The Ford Five Hundred is a full-size four-door, five-passenger, front-engine front- or all-wheel drive, high-roof sedan manufactured in Chicago and marketed in North America and Mexico by Ford in a single generation for the 2005 to 2007 model years.
The Five Hundred was a direct byproduct of Ford's rapid acquisition of numerous brands (e.g., Volvo Cars in 1999), a critical need to leverage those investments, the company's dwindling market share (18.3% in 2004, 17.4% in 2005), and its Way Forward efforts to restructure itself. Notably, with a strong market shift in automotive tastes away from sedans to minivans and SUV/CUVs, Ford made a concerted effort with the Five Hundred to rethink the traditional sedan/wagon formula.
Presented as a single concept drawing at the 2002 New York Auto Show, the Five Hundred was formally presented in production form at the 2004 North American International Auto Show along with its co-developed platform-mates, the Mercury Montego and the crossover Ford Freestyle — the so called Chicago D3's, for the plant where they were manufactured (Chicago Assembly) and the platform they shared, the D3 platform, a revised variant of Volvo's P2 platform.
Ford chose to continue its fourth generation Taurus, critical to the company's fleet sales (to large corporations, small businesses, rental car firms, utility companies, and government agencies) and overlap that production with the Five Hundred, emphasizing the latter's optional all-wheel drive, continuously variable transmission, extensive safety features, large interior volume, and high H-point seating, the latter marketed as Command View seating.
Internally designated the D258 model, the Five Hundred was styled by George Bucher, Chief Designer, under the direction of Ford Vice President of Design, J Mays who gave the Five Hundred its name, recalling the "500" suffix Ford had used to designate a model's top trim level, as with the Galaxie "500".
The Five Hundred's 203hp engine and unassuming styling became points of criticism, and sales fell markedly short of company projections — requiring substantive discounts by its second model year. The Five Hundred was quickly but lightly facelifted and given a new nameplate for the 2008 and 2009 model years, becoming the fifth generation Ford Taurus.
Having entered production on July 12, 2004 and gone on sale in September 2004, the Five Hundred reached 65% of its projected annual sales of 120,000 — or total domestic sales of 241,000 over three model years. The Five Hundred nameplate continued in use outside North America.
Background As part of the 1999 acquisition of Volvo Cars and its addition to Premier Automotive Group, Ford Motor Company expanded on its vehicle safety technology capabilities and began development of a 4th generation (D186) Taurus replacement.
In the year 2000, Ford presented the Prodigy concept, a 72 MPG diesel-electric hybrid designed as part of the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles. The Prodigy influenced the exterior styling of the Five Hundred as well as the horizontal "three-bar" grille which subsequently became a Ford styling theme.
Advertising Ford introduced the Five Hundred using the tagline "Elevating the Sedan," reflecting the car's unique selling proposition, its overall height and elevated seating, marketed as Command View Seating.
According to the Chicago Tribune, during the Chicago press launch of the Five Hundred (and the Freestyle) in the summer of 2004, Ford had contacted the city to get permission for a sidewalk advertising campaign along six blocks of the city's prominent Magnificent Mile, with 50 to 60 signs on each side of the street — to reach press journalists as they walked between the launch venues. The city claimed Ford never received that permission, and Ford said the city had given verbal permission in a voice mail. In the meantime, Ford had preceded with a guerrilla "ad mat" campaign, featuring Chicago slang terminology, including mock Chicago phrases, e.g., "Da Comfort" and "Da Style."
Design
Noted for its minimalist exterior styling, the "strong graphic simplicity" of its interior design, tall interior cabin, high H-point seating and prominent greenhouse recalling the Volkswagen Passat (1997–2005) and Audi A6 (1997–2004), the Five Hundred was designed by George Bucher, Chief Designer, under the direction of Ford Vice President of Design, J Mays, who'd previously designed both for Passat and Audi while with the Volkswagen Group. Ford vice president Phil Martens noted that at a time when the industry was trying to design car-based crossovers, the Five Hundred was the first crossover-based car.
Platform and safety The Five Hundred used the Ford D3 platform shared with the Mercury Montego and Ford Freestyle. An evolution of the Volvo P2 platform (used in the Volvo S80), the D3 platform marked the shift to front-wheel drive in full-size Ford sedans; an electro-hydraulic Haldex all-wheel drive system (based on that used on the Volvo S80 and XC90) was optional in all versions of the Five Hundred or Mercury Montego.
The Five Hundred used a 203 hp 3.0L Duratec V6 engine, originally developed with Porsche, its head using the Cosworth casting method. Transmissions included a 6-speed Aisin automatic transmission for front drive models or a ZF CVT for AWD models, the latter a first for a US domestic automaker.
Incorporating independent suspensions front and rear, the Five hundred used MacPherson strut front suspension and a multi-link rear axle with coilover shocks — along with front and rear stabilizer bars and four-wheel anti-lock disc brakes (12.5-inch front, 13-inch rear).
In addition to adapting the P2 platform and its Haldex AWD to the Five Hundred, Volvo engineers incorporated numerous Volvo safety innovations. Front seats sit on a hydroformed cross-car steel beam between the B-pillars (directly below an identical beam above the B-pillars), complemented by reinforced roof crossmember — marketed by Ford as SPACE architecture (Side Protection and Cabin Enhancement), an adaptation of Volvo's Side Impact Protection System (SIPS), channeling impact forces around the passenger compartment. Front frame rails were redesigned to better absorb impact forces. Volvo co-engineered the collapsible steering column and roof-mounted airbags. With standard dual front airbags, the Five Hundred was available with an optional safety package that included both side airbags and curtain airbags. The Five Hundred received both a five-star rating for front- and side-impact performance in government testing, as well as a "Best Pick" rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety for frontal crash performance.
Packaging
A major strategy behind the design of the Five Hundred, described by Ford as a "high-package" strategy, combines the interior roominess of a large car and retains the exterior proportions, maneuverability, and fuel-economy benefits of a mid-size car. The Five Hundred's driving position, marketed as command seating derives from a major selling point of minivans and SUVs buyers: its raised greenhouse allowing an elevated "H-point"and a more "upright" front seating position, and three and half feet of rear leg room.
A distinguishing feature of the Five Hundred is its 61.5" overall height — over 5 inches taller than the Ford Taurus marketed alongside it. The high-roof design allowed an elevated H-point (hip point). As with the first-generation Ford Focus, the seats of the Five Hundred were positioned relatively high off the floor, providing an upright seating position for improved visibility, access, egress and driver confidence. The rear seat was positioned higher than the front seats. 60/40 folding rear seat supplemented the 21 cubic foot trunk (larger than the Lincoln Town Car). With the option of a folding front passenger seat, a Five Hundred was able to carry objects up to ten feet long inside the vehicle, with a passenger volume EPA-rated at 107.5 cu ft.
While visibility was one factor behind the higher seating position, safety was another. Derived from the Volvo Side Impact Protection System (SIPS), seating sat atop a cross-car steel beam underneath the front seats.
George Bucher, Ford's chief designