@relton wrote:
Sorry Sajeev, but Ford wasn't first with 4 wheel antilock brakes. The 1972 Imperial offered them as an option.
That's a typo (or brain fart?) but I have corrected it to say four channel, not four wheel. And it was standard, not optional. The 1980s were a great time for technology, well at least relative to the 1970s.
Agreed on the air suspension, as they had a useable lifespan that was at least a decade, which is far longer than most owners keep them from new.
Thanks for your insight on the Riv. That makes a lot of sense!
Wow, that's good to know. They apparently last much longer in humid climates.
Hagerty did an interesting article on who was first to implement ABS: https://www.hagerty.com/media/archived/antilock-brakes/
Yeah its a lot better. Well maybe just a little better in most circumstances.
I love that you’re nerding out over this, Sajeev.
As far as why Ford didn’t do it, I agree with your assessment. Ford didn’t have the money to absorb a giant snafu if the technology turned out to be unreliable or buggy...and testing probably revealed it to be not up to snuff for production.
And besides, it’s not like GM won *anything.* The Buick Graphical Control Center (GCC) in the Buick Riviera and Reatta was poorly received and problematic...and it disappeared upon the 1990 interior refresh for both cars. The similar Oldsmobile Visual Information Center (VIC) disappeared after 1992, with the demise of the Toronado line, IIRC. Touchscreens popped up here and there as novelties in both concept and production cars, but the first cars to successfully implement them in any meaningful way were...not GM cars.
Beyond that, I say that, yeah, GM earns the dubious honor here...strictly for being first-to-production with not one, but two distinct touchscreen systems. As for the Ford Comtech units, how much did Ford actually publicize these? Do we know that the units were even remotely functional? For all we know, the engineers failed to overcome some key issue, like overheating after 40 minutes or something.
I am pretty confident that the Comtechs had a rough time in the hands of real people and Ford was like, "Screw this, we got a Taurus to deal with." Would be nice to know for sure, though.
And I love to hear that you love to read me acting like a total geek about this.
Oh, I woulda told you if I adjusted for inflation in the article. It was $3000 back in 1985.
Oh my, someone please fetch my fainting chair!
Oooh, that's a really good point. Good bragging rights for the midwestern yuppies that flocked to these Marks.
Oh wow! Yes, thank you so much for sharing this ... good thing I phrased the title of this article as a question!
These electronics were poor and have rendered most of these cars impossible to restore.
Definitely not impossible. Not easy like a Mustang with a catalog of parts at your fingertips, but absolutely not impossible. Take it from the guy who's become pretty handy around a Ford Tripminder computer.