Ford Meteor (GA - 1981)
Ford Asia-Pacific, having recently taken a financial interest in the Japanese motor company Mazda, began a wholesale shift in its product strategy based on Mazda vehicles. Beginning in 1977, Ford at first introduced the Mazda B-Series based Ranger small pickup truck, and the Bongo-based Econoline Van.
The strategy was continued, replacing the European derived (and Australian built) Escort and Cortina models with Japanese designed vehicles.
Following in 1981 were the first passenger car introductions, led by the 4th generation Familia/323 based 'Laser' small car. The Laser replaced the C-segment Escort and featured FWD, uncommon in Australia at this point. The Laser also featured 3 and 5-door hatchback designed bodies (also similar to the 3rd generation European Escort). Also featuring on the Familia/323 platform was a conventional 3-box sedan named 'Meteor'. At first, the Meteor was supposed to be seen as a replacement for the larger Cortina. The Meteor stuggled to fulfill thre expectations of traditional Cortina buyers, partly due to being nearly a vehicle segment smaller, but also due to the powertrain options. The Meteor was available with a 4-cylinder engine of 1.5 litres, whereas Cortinas had featured 2.0 litre 4-cylinder and 3.3 and 4.1 litre inline six-cylinder engines, from the Falcon model. Not until the 1982 introduction of the 626/Capella based Telstar did Ford have a mid-size vehicle competitor that met the market expectations for this category of car. The Telstar too, had a space-theme related car name. Future editions of sedan and wagon, Mazda-based C-segment cars would return to the single 'Laser' nameplate.
This Lego model Ford Meteor has been designed for Flickr LUGNuts 62nd Build Challenge, - 'Space is the Place', - celebrating vehicles with Space related names. In this case, the Ford Meteor continued Ford's early 1980's phase of naming cars after space related themes. The 1981 Ford Asia-Pacific Meteor was not the first time that the Ford Motor company had used the 'Meteor' name.
Ford Meteor (GA - 1981)
Ford Asia-Pacific, having recently taken a financial interest in the Japanese motor company Mazda, began a wholesale shift in its product strategy based on Mazda vehicles. Beginning in 1977, Ford at first introduced the Mazda B-Series based Ranger small pickup truck, and the Bongo-based Econoline Van.
The strategy was continued, replacing the European derived (and Australian built) Escort and Cortina models with Japanese designed vehicles.
Following in 1981 were the first passenger car introductions, led by the 4th generation Familia/323 based 'Laser' small car. The Laser replaced the C-segment Escort and featured FWD, uncommon in Australia at this point. The Laser also featured 3 and 5-door hatchback designed bodies (also similar to the 3rd generation European Escort). Also featuring on the Familia/323 platform was a conventional 3-box sedan named 'Meteor'. At first, the Meteor was supposed to be seen as a replacement for the larger Cortina. The Meteor stuggled to fulfill thre expectations of traditional Cortina buyers, partly due to being nearly a vehicle segment smaller, but also due to the powertrain options. The Meteor was available with a 4-cylinder engine of 1.5 litres, whereas Cortinas had featured 2.0 litre 4-cylinder and 3.3 and 4.1 litre inline six-cylinder engines, from the Falcon model. Not until the 1982 introduction of the 626/Capella based Telstar did Ford have a mid-size vehicle competitor that met the market expectations for this category of car. The Telstar too, had a space-theme related car name. Future editions of sedan and wagon, Mazda-based C-segment cars would return to the single 'Laser' nameplate.
This Lego model Ford Meteor has been designed for Flickr LUGNuts 62nd Build Challenge, - 'Space is the Place', - celebrating vehicles with Space related names. In this case, the Ford Meteor continued Ford's early 1980's phase of naming cars after space related themes. The 1981 Ford Asia-Pacific Meteor was not the first time that the Ford Motor company had used the 'Meteor' name.