JAGUAR IS EMBLEMATIC OF FORD MOTOR COMPANY'S PROBLEM

Guido Reinking, editor for Automobilwoche, offers pointed commentary on Ford Motor Company (R) and its "failed" stewardship of Jaguar at www.autonews.com.

In a column entitled "Acts of Desperation in Dearborn," Reinking observes "Including the purchase price, the automaker has so far sunk $10 billion into Jaguar. At today's share price, you could buy the entire Ford company for $15 billion."

That comparison puts everything into perspective.

Jaguar is a microcosm of what's wrong at FoMoCo. It has failed to keep up with the market. It has failed to adequately build upon its heritage and its essence (except perhaps with the F-Series, the Mustang and the Ford GT). It has failed to lead. It has failed to meet enough customer needs for performance, fuel economy, style, functionality and quality. It has failed, in many segments, to provide innovative, world class products at prices ordinary people can afford. It has been diluted and stripped of its vigor, being reduced to cribbing from its foreign "partners."

Yet Ford's failures profoundly transcend the Jaguar example. It has failed to tap into American nationalism as a strong force. It has failed to protect American industrial power and its own workers. It has chased thousands of jobs offshore, while its competitors continue to invest in American production resources.

Reinking, of course, gives his own litany of what "ranks among the most blatant examples of mismanagement in the history of the auto industry." On Jaguar, he concludes "It's an absolute shame what Ford has done to this great brand, with its tradition of breathtaking cars such as the E-Type and racing successes at Le Mans."

While some may find these pointed words harsh, Reinking cuts to the heart of the matter. If FoMoCo had the answers for running Jaguar, surely they would have become apparent by now.

Reinking then takes aim at William Clay Ford, Jr., saying the : "overtaxed great-grandson of Henry Ford . . . at least recognized his failure."

Reinking also backhands the critics of hiring Alan Mulally as CEO, arguing that claiming Mulally "knows nothing about cars" is meaningless because "His predecessors at Ford apparently didn't, either."

Such candid observations from an industry journalist--albeit a foreign one--undoubtedly shock the tender sensibilities of the Glass House gang, if not the whole of Old Detroit. Still given the reports in Automotive News, Reuters, and the Detroit News that FoMoCo is projected to lose as much as NINE BILLION DOLLARS this year (including losses on automotive operations of "$5.6 billion to $5.9 billion, according to a Sept. 6 internal report prepared by CFO Don Leclair's office . . . ."), it is way past time for some straight talk about the disasterous Bill Ford era.

While some may see Reinking's column as "piling on," he is to be applauded for telling it as it is. Now if the "Way Forward" could be founded on such candor, perhaps FoMoCo stake holders could more realistically anticipate "a Ford in [their] future[s]."

BRILLIANT DRAG RACING PERFORMANCES WITH FORD PRODUCTS

On a more positive note, the November 2006 issue of Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords (MMFF) reports that Erica Ortiz became the first woman in Fun Ford Weekend history to cross the SIX second and 200 m.p.h. barriers in that series’s quarter mile drag racing competition. See MMFF at 48.

Ortiz’s historic run came at the Fun Ford Weekend event in Norwalk, Ohio, where her 1986 Ford Thunderbird ran a 6.88 second elapsed time at 205.9 m.p.h.

Her Thunderbird featured a Al Moody-built "STOCK [BLOCK] 460" enlarged to 498 cubic inches, FRPP Super Cobra Jet heads and a pair of 76mm Innovative turbochargers.

FoMoCo’s support for Fun Ford Weekend, which makes efforts such as Ms. Ortiz’s historic run possible, is to be applauded.

MMFF also reported that David Wolfe’s Fox-body Mustang has run in the sevens at 197 m.p.h. in the quarter mile at Ford World Challenge 9 on DOT-approved drag radials. See MMFF at 90. Wolfe’s 3,229-pound hatchback features the full line of his own "Wolfe Race Craft" suspension components and a huge 106mm turbocharger on a 382 Windsor small block (using an aftermarket DART block and TFS "R" heads.

Both Wolfe and Ortiz represent the hundreds, if not thousands, of diehard Ford racers who are promoting Ford performance, mostly without any direct assistance from FoMoCo. Even in the light of all FoMoCo’s problems, we ought to never lose sight of the contributions that grassroots racers and hot rodders have and are making to the brand. Ford's fit of cost-cutting must not sacrifice its participation, albeit sadly limited, in supporting grassroots motorsports.