GT40. The GT looks similar to its original 1965 car, albeit bigger and wider. Production finally pushed for 2005 and 2006 models, with 4,500 cars originally planned. The car retains its Ford V8 engine, albeit fitted with Eaton aftermarket superchargers, producing around 550 hp. The car was able to reach 100 km/h (62 mph) in less than 3.8 seconds, with top speeds of 330 km/h (205 mph).

Flash forward, again in 2015, Ford announced the second-generation Ford GT after a decade-old hiatus as a 2016 model. The car marked 50 years of its Le Mans victory back in 1966, and it successfully recent finish in 2016, after winning the LM GTE-Pro class. Breaking Old Trends from its two predecessors is that this second-gen GT now uses a 3.5 L twin-turbocharged Ford EcoBoost V6 engine, which raised serious questions from the public. Despite this, it accelerates about a second quicker than its predecessor. Prominent to this is its open airflow tunnels built into the rear fenders of the car, referred to as the 'flying buttresses', an innovative aerodynamic that wind to pass through the vents.

By the time it was discontinued in 2022, the GT40 and the GT had cemented its place as part of Ford's racing heritage, with numerous victories under its belt.

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Anime and Manga

• Batou in Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society exchanges his already Cool Car here, as he swaps his Lancia Stratos for a yellow and black-striped Ford GT, When the Major notices his new whip, she comments that "his tastes had changed".

Film — Live-Action

• One of the DEA-seized cars that was to be heisted in Fast Five is Hernan Reyes's prized Ford GT40, which was indeed heisted by Dom and Brian where they drove it back to their hideout. (In reality the car was a replica.)
• This is the Cool Car that plays its major part of the story, front and center. And this... this Ford GT40 that was built from the ground up is the key icon that was centralized in Ford V Ferrari used to beat Ferrari at its own game as the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with the Hero Protagonist Ken Miles behind the wheel.

Live-Action Television

• In The Avengers episode "From Venus With Love", a GT40 makes a brief appeance at the episode's climax. The car was painted silver and the nose of the car was slightly modified so a laser could emerge from it.

Video Games

• Burnout has a lot of fictionalized Ford GT examples to boot:
  • One of the 3 starter Muscle-class cars, the Muscle Type 3, as well as the unlockable Muscle Prototype in 3: Takedown would resemble to the Ford GT40 or. GT, with some light clusters from a C4 Corvette.
  • The Jack of All Stats super called the American Super in Dominator resembles the modern-day GT. Its default colors (red, yellow and black) reflect to the GT's factory colors, even without the signature stripes.
  • ...then you have this Fragile Speedster, the Carson 500 GT in Burnout Paradise, a Ford GT40 Expy with its notable stripes taken from its Real Life counterpart.
• CSR Classics offer two different Ford GT40s, the standard Mk1 and the "CSR" version, which is essentially the Mk2 GT40. A post-launch update also adds this Mark IV Race Car. All three are tier 5 vehicles.
• Your first Stunt mission of Driver: San Francisco puts John Tanner in a Ford GT where he must overtake 10 cars, land a 10 meter jump and finish a checkpoint race.
• The beginning of the "Infiltration" mission of Fast & Furious Crossroads has Roman Pearce drives gen. 2 Ford GT for his midnight raid at a naval base with Kai and Lamar, much to his dismay of his car of choice.
  Roman: Should have stolen some monster trucks, not supercars.
• Two words. Ford Racing. It first showed up in 2 as a Performance-class car. In 3, the GT Concept is the last unlockable car in game by winning "The GT World",^note In which your opponents drive nothing but Ford GT Concepts. which is also is the Cool Car as seen in the start screen◊ and in the main menu◊.
• Plenty going on here in Forza as both the 2005 Ford GT and the GT40 Mk2 doesn't miss every single game to boot. But the one that takes the most cake of it is the second-generation 2017 Ford GT that was seen in the front cover◊ of Forza Motorsport 6 where, you get to try A Taste of Power with this car around Rio De Janeiro when you begin the game for the first time.
• Gran Turismo has some notable example of Ford's supercar.
  • The GT40 in 2, which became notorious because The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard here, as an AI car in the Historic Car Cup race at Rome, which despite the 295 hp limit, it can be found as an opponent. And that is a car with 305 hp, 10 hp more than the regulated power level restriction.
  • Then you have the iconic cover car in 4, the race-ready Ford GT LM Race Car Spec II which was none other than awesome. See it for yourself in the intro why it is indeed the Cool Car of the game. Other than that, you also have the vanilla Ford GT road car and its 2002 concept model, too.
  • Speaking of the GT40, the Ford Mark IV Race Car would certainly count too, since it's also built on the GT40 platform. In 7, it's one of the three cars needed to unlock the "Three Legendary Cars" trophy.
• The Bullet in the Grand Theft Auto series is based on the 2005 Ford GT, despite debuting in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas which takes place in 1992. It also has a successor in Grand Theft Auto Online, the FMJ, based on the second generation model.
• The Ford GT made its only appearance in Midnight Club: Los Angeles depicted as a Class-A exotic.This would be in the hands of many city champions like Exotic Champ's Pete and South Central Champ's Raymond.
• Like the Corvette, this American supercar has been a long-time staple in Need for Speed games:
  • Technically, the first game it appeared would be Need for Speed II, where you have the Ford GT90, a concept car that was an attempt to produce a road-going version of the GT40 but whose design was radically different, which in the game is an almighty Super Prototype but would wind up being Awesome, but Impractical due to having an insane top speed and acceleration but awful cornering.
  • If you're looking for the proper 2005 Ford GT, then it debuted in Need for Speed: Most Wanted as one of the endgame supercars. There is also a Castrol Syntec promotional version available as a bonus car, only obtained via Cheat Code. This would be the a long time staple American supercar in future NFS games:
    • In Carbon it is the only American exotic-class car, and possibly one of the best there is. A red first-gen GT is also distinctive for being driven by Nikki, notable for its vinyl design inspired by the Le Mans-winning GT40 in 1969.
    • This would be Zarinah's car for the Gold Cup in Nitro. It's not surprising for a native Singaporean to ever own a rare exotic supercar in a country with a bustling economic growth.
    • There are GTs aplenty in Shift 2: Unleashed. Other than the vanilla road car, has two different race versions from Matech, built for both GT3 (which Works body kit would base it on) and GT1 events. Plus the downloadable 1965 GT40, a One-Shot Character for the game.
• Maki from R-Tuned Ultimate Street Racing has a Bald Head of Toughness matched with his stock Ford GT as his Cool Car of choice, which players can't get. It'll be a wild ride with him.
• The Assoluto Bisonte in all of its Ridge Racer games resembles closely to the Ford GT40. This would be notably distinctive in its unique silver and blue-striped Racing Team Souvalou livery, bearing its Call-Back to one of the GT's factory colors.
• Both the GT40 Mk1 and the modern day GT are supercars ever introduced since Project Gotham Racing 2. The former being a Difficult, but Awesome car due to its insane handling and the latter being the Jack of All Stats exotic with fairly balanced performance, despite top speed being the emphasis. Another worth honorably mentioning is this ultra Improbably Cool Car, the Ford GT90 concept in 3.
• Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3 brings an American sports car on the Japanese highways;
  • Yokohane's Heavy Fighter, The Leader of A.P.S. drives a factory-spec Ford GT ^note Actually, a GT40 with only the team sticker on the hood as its only visual modification.
  • Then you have God's Estuary, The Leader of DARTS who drives a red GT with white, red, and black graphics on the hood and sides and he calls his car as "The Lord".
• The Ford GT40 appears in Test Drive 6. In TD Overdrive: Brotherhood of Speed, it's the penultimate unlockable car after you beat Vasily Raskolnikov. There is also the modern day Ford GT that appears in the PAL cover art◊ of Test Drive Unlimited.
• There are some cases of the GT in ToCA Race Driver 2:
  • When you start the game, you're already jumping straight in the final lap of an ongoing Ford GT one-make race around Laguna Seca.
  • And there is the Coast to Coast Cup. And the car? The Ford GT90. It's an Improbably Cool Car since it's obviously a concept. In Real Life, only one car was built, but here in ToCA? A 20-place grid full of nothing but GT90s, in which is far beyond impossible to host.

