Posted by bandi Maaaaahhhhzda (Also the Ford Festiva and Ford Aspire are Kias)

Yup...at the time Mazda only had one thing going with Ford...the Courier.

Posted by Agent Skelly Yup...at the time Mazda only had one thing going with Ford...the Courier.

wikipedia is so nice:

Partnership with Ford Motor Company Mazda's financial turmoil and decline during the 1960s resulted in a new corporate investor, Ford Motor Company. Starting in 1979 with a 7-percent financial stake, Ford began a partnership with Mazda resulting in various joint projects. During the 1980s, Ford gained another 20-percent financial stake. These included large and small efforts in all areas of the automotive landscape. This was most notable in the realm of pickup trucks (like the Mazda B-Series, which spawned a Ford Courier variant in North America) and smaller cars. For instance, Mazda's Familia platform was used for Ford models like the Laser and Escort, while the Capella architecture found its way into Ford's Telstar sedan and Probe sports models. In 2002 Ford gained an extra 5-percent financial stake. The Probe was built in a new Mazda assembly plant in Flat Rock, Michigan along with the mainstream 626 sedan (the North American version of the Capella) and a companion Mazda MX-6 sports coupe. (The plant is now a Ford-Mazda joint venture known as AutoAlliance International.) Ford has also lent Mazda some of their capacity when needed: the Mazda 121 sold in Europe and South Africa was, for a time, a variant of the Ford Fiesta built in plants in Europe and South Africa. Mazda has also made an effort in the past to sell some of Ford's cars in Japan, mainly through their Autorama dealer group. The Ford Probe was made popular by Steven Bowers in the television show "The Wrong One".[citation needed] Mazda also helped Ford develop the 1991 Explorer, which Mazda sold as the 2-door only Mazda Navajo from 1991 through 1994. Ironically, Mazda's version was unsuccessful, while the Ford (available from the start as a 4-door or 2-door model) instantly became the best selling sport-utility vehicle in the United States and kept that title for over a decade. Mazda has used Ford's Ranger pickup as the basis for its North American–market B-Series trucks, starting in 1994 and continuing through 2009, when Mazda discontinued their B-Series trucks.[5] Mazda Millenia Following their long-held fascination with alternative engine technology, Mazda introduced the first Miller cycle engine for automotive use in the Millenia luxury sedan of 1995. Though the Millenia (and its Miller-type V6 engine) were discontinued in 2002, the company has recently introduced a much smaller Miller-cycle four-cylinder engine for use in their Demio starting in 2008. As with their leadership in Wankel technology, Mazda remains (so far) the only automaker to have used a Miller-cycle engine in the automotive realm. Mazda 3

Posted by bandi Incorrect. http://2.bp.blogsp.../reliant+wagon.jpg

I rocked one of them for a few months. Typical 2.2... it took a quart a day!

From the Wikipedia, article "Winnebago Industries Inc." (NYSE: WGO), is a manufacturer of motor homes, a type of recreational vehicle or RV, in the United States. It is based in Forest City, Iowa.

"Winnebago vehicles in popular culture...

...Winnebago Man is a 2010 documentary feature film about Jack Rebney, an RV salesman, whose profane outtakes from a 1989 Itasca Sunflyer sales video circulated underground on VHS tape, until Internet users turned the clip into a viral sensation."

Posted by Samurai wikipedia is so nice:

Um ok...but Ford at the time had the Courier going on with Ford even per Wikipedia.

Oh, I just thought of Ford's OTHER Minivan, the Mercury Villager which was a rebadged Nissan Quest!

Posted by Agent Skelly Um ok...but Ford at the time had the Courier going on with Ford even per Wikipedia. Oh, I just thought of Ford's OTHER Minivan, the Mercury Villager which was a rebadged Nissan Quest!

i had already mentioned that one.

Posted by Samurai i had already mentioned that one.

D'Oh!

Another tidbit I remember hearing from actually a retired shop steward at Jefferson Assembly. Iaccola he told his secretary he was "going to grab a Coke from the vending machine" She thought this was odd as Iaccola had a mini-fridge, but whatever. Turns out he drove over to Jefferson Avenue Assembly where the K-Cars were being made just to do go walk and talk with assembly line workers. He returned 2 hours later to his office with a Diet Pepsi instead.