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SIGNAT Jaguar S-Type

This S-Type has aftermarket SIGNAT digital television and a SIGNAT 10-disc DVD player installed. The SIGNAT monitors are mounted in the original ...

SOLD - 2000 Jaguar S-Type 45014 Fairfield Lincoln Mercury Vw

Fairfield Lincoln Mercury Vw 6065 Dixie Highway Fairfield, OH 45014 (888) 932-4734 2000 Jaguar S-Type 68083 Miles www.fairfieldautos.com VIN ...

2009 Skoda Superb

Benz E-Class, the Peugeot 607, the Alfa Romeo 166, the Renault Laguna and the Jaguar S-Type. In a test involving the Å koda Superb V6 2.8 the ...

The Thunderbird Ford should have built

Once-upon-a-time, Ford had a sophisticated lightweight aluminum-intensive rear wheel drive platform code-named DEW-98. It was the basis for the Jaguar S-Type, Lincoln LS , and Ford Thunderbird . It was also intended to be the basis for the S197 Mustang, although Ford was afraid that it would be too expensive for a lowly Mustang (instead, all we got was the wheelbase and floorpan). And then little Billy Ford , who thought he could run a corporation, went off on a jihad to kill off anything and everything that Jacques Nasser had put in place – such as this advanced platform, a smaller rear wheel drive platform for Lincoln (exactly what Cadillac is preparing to do now), a move to European Ford platforms for small cars, and lots more. We can only wonder where Ford would be now without the dark years that the ascendancy of little Billy Ford produced.

The DEW-98 platform beat Nissan’s similar FM platform ( Infiniti G , M, and FX and Nissan Z ) to market and the intention for it’s use was similarly flexible (where the luxury brands using it would keep costs down for the Mustang). With unequal-length control arms front and rear, great geometry, and heavy use of aluminum to keep weight down, the DEW-98 was planned to be the platform of the future. 

If only Ford had stayed the course – we’d have an answer for the desperately needed new Mustang platform in 2014, a new Ford of Australia Falcon, and even (in the planned upsized form) a new Lincoln Continental and Mark X. Contrast this to the unsophisticated and heavy Volvo retreads underpinning the large Ford and Lincoln offerings today. 

The Thunderbird was the sexiest use of this platform. When it was announced, all sorts of options were planned for driving enthusiasts – that is, more mature driving enthusiasts than most Ford buyers. Planned were a Brembo brakes and handling package (referred to in the Car and Driver launch article), a 6-speed manual behind the V-8, a V-6 option for entry level, and this car – a supercharged V-8 model.

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