Ford Model T

The greatest-grandfather of everyman's car.

"By modern standards, the Model T was very primitive: It had no electric starter, no radio, no heater, no air conditioner, no brakes, no transmission, no engine, and no wheels. The only way to get it to actually move was to have four or five burly men pick it up and stagger down the street. But it was affordable, and people bought it like crazy. 'What the hell,' they said. 'There's nowhere to go anyway, here in 1913.'"

—Dave Barry's claims about the Ford Model T, Dave Barry Slept Here

The one that started it all. Possibly the Trope Maker of all automobiles. It's Older Than Television, being made even before Universal Pictures and Paramount were ever born.

Automobiles in general date all the way back to the late 1800s, but were often scarce, expensive and unreliable. Enter Henry Ford, whose desire was to make a massively-produced and affordable automobile accessible to the masses in the United States. Launched in 1908, the Ford Model T is generally regarded as the first ever mass-produced and mass-affordable automobile in history, catering to middle-class Americans at a relatively low price. A car that was extremely innovative at its time and served as the influence to numerous car makers from all over the world, the Model T was colloquially known as the "Tin Lizzie".

The Model T is powered by a front-mounted 177 cubic inch (2.9 L) inline-4 engine, producing 20 hp and was capable of reaching speeds of 42 mph (68 km/h). It was fuel efficient, as the engine fully accepts gasoline, kerosene or ethanol. Its transmission uses a planetary gear, an early mechanism with 2-gears and one reverse gear.

Being the first mass-producer car ever, customization as simple as colors was extremely limited for the Model T. A famous quote attributed to Henry Ford reads; "Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants, so long as it is black." though it wasn't actually available in black until 1913. However, it was offered in a diverse amount of body types, ranging from touring to sedans, roofless roadsters, wagons, pickups, etc.

Though production ended in 1927 and was replaced by the Model A, the Model T was one of the most successful cars of its time, with over 15 million units sold, and would be the symbol of automobilism until the introduction of the Volkswagen Beetle.

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Comic Books

• For decades, Archie Comics's titular character Archie Andrews is depicted driving a red 1916 Ford Model T jalopy which he calls it "Betsy". Lore-wise Archie tries to have his jalopy car-insured and is often prone to breaking down more than driving.

Film — Animation

• Lizzie of Cars is an elderly 1923 Ford Model T coupe.
• That truck of the cantankerous old redneck hunter Amos Slade from The Fox and the Hound is a 1923 Ford Model T.

Film — Live Action

• The Absent-Minded Professor goes "Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang" as the car of Prof. Ned Brainard (as seen in the movie poster◊) is converted to a Flying indeterminate-aged Model T (1908-1920), which was lampshaded at one scene;
  Alonzo: You see anything?
  Biff: Just Neddie the Nut flying his old Model T.
• The main characters of Beach Party take the yellow Lizzie for a spin around the beach, as what the setting is all about.
• There is even a movie dedicated to the car! And it's that 1977 comedy spy film Charge of the Model T's. Exactly What It Says on the Tin... Everybody Owns a Ford... Model T. Literally.
• A 1914 Ford Model T is the car the sheriff was driving to Indy's house in Utah during the opening scene of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Given that scene is set in 1912, and its source of Anachronism Stew.
• Everybody Owns a Ford Model T here in Lady and the Tramp (2019).
• Name any silent comedy short done by Laurel and Hardy. You're likely gonna see the good 'ol Tin Lizzie being part of the comedians' delightful schtick, usually as a Running Gag of turning the car to a pile of scrap heap.
  • The 1929 silent short comedy film Big Business has the homeowner planning to annihilate Stan and Ollie's trees and their Model T Ford.
• Given the setting in the Twilight of the Old West in 1912, Early Ransom of The Last Rites of Ransom Pride travels to Mexico in a Model T Ford.
• One of Buster Keaton's most famous silent films, Steamboat Bill, Jr. shows J. J. King taking an arrested William Canfield Sr. (Or Bill Sr., the titular hero's father) in his Model T Tourer en route to the jailhouse.
• My Favorite Martian would talk about the Tin Lizzie:
  Martin: Blotz! It's Lizzie! What's a Lizzie?
  Zoot: I would say a Model T Ford, but this one's got [gives himself "breasts"] bigger tires. Awooga! Awooga!
• A Pimped Out Ford Model T hot rod from the Rockumentary film The Song Remains the Same is driven (and once owned in Real Life) by the late drummer of Led Zeppelin.

Live-Action TV

• A Hazel episode that centralizes the car called "Hazel and the Model T" has the titular character buy a 1920 Model T from the Johnsons.
• The trademark vintage of Dave Crabtree, the 1928 Porter or what the call the "Mother" as aptyly named of the show My Mother the Car was built from a 1927 Ford Model T Touring car with a 327 Chevy V8 engine.
• The Secret Service has Father Stanley Unwin's Cool Car he drives around; a yellow vintage 1917 Model T Ford named Gabriel.

Video Games

• The slowest car ever in Ford Racing 3 would be one of the two vintage cars: a 1923 Model T Sedan. At least in return, it has par handling because of its light body.
• The most Undesirable Prize in Gran Turismo 4 if you complete all the S-Licence with all golds. Your reward is... a Ford Model T that can't even be entered in a legitimate race. Considered also to be a joke car since the car only has 20 horses under the hood. Even the Fiat 500 (which has 3 hp less than the Model T) performs faster!
• The Bolt Ace series in Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven are all equivalent to the Ford Model T, including that Crazy Horse hot rod. ...and it's just as slow and antiquated. Paulie is incredibly disappointed.
  Paulie: I want to show you somethin' about the good life, and you're drivin' somethin' my Ma could've bought 20 years ago!
• Other than horses and carriages, Red Dead Redemption feature 1910 Model T Couplets that is that can be found in Blackwater. Given that automobiles are a rarity in a 1911 setting.

Web Video

• The Karl Marx vs Henry Ford battle in Epic Rap Battles of History has the former roasting the latter about the Model T:
  Your Model T-total lack of style is killing me
  We can't take shit from you according to ability!

Western Animation

• The 1947 Classic Disney Short of Donald Duck, "Wide Open Spaces" has at one point, the star character's sleek convertible turned into a sputtering Ford Model T-looking jalopy after getting squashed by the Indy Escape boulder.
• Then you have something from Future Industries... the Satomobile from The Legend of Korra, where its standard design bears a strong resemblance to the Ford Model T.
• The short "Blue Cat Blues" of Tom and Jerry has Tom buying a car reminiscent of a Ford model T from a used car dealer, complete with a bulb reed horn and malfunctioning engine. It soon gets run over and squashed flat by the Absurdly-Long Limousine being driven by his rival.

Ford Mustang and variants

Good luck telling Sally to slow down.^*Top to bottom:
First row: First generation ("1964½"–1966 design) (left), First generation (1967–1968 design) (right)
Second row: First generation (1969–1970 design) (left), First generation (1971–1973 design) (right)
Third row: Second generation (left), Third generation (1979–1982 design) (right)
Fourth row: Third generation (1983–1986 design) (left), Third generation (1987–1993 design) (right)
Fifth row: Fourth generation (1994–1998 design) (left), Fourth generation (1999–2004 design) (right)
Sixth row: Fifth generation (2005–2009 design) (left), Fifth generation (2010–2014 design) (right)
Seventh row: Sixth generation (left), Seventh generation (right)

"Mustang is meant to be driven so that one can enjoy the hell out of all of it."

— Carroll Shelby

THE pony car.

Manufactured by Ford and in continuous production since 1964, currently in its seventh generation, the Mustang is the Ford car nameplate produced for the longest time, and the fifth-best selling Ford car nameplate. The Mustang was developed as a highly-stylized line of sporty coupes and convertibles derived from existing model lines, giving rise to the term "pony car" to describe this automobile class.

Despite the nameplate's association with the namesake horse breed, the origin of its name is subject of debate. Executive stylist John Najjar, who co-designed the first prototype of the car jointly with fellow Ford stylist Philip T. Clark, is credited by Ford with suggesting the name after his love for the World War II P-51 Mustang fighter plane. However, an alternative view was that Robert J. Eggert, Ford Division market research manager and also a breeder of quarterhorses, received as a birthday present from his wife the book The Mustangs by J. Frank Dobie in 1960, and the book's title gave him the idea of adding the "Mustang" name for Ford's new concept car. Apparently there was more than one name suggersted; the designer preferred Cougar (early styling bucks can be seen wearing a Cougar grille emblem) or Torino (an advertising campaign using the Torino name was actually prepared), while Henry Ford II wanted T-bird II. As the person responsible for Ford's research on potential names, Eggert added "Mustang" to the list to be tested by focus groups, and by a wide margin, "Mustang" came out on top.

Introduced on April 1964, the first-gen Mustang was originally predicted to sell 100,000 vehicles yearly; instead, it sold over 400,000 units in its first year, and the one-millionth Mustang was sold within two years of its launch, becoming the most successful vehicle launch since the 1927 Model A. The car began production five months before the normal start of the 1965 production year; this, combined with minor design updates in August 1964 at the formal start of the 1965 production year are why early production versions are often referred to as "1964½ models", even though all of these Mustangs were advertised, VIN coded and titled by Ford as 1965 models.

The success of the Mustang launch led to other American manufacturers launching multiple competitors, including the Chevrolet Camaro (1967), the Pontiac Firebird (also 1967), the AMC Javelin (1968), and the Dodge Challenger (1970). It also competed with the Plymouth Barracuda, which was launched around the same time.^note To be exact, 16 days: the 'Cuda was released on April 1, 1964, while the Mustang was released on April 17. The Mustang also had an effect on designs of coupes worldwide, such as Japan with the Toyota Celica, and Europe with Ford of Europe's Ford Capri. Likewise, Lincoln-Mercury launched the Mercury Cougar in 1967 as a unique-bodied, higher-trim alternative to the Mustang, marketed as a personal luxury car.

From 1965 until 2004, the Mustang shared its chassis with other Ford model lines, staying rear-wheel-drive throughout its production: From 1965 to 1973, it was derived from the 1960 Ford Falcon compact. From 1974 until 1978, it was essentially a longer-wheelbase version of the Ford Pinto. From 1979 until 2004, the Mustang shared its Fox platform chassis with 14 other Ford vehicles (becoming the final one to use the Fox architecture). Since 2005, the two generations of Mustang released so far each use a distinct platform unique to the model line. The introduction of the fifth-generation Mustang in 2005 was also characterized for its styling echoing the fastback Mustang models of the late-1960s, to the point Ford's senior vice president of design J Mays outright called it "retro-futurism".

Through its production, multiple nameplates have been associated with the Ford Mustang series, including GT, Mach 1, Boss 302/429, Cobra (not to be confused with the Shelby Cobra, an entirely separate model) and others, along with "5.0" fender badging (denoting 4.9 L OHV or 5.0 L DOHC V8 engines).

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Anime and Manga

• Aoi Futuba of Cat Planet Cuties drives a blue Ford Shelby GT500 in the anime, outfitted with defensive "spy car" gadgets.
• Duke Togo in Golgo 13 loves non-Japanese cars, and Mustangs are his sought after cars. One car is his iconic 1971 Mustang Mach 1.
• Rally Vincent's Cool Car in Gunsmith Cats is none other than the Ford Mustang Cobra GT500, which is not only cool but rare as hell. A similar car was also used by Lt. Percy Bacharach of the series' OVA, Riding Bean.
• Present Mic of My Hero Academia drives a late 60s model that fits his punk rocker motif.

Comic Books

• Later issues of Archie Comics, mainly ones released in The '80s depict Archie Andrews's car "Betsy" as the sleek Ford Mustang, in which one story, Mr. Lodge temporarily trades Archie's jalopy for a sports car.

Film — Animation

• The Racing Sports Network announcer Brent Mustangburger from Cars 2 is obviously in the name where he's modeled after; a dark blue 1964½ Ford Mustang.
• The film's opening of Detective Conan Film 20: The Darkest Nightmare starts off with Akai Shūichi in the middle of a Chase Scene in his Race Red 2007 Ford Shelby GT500 SVT, chasing down Curaçao on Tokyo's Rainbow Bridge.
• Miyuki Kobayakawa's Cool Car in the movie You're Under Arrest: No Mercy is yellow 1973 Ford Mustang Mach 1 that was "gone in 60 seconds"... Literally. That became the premise of the movie where it's stolen by a car thief who turns out to be a former Japanese detective.

Films — Live-Action

• Detective Trupo's Cool Car in American Gangster is his prized Shelby Mustang. He's not happy when Frank has it blown up in retaliation for interrupting his wedding.
• Michael Douglas, Sharon Stone and a 1991 Ford Mustang Convertible GT in Basic Instinct... need we say more?
• The near-ending of Bean has Mr. Bean spend quality time together with David Langley, who is rolling in a classic red Mustang convertible around Sunset Boulevard.
• Bullitt famously features a car chase pitting Steve McQueen driving a (debadged) green 1968 Mustang GT fastback against a black 1968 Dodge Charger. Ford has released several special editions of the Mustang paying homage to the movie car.
• The beloved American muscle pony car would qualify as a noteworthy tuner in The Fast and the Furious series:
  • There is a Saleen S281-E Mustang driving by one of Carter Verone's Mooks in 2 Fast 2 Furious. It's capable of driving Under the Truck during the race against Brian and Dom, but the car gets crushed by the semi-truck's wheels.
  • Sean Boswell in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift for his final race against Takashi dons the Hero's Classic Car; a 1967 Ford Mustang his dad had been restoring, fitted with a Nissan Skyline GT-R engine.
  • A 1992 Mustang is Jakob Toretto's car seen during a flashback of F9. The same car later seen again in the present day of Fast X.
• Expect lots of Ford Mustangs in Ford V Ferrari, thanks to Carroll Shelby being one of the main charcaters (who even does work on Mustangs in Real Life).
• Despite its reputation as a quintessentially American car, the Ford Mustang's first appearance in a film was in the 1964 French movie Le Gendarme de Saint-Tropez, wehere Geneviève Grad (Nicole Cruchot) cruised around in a red 1964½ Mustang convertible.
• Brent Magna's Cool Car in Getaway; an armored and modified Ford Shelby GT 500 SVT that is also the main star of the film.
• A 1971 Mustang (modified to look like a 1973 model), nicknamed "Eleanor", was prominently featured in Gone in 60 Seconds (1974). "Eleanor" returned, as a 1967 Mustang Shelby GT500, in the movie's 2000 remake. The remake version of Eleanor featured a custom body kit designed by Chip Foose that has become a Fountain of Expies in the restomod community since.
• Much like Bullitt, Grand Prix features the iconic Cool Car, the Shelby GT350H driven by James Garner's character who uses it to drive around Europe throughout the entire film.
• Sharpay Evans, the Lovable Alpha Bitch of High School Musical has this pink Ford Mustang cabriolet as her Cool Car. It has her initials slapped on the hood, and a Vanity License Plate saying "FABULUS". This made waves when it's seen during the second film.
• Sergeant Joe Gavilan and Detective K.C. Calden of Hollywood Homicide uses what appears to be a Saleen S281 Speedster, a tuned 4th-gen Mustang cabrio used to hunt down Antoine Sartain in a black Cadillac Escalade. Expect both shouting "GET OUT OF THE WAY!", while the poor sports car get into a lot of mishaps, as they wreak havoc around Hollywood.
• James Bond, despite being a fan of an Aston Martin, has also driven this American Beauty (pun unintended):
  • The 1964 film Goldfinger is usually held as the Ford Mustang's "official" debut on the silver screen and is its second appearance overall in a feature film after Le Gendarme de Saint-Tropez,^note Le Gendarme having beat Goldfinger by a matter of days, as it was released on 9 Septmber 1964, while Goldfinger had its London premiere on 17 September and its wider release in the United Kingdom on 18 September, timed with the car's introduction in the U.S. market, being driven by Tilly Masterson (Tania Mallet).
  • Diamonds Are Forever has Bond opted for a red Mustang Mach 1, which belonged to Tiffany Case, used to get to Las Vegas.
• John Wick has as his signature Cool Car a 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1... and the car is the catalyst that set up the whole neo-noir saga; the son of John's former boss decided to steal his car, beat him up, and murder his pet dog as a literal Kick the Dog moment.
• The Cool Car in the 2017 heist-comedy film Logan Lucky is the blue/white-striped 2016 Ford Shelby GT350, a powerful Mustang that was freshly new during the release, acting as the gang's getaway car.
• Need for Speed (2014) features a silver-and-blue Shelby Mustang integral to the plot, as it supposedly was Carroll Shelby's last work for Ford before his death. In addition to it, the sixth-gen 2015 Mustang briefly appears at the end of the film. Like with Goldfinger, the scene was shot before the car was revealed to the public; a prototype was used and kept secret, with only the actors and film crew allowed to see the car.
• Mia in The Princess Diaries treasures her 1966 Ford Mustang Convertible and... which eventually crashed into a cable car in the steep hills of San Francisco.
• Zoë's old boyfriend Marc, as well as Echo uses a red '66 GT350 in the 2019 film adaptaion of Saving Zoë.
• Barricade in the Transformers Film Series transforms into a Saleen S281 Extreme police car. Mustangs are pretty uncommon cars for police use in the United States, but a Saleen? Well for the sake of Rule of Cool.

Live-Action TV

• Rebecca Madsen surely is a Sally lover in Alcatraz, in which she drives both a 1967 Fastback and a 2013 Boss 302, both of which would be considered to be a Cool Car alone.
• While the titular Barnaby Jones and his widowed daughter-in-law Betty shifts into new vehicles as the series progresses, J. R. on the other hand just sticks to driving his one and only Cool Car; a white 1966 Ford Mustang.
• After blood, sweat and tears, Brandon Walsh of Beverly Hills, 90210 finally buys himself a sleedk 1965 Ford Mustang convertible after he felt like need a source of transportation for himself.
• The red '65 Mustang Convertible can be seen in the opening of Boy Meets World.
• One episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show shows Rob and Roger working on a 1965 Ford Mustang in their garage.
• The F.B.I. is a quite literal example of Everybody Owns a Ford, as it was sponsored by the Ford Motor Company. Efrem Zimbalist Jr.'s character drove new Mustang convertibles during the first four seasons (1965–1969), to the point an article by Forbes said that the series is a good way for viewers to see how the Mustang evolved into a muscle car.
• Jeese Katsopolis's Cool Car in Full House is his red 1965 Ford Mustang, where he lets D.J. drive. Sadly, poor 'ol Sally gets scratched when D.J. makes a turn as the car's side hits a lamp post.
  D.J.: Wow! I never thought I'd be driving your Mustang.
  Jesse: I like the color of Sally. "Mustang Sally". You know, there's only 1,100 of these in the whole country, but mine is the only one with a complete set of Elvis lugnuts.
  [later, after D.J. scratches Mustang Sally]
  Jeese: It's just a car. It's just a car. [looks closer at the scratches and starts to get emotional] It's just a ca-ca-ca...
  D.J.: I am so sorry! I feel terrible! I promise I'll do better tomorrow.
• Get Smart has the ZFB-600... a 1965 Ford Mustang Zebra weaponized with two .50 caliber machine guns.
• The aptly named "Mustang Lily" in Grounded for Life where this stallion car is the central story of the episode. Sean bought Lily this when she turned 16.
• The 2008 revival of Knight Rider featured a black 2008 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500KR as KITT (replacing the 1982 Pontiac Firebird from the original series), voiced by Val Kilmer.
• It was once the prized possession of Mary Tyler Moore where she is indeed a Sally lover. In fact she rocks a plain blue Mustang convertible, as seen in the opening and some establishing shots of certain episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
• Lucas Scott inherits Keith’s Shelby Mustang in an episode of One Tree Hill.The episode itself glosses over this, but a deleted scene features Lucas and Nathan discussing the Tragic Keepsake nature of the matter, and Lucas is seen driving the car to Jimmy’s funeral towards the end of the episode.
• Saxondale has the titular protagonist Tommy Saxondale's Improbably Cool Car; the '72 Mach 1. It's played with since it's also exactly the kind of car a stuck-in-the-past relic like Tommy would be drawn to.
• Stumptown (2019) has the protagonist Dex Parios drive in a 1992 Mustang GT that is treated as The Alleged Car and has a cassette player stuck on that has a habit of turning itself on at inopportune times. Oddly enough, however, it's shown to have a trunk, when the 1992 GT is a hatchback and therefore doesn't have an actual trunk, just a storage space behind the rear seats.
• Harvey Specter of Suits gets himself a '67 Mustang. It even gets lampshaded when he gets accused of trying to be Steve McQueen, in reference to Bullitt:
  Cameron: Nice Mustang, Harvey. I see you're still trying to be Steve McQueen.
  Harvey: Not trying. Being. This is the scene where he corners that asshole.
• Given an American car in a British show, a Shelby GT350 was driven by the Villain of the Week in The Sweeney.

Music

• "Cryin'" by Aerosmith shows the boyfriend being dumped by the girlfiend (Alicia Silverstone no less) and takes his Mustang convertible with her, distancing herself.
• The music video "The Last Song" by The All-American Rejects shows Tyson Ritter jump from his 'ol Caprice to a classy cheery red Mustang cabrio, much to his glee. Now watch him drive like crazy as he donuts around the parking lot. Ritter himsel even lampshades this!
  Tyson Ritter: I race a car around like hell, and do doughnuts in the parking lot. It's this badass car, like a '73 cherry-red convertible Ford Mustang. I couldn't believe it ... I got to tear ass in a hot rod. I worked with a stuntman, but my dad used to drag cars, so I know how to drive all right, so he just let me do what I want. It was crazy, man. I couldn't believe the DreamWorks reps let me do that, 'cause I was doing some crazy shit. It was awesome.
• Dr. Luke's remix of Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend" brings out what Pink Means Feminine is. And that is a sassy 2005 pink Mustang GT convertible driven by the female lead singer.
• "Just One More Time" by David Guetta has the man rush into his classic Shelby, as he races his way to rescue his girlfriend from a House Fire. He was too late.
• The outlaw couple's classic Mustang is also one of the main characters of the song "Let Me Love You" by DJ Snake and Justin Bieber, acting as both their car for cruisng and as a getaway car, when they have trouble with the law.
• "L.A. Woman" by The Doors features Jim Morrison in his cruising pleasure cross-country in his '65 Mustang.
• An anxious G-Eazy (who celebrates his birthday In-Universe) in "Me, Myself and I" by him, alongside Bebe Rexha, show him literally Driven to Suicide as he wrecks his precious black '66 Shelby GT350 head-on with a truck.
• Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses Drives Like Crazy here in "Don't Cry" when he takes his girlfriend (who was arguing) inside his classic '66 Shelby as he plunges The Precious, Precious Car down the cliff (with Slo-Mo Big Air effect too!), wrecing it in the process. ...cue the car going in flames.
• The ending of "Paranoid" by The Jonas Brothers shows Nick crossing the desert in his old Mustang, while he notices a girl in a Muntz Jet beside him. Turns out it was All Just a Dream. He paranoid after all.
• Keith Urban bring his good 'ol Sally for a spin in his music video "Sweet Thing". This car was actually a gift from his wife Nicole Kidman. It would be the same car would later be unveiled at the SEMA 2021, revealed by Urban himself.
• The song "Never Again" has Kelly Clarkson's character haunting his ex-husband, while on his way to the airport in a '69 Mustang.
• The "Fight Song'' by Rachel Platten has her take her '71 Mustang through the streets of San Francisco in various scenarios, and across scenic roads around California.
• Rihanna in "Shut Up and Drive" shows a blue Mustang Mach 1 having a drag race against an orange Škoda sleeper. We don't get to see the results in the end.
• "Dakota by Stereophonics shows how this music video is truly 100% American. As this shows the band go on a road trip around South Dakota in their red classic '66 Mustang convertible.
• The song "Mustang Sally", first recorded by Wilson Pickett in 1966 and covered by many other artists since, is about a man who buys a Mustang for his girlfriend, Sally, who ends up preferring the car over him. It has been described by one cultural historian as "free advertising for the Ford Motor Company."

Video Games

• There are 3 different types of Mustangs in Blur which all are fith-gen models; a Shelby GT500 which is one of the 10 Legendary cars, an improbably cool Mustang GT-R Concept, but mostly Khan's Stallion Mustang, the one tuned by Chip Foose.
• Some of the noteworthy examples in the Burnout series: the Muscle Type 1/Custom Muscle and the Factory Muscle/Tuned Muscle in 3: Takedown and Dominator respectively are all based on Mustangs.
• There are four different Mustangs offered in Driver: San Francisco: a fifth-gen cabrio, the classic fastback and Mach 1, but mostly the Shelby GT500 where it plays a vital part of John Tanner's missions.
• The Kimberlite S series of Far Cry 5 are all based-off fourth-gen Mustangs, where there is an Eagleland livery variant available.
  Many argue that this modern day reboot of a classic muscle car is better. Kids today...
• The cover car of FlatOut 2 is the Shelby GT500-esque Road King, drivenby Sally Taylor for Street class.
• The racing video game Ford Mustang: The Legend Lives, released in 2005, features only Mustangs.
• Ford Racing is nothing without Ford Mustangs. In fact, the franchise as a whole features almost its entire Mustang fleet, ranging from Boss 302/429, Mach 1, SVT Cobra R and FR500, the GT-R Concept and the Shelby GT500.
• Mustangs are extremely ubiquitous in Forza. Be prepared to see at least ten different variants.
• At least one iteration of the Mustang has appeared in every main Gran Turismo game to date since 2, including the special models from either Saleen or Shelby. In Sport and 7, the sixth-gen Mustang serves as Ford's basis for a Gr. 4, Gr. 3 and Gr. B car.
• Grand Theft Auto V and Online add a whole slew of Mustang parodies, most of which are called the Vapid Dominator. The only exceptions are Ellie, which is based on "Eleanor", and the Uranus from Grand Theft Auto IV which is based on the third-generation model.
• A Cheat Code allows you to drive the Ford Mustang-esque pace car in Sega's arcade racing game Indy 500, the same Ford Mustang pace car that was used in the Indianapolis 500 in 1994.
• Ellis Robinson's dream car in Mafia III is the Berkley Stallion, a Ford Mustang Mach I, obtained via Family Kick-Back Pack DLC.
• Mustangs became prominent when it debuted in Midnight Club: Los Angeles. In fact, you get three variants: A Boss 302 Mustang, a fifth-gen GT convertible and finally the almighty Saleen S302 Extreme, the game cover car.
  • Prior to that since it's implied that Ford didn't allow cars to be in dangerous street racing at that time, a perfect substitute for that is the Saleen SR, a tuned 2000 Ford Mustang. And the most expensive Tuner-class car, too.
• Need for Speed features the all-American pony car in almost all of their games.
  • Technically, the first game where it appeared was the original The Need for Speed, as while there was no Mustang among the six playable cars available, the police car in the game was a third-generation Ford Mustang SSP (Special Service Package).
  • Since Need for Speed II is full of improbably cool concept cars, the Special Edition add this concept Ford Mustang Mach III in the line up.
  • Hot Pursuit 2 features the fourth-generation SVT Cobra. ProStreet is the only other game in the series to feature the fourth-generation Mustang (in its vanilla version).
  • The fifth-generation Mustang would make its debut in Underground 2. Some noteworthy appearances in games of the era include:
    • In Underground 2 itself, a Gen. 5 Mustang is driven by Nikki Morris, member of The Wraiths.
    • Most Wanted (2005) gets a lot of mileage out of the car: Razor's black Mustang emblazoned with flame vinyls is almost as iconic as the player's BMW M3 GTR (with which he would replace it after winning it from the player in the prologue via cheating) and likewise would make appearances in other games of the saga afterwards; Blacklist #8 Jade "Jewels" Barrett would make use of a Mustang, and in the PS2 demo of the game, Rog drives a Mustang (in the released game he drives a 2005 Pontiac GTO).
    • In Carbon, if the player chooses a Muscle career path, your crewmate Neville will drive a Mustang as a Tier 2 car. Also in the same path, both Neville and Sal will drive the 1967 Shelby GT500 for Tier 3. Plus, you also get the modernized 2007 Shelby GT500 as an unlockable car.
    • In ProStreet, Drag King Karol Monroe drives a white Mustang GT with a black livery.
  • In Undercover, Carmen Mendez uses a classic 1967 Shelby GT500. The same car wouldd also be used by Luis in Nitro for the Silver Cup.
  • The 1967-68 Fastback version of the first-generation Mustang is a particular case in that it has appeared in three games of the saga, all of them for portable releases: Underground Rivals, Carbon - Own the City, and the PSP version of Undercover.
  • Shift had the Falken Tire Ford Mustang, which counts too. Vaughn Gittin, Jr., a Mustang afficionado drives both the Monster Energy/Falken Tire Mustang and his customized RTR-X in the sequel.
  • Ford Shelby GT500s appear as the car used for the SCPD's roadblocks in Hot Pursuit (2010). Also in Nitro, Ford Shelby GT500s are the high end police cars used during A-Class races.
  • The sixth-generation Mustang would be introduced in Rivals, in time to coincide with it also appearing in the movie.
  • Need for Speed (2015) would see the debut of both the first-gen (in its "1964½"–1966 design) and third-gen Mustang (in the latter's case as a playable car, after its "cameo" in the original The Need for Speed). The player is able to drive a black third-gen Mustang in the first mission event of the game, and once upon joining Travis' crew, their car must be swapped with one of three starter cars — although one of them is a red third-gen Mustang nonetheless. In addition, the game also features Ken Block's "Hoonicorn", a modified first-gen Mustang, which the player can obtain for free after completing all the Style missions.
  • The Runner car in Payback, is a silver sixth-gen Mustang with green and black stripes, used to chase down a hauler containing Marcus's Koenigsegg Regera and retrieve it back. There there's also the 1965 Mustang that returned from the 2015 reboot, seen in the hands of Riot Club's Big Sister. The car itself is one of the five derelict cars.
  • In Unbound, one of the rivals, a mouthy Indian named Maya uses a Composition II-themed 2015 Mustang GT.
• Overtake: The Elite Challenge offers 2 different Mustangs; a facelifted fifth generation, and the "Eleanor-esque" Mustang GT.
• Mustangs in Project Gotham Racing:
  • 2 has both the classic Mustang Fastback 2+2 and the 4th-gen SVT Mustang Cobra, both in the same American muscle category. Both have its fare share when it comes to high-acceleration. The former returns in 4, being notable as a heavy-drifting car.
  • Since 3 is an emphasis on supercars, it adds this Mustang GT-R Concept which make it an extreme track toy. The 4th-gen SVT Cobra returns from 2, with the then-new Shelby GT500 joining the Mustang fleet.
• While the Mustang GT is already a playable car in R-Tuned Ultimate Street Racing, you have this masked dude named Bank rolling in his classic 1967 Mustang. Sorry, you can't drive his car.
• A fourth-generation Mustang-esque car could be seen in beta footage of San Francisco Rush, but it wasn't until Rush 2 where it was drivable.
• Vinnie from Sift Heads always seems to have one. He has been fascinated with the Shelby Mustang GT500 Eleanor for a very long time, which is his personal Cool Car, nonetheless.
• Mustangs are quite extreme to see in the Test Drive series, to the point that the fifth game has nothing but Mustangs in the brand. And most of the time, they serve as cop cars as well.
  • It no surpise that the pony car would show up in Test Drive Unlimited. Some notable ones would be the Improbably Cool Car, the Mustang GT-R Concept that's way to hot to drive on public roads, and a custom pink Mustang Fastback that is driven by Miami Harris in the sequel, Covered in Kisses.
• Tokyo Xtreme Racer: The Mustang Mach I makes its first and only appearance in 3, driven by a wide variety of opponents: the only way for players to unlock it, however, is to defeat Home Run's leader, Hoshino Yamato, who drives a lime yellow one imported from the United States.
• Wreckfest has the WildKing, a true American icon with lots of muscle that's based off the 1971 Ford Mustang Mach 1. Only via Rewards Pass.

Western Animation

• As mentioned above regarding Archie Comics, it would later be prominent in the animated series Archie's Weird Mysteries where Archie's car, a Mustang cabrio (or "Betsy" as he calls it) is the star of the episode "Driven to Distraction" (where the car goes sentient because of a pair of mysterious fluffy dice.)
• In one episode The Cleveland Show, 5-year Rallo buys himself a classic Mustang off the internet and goes out joyriding.
• During the start of "Coma Guy" of Family Guy, Peter is being challenged to a drag race by Ernie the Chicken, who is in his classic blue Mustang, that would set up the plot of the episode.
• There're plenty of Mustang Expies to find in The Simpsons.

Ford Taurus

"How can it go away? It's the best selling car in America."

— Then-newly-hired Ford CEO Alan Mulally, on the news of the car's (first) discontinuation

The Ford Taurus is an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company from 1986 to 2019. Introduced in late 1985 for the 1986 model year, over 34 years six generations would be produced, with a brief hiatus between 2006 and 2007. From 1986 to 2009, the Taurus was sold alongside its near-twin, the Mercury Sable; a high-performance version, the Ford Taurus SHO, would also be produced for four generations (1989–1999; 2010–2019). The Taurus also served as the basis for the first-ever front-wheel-drive Lincoln Continental (1988–2002).

The original Taurus is considered a milestone for Ford and the entire American automotive industry, being the first automobile at Ford designed and manufactured using the statistical process control ideas brought to Ford by W. Edwards Deming, a prominent statistician consulted by Ford to bring a "culture of quality" to the enterprise.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, sales of the Taurus declined, due to losing market share to Japanese mid-size sedans and Ford shifting resources away towards developing SUVs. Eventually it was announced that the Taurus would be withdrawn after the 2007 model year after production ended on October 2006; as part of a model line revision, the Taurus and the larger Ford Crown Victoria would be replaced with the full-size Five Hundred and mid-size Fusion sedans. During the 2007 Chicago Auto Show however, the nameplates of the Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable were revived, intended as 2008 mid-cycle revisions of the Ford Five Hundred. A sixth-generation Taurus would be introduced in 2010, marking a more substantial model update, alongside the revival of the Taurus SHO; in 2013, the Ford Police Interceptor Sedan, based on the sixth-generation Taurus, was introduced as a successor for its long-running Crown Victoria counterpart.

From 1985 to 2007, the Taurus was a mid-size car that offered front-wheel drive, before becoming a full-size car in 2007, offering front- or all-wheel drive. The Taurus was produced as a four-door sedan through its entire production, with a five-door station wagon offered from 1986 to 2005.

From its 1985 launch to its initial withdrawal following the 2007 model year, Ford assembled over 7,5 million examples of the Taurus. The fifth best-selling Ford nameplate in North America, the Taurus has been surpassed only by the F-Series, Escort, Model T, and Mustang. Between 1992 and 1996, the Taurus was the best-selling car nameplate in the United States, overtaken by the current title holder in 1997, the Toyota Camry.

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Anime and Manga

• In episode 8 of Phantom Requiem For The Phantom, Zwei uses this car as means of transportation to search for the whereabouts of Ein.

Film — Live Action

• A Ford Police Interceptor is Lieutenant James Gordon's transportation in The Batman (2022).
• This is the rental car used by Don Johnston of Broken Flowers, use to seek out the mother of their child of whom he was previously unaware.
  Don: Winston, couldn’t you have rented the kind of car I’d normally drive? I’m a stalker in a Taurus.
• Phil Simpson's station wagon he drives in Child's Play 2 is a red 1986 Ford Taurus.
• Flirting with Disaster has the Taurus vis-a-vis the contemporary cultural zeitgeist with the Coplin couple:
  Nancy: Does anybody even actually own a white Taurus, or are they all just rentals?
  Mel: Are you kidding me? This is the most reliable mid-size in America, according to all the big reports.
• Mrs. Pruitt frequently uses her silver Taurus station wagon in Home Alone 3.
• Greg Focker and his fiancé in Meet the Parents rented a green Ford Taurus, where he intentionally beats the car so he can assure rental insurance. That green paint job is something for some reason...
  Jack: Interesting colour, did you pick it?
  Greg: Uh no, the guy at the counter did, why?
  Jack: Well, they say geniuses pick green. But you didn't pick it.
• The precious Ford Taurus is the frat boys' car used for that whole Road Trip. It jumped a Broken Bridge, causing the wheels to fall off, and for some reason... it explodes.
• The trademark Cool Car that cyborg law enforcer RoboCop drives is that matte-black first-gen Ford Taurus police car, owned by the OCP and fitted with futuristic tech, built and ready to serve the public trust, protect the innocent, uphold the law.
• This fun-to-drive sleeper sedan is the real star of The Santa Clause, a silver Ford Taurus SHO driven by Tim Allen's character who plays the titular Santa Claus.
• For the titular climactic Talladega 500, the titular Ricky Bobby of Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby uses a #62 ME Ford Taurus stock car Which he deliberate Car Fu into Cal Naughton Jr. and cause a massive pileup or as we call in NASCAR terminology, "The Big One".
• The Truman Show has the titular Truman's Ford Taurus that keeps on changing various trims per scene!

Live-Action TV

• The Ford Police Interceptor has been widely used by American Law Enforcement in many Police Procedural shows like CSI, NCIS, Blue Bloods, Chicago P.D., Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and White Collar.
• In Better Call Saul, Jimmy McGill rents a Taurus following the destruction of his previous car. Kim Wexler isn't impressed, and persuades him to swap it for his iconic Cadillac Sedan de Ville because the Cadillac is a much flashier car more befitting the image of Saul's office as a "cathedral of justice".
  Kim: So, Saul Goodman drives a brown Ford Taurus?
  Jimmy: Detroit calls that taupe, I believe.
  Kim: Don't you think Saul Goodman would drive something with a little more... flair?
• The "Xandermobile" as named after Xander Harris is this Ford used in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
• D.J.'s Driving Test in Full House went just plain wrong, when she's drives the Ford Taurus too cautiously.
• Show Me a Hero replicates the life of Nick Wasicsko, including his car.
• The NASCAR episode of Walker, Texas Ranger uses the yellow Taurus stock car for the Cherokee Indian racing team.

Video Games

• While Tauruses are regularly common in real life, Driver: San Francisco uses the top of the range performance Taurus SHO instead, widely seen around the city in the hands of civilians.
• The Taurus stock car from Ford Racing is the stock car of its own. In 2, it is tiered in 4 different class categories ranging from D to A, and each tier higher has cooler livery designs.
• Forza Motorsport 3 and 4 feature this playable AWD sedan from Ford before it was demoted to a traffic car in Horizon.
• One of the police cruisers used by the LSPD in Grand Theft Auto V is based on a Taurus.
• How can an ordinary Ford Taurus SHO be well-recognized in Gran Turismo 2? Its racing modification, which turns it into a NASCAR stock car.
• Introduced in Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (2010) add this Police Interceptor Concept, as exclusive to the SCPD police, obviously. It's a cool concept police car based on the Taurus platform.
  • It be made ubiquitous in Need for Speed: The Run where the Interceptor is widely used by cops everywhere across the United States. During the long run in Chicago, Jack Rourke subdues a police officer and steals an Interceptor to escape the city whilst getting rid of the Mob's Hellish Copter. It gets totaled when the car lands upside-down on the railway, and Jack is desperate to flee from an oncoming train.
• "The everyday American sedan" of Watch_Dogs and Watch_Dogs 2 has this Taurus-based Cavale. It's widely used by police and taxis in Chicago and San Francisco respectively as the Cruiser. Rapid Cap is the sole owner of this.

Ford Thunderbird

"The Smith Thunderbolt; the stylish man's car of choice. With its finely tuned, dual overhead cam, American-made engine, and plush leather interior, you'll not only be thrown in the back of your seat when you hit the gas pedal. You'll never want to get out of it!"

—Radio advertisement for the Smith Thunderbolt, Mafia II

Before the Mustang became Ford's icon, there was a luxury sports car that rose to prominence and having a long, beautiful and rich history. That is the Ford Thunderbird.

The Thunderbird (or informally the T-Bird) entered production in 1955 as a response to Chevrolet's new sports car, the Corvette. It weighs about 2,525 pounds and fitted with Ford's Interceptor V-8 engine capable of reaching a top speed of over 100 mph (which is very fast for its time).

Thanks to its futuristic design, the Thunderbird became a popular upscale sports car of its time despite Ford not marketing it as a "sports car", instead, it's the first to define the new category of a "personal luxury car". Some notable examples are being the pace car during the 1961 Indianapolis 500, being the featured car of then-US president John F. Kennedy in his inaugural parade and it also rose to stardom in NASCAR, famously used by Bobby Allison and Bill Elliott.

Later models, such as the fifth generation in 1967 would be the basis of the Lincoln Continental, whereas the 1977 seventh-generation shares the same chassis as the Mercury Cougar. Ford downsized its bodyframe in 1980 in response of the fuel efficiency trend and emissions compliance, to the point the Thunderbird loses its luster. The personal luxury car took a break and stopped production for a while in 1997, until it was resurrected 5 years later in time for the car's 50th Milestone Celebration. This time, it's a retro-styled sports car based on the original 1957 design.

The Thunderbird ended production for good in 2005.

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Film — Animation

• A member of the Scorchers team in Hot Wheels: World Race named Everest, is the driver of a 1957 Ford Thunderbird. Not much is known about this T-Bird, however, it does come equipped with a Lava Plow, and the abilitiy to reach a top speed of 300mph.

Film — Live Action

• The mysterious blonde in the white '56 T-Bird (Suzanne Somers) in American Graffiti. Curt is instantly smitten.
• Back to the Beach uses the 1960 T-Bird as the main character's vacation car. Even the film's poster features this sweet ride.◊
• Everybody Owns a Ford in The Cat in the Hat, and a great example to show it is Larry Quinn's Inspiration Yellow 2002 T-Bird.
• The Macabremobile in Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1988) is basically a black custom Gothic-themed 1959 Ford Thunderbird that's too ethereal to drive.
• The Elvis Presley film Follow That Dream features Joanna Moore's character driving a red '61 T-Bird. Another Elvis film, It Happened at the World's Fair, would also feature the car, but it would end up being Demoted to Extra.
• When Professor Brainard of Flubber needs a car to use as his flubber-powered flying test-bed, he uses his own 1963 Ford Thunderbird.
• Jade has Corelli chase down an unknown assailant driving a black Ford Thunderbird, where it hit-and-ran Patrice, plows through the Chinatown parade... and t-boning Corelli into the ocean bay.
• Despite its association with Britain, James Bond managed to sneak in some good examples of the American classic personal luxury car:
  • Goldfinger is a James Bond movie where Everybody Owns a Ford. And one of them is CIA Agent Felix Leighter's '64 Thunderbird, used to give chase to Oddjob and Mr. Solo.
  • In Die Another Day, Halle Berry's character Jinx drives a coral red 2002 11th-gen Thunderbird in one scene. Ford actually produced a limited James Bond Edition of the Thunderbird as part of the film's promotion.
• Murderers' Row (1966): A gilded '66 Town Landau with lots of gizmos fitted belonged to Dean Martin's character. ...and can even print messages using its taillights.
• The 1983 film adaptation The Outsiders has one of the Greaser Delinquents popularize the T-Bird slang, and that is the Cool Car of Dallas "Dally" Winston.
• If there is something iconic about this beautiful personal luxury car, then look no further with the iconic Cool Car of Thelma & Louise; it's their fabled convertible 1966 Ford Thunderbird, used to embarks on their adventurous road trip. It's the car that proved to many as an absolute luxury and a car representing true American freedom. The car would be fully centralized in the story where the duo ultimately became wanted fugitives.
• Thunderbirds features the FAB-1◊, which is based on uhh... the Thunderbird. It's no Rolls-Royce per se by its looks, but this Cool Car can fly and turn into a boar.
• Nicolas Cage's character goes full-on Wild at Heart with his slick hot ride, Elvis Presley-style, with a black 1965 T-Bird for the road.

Live-Action TV

• The attractive 'Woman Speeder' Elizabeth Crowley is the driver behind the Thunderbird in The Andy Griffith Show, where the titular character issues her a speeding ticket.
• The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour episode "Lucy Hunts for Uranium" has guest star Fred MacMurray driving one, which the car itself is still fairly new when that episode was broadcasted in 1958. It's justified that the episode was sponsored by Ford at that time, promoting the said car.
• A black '64 T-Bird in Highlander would be the protagonist Duncan MacLeon's main choice of transportation.
• The Thunderbird was just brand new at that time, which benefitted in Product Placement. And this beloved and memorable Detective Drama of the late 50's, 77 Sunset Strip features this trendy sporty car, usually seen in the hands of detective Stuart Bailey.
• This is one of Paul Drakes cars, used in several episodes of Perry Mason.
• Dan Tanna's beautiful red Thunderbird in Vega$ (1978). The beautiful Ford was so popular at its time, that the portrayer Robert Urich remarked all about it.
  “That car got more fan mail than I did!”

Music

• Madonna in "True Blue" sports a 1957 Ford Thunderbird convertible with her girlfriends in the back, befitting The '50s vibes.
• The album cover of Nickelback's "All The Right Reasons◊" shows an image of a black 1960 Ford Thunderbird speeding on the open road.
• S Club 7's 1999 music video "S Club Party" traveled back 40 years, recreating the famous race in Grease, between two convertibles... a 1959 Thunderbird racing a 1955 Chevy Bel Air.

Video Games

• Any NASCAR video game that involves the Thunderbird would count.
  • The "insanely-fast, but hard-to-control" Hard Level Car in Daytona USA 2 is a clear derivative of the Ford Thunderbird stock car that competed in NASCAR in 1998.
  • The Tombstone bonus car in the Updated Re Release of Need for Speed II has a strong resemblance to the 1996 Thunderbird NASCAR.
• The Allegedly Free Game CSR Classics features the Thunderbird as one of the most premium Tier 1 cars. It's "best" as it looks as it is driven be The Leader of the Authentics, Marco Cerulli.
• John Tanner can drive this classic sports car in the PC release of Driver.
• The Ford Racing series, where the Thunderbird in various generations plays its part in the Ford collection lineup.
• Forza Motorsport 4 is the only game where the Thunderbird shows up.
• The Peyote in Grand Theft Auto IV is based on the first-generation Thunderbird, while the Fortune is based on the tenth-generation model.
• The two unnamed gunmen ^note The unnamed gunmen were revealed to be Vito Scaletta and Joe Barbaro in Mafia II and Mafia: Definitive Edition in Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven are seen pulling up to Tommy Angelo's house in a red Bolt Thrower,^note Smith Moray in the Definitive Edition a Cool Car based on the 1955 Ford Thunderbird, ready for the latter to meet his fate.
  • The scene was recreated Mafia II mission "Stairway to Heaven", but this time the car Vito and Joe were using is named the Smith Thunderbolt. And the Thunderbolt itself is cool enough that its given a radio advert, stated in the quote above.
    Vito: Hey, what's with the fancy wheels?
    Joe: Eddie gave it to us just for this job. Nice, huh?
    • In "The Betrayal of Jimmy", the mission aptly named the "Smith Thunderbolt Theft" prompts Jimmy to hijack the aforementioned car and deliver it to the garage in one piece.
  • In Mafia III, it's now as the Smith Moray. The first mission of the Stones Unturned DLC "Creature of Habit" has Lincoln Clay use a beautiful orange Moray to chase down a pursuing man named Chuckie, the soul survivor of the massacre.

Western Animation

• Ruth Powers's car in The Simpsons is a 1966 Thunderbird. Marge is impressed with her ride and takes it for a spin, Thelma & Louise-style. It was then revealed that it's stolen car that's actually belonged to her ex-husband.
  Ruth: Fat chance, this car’s stolen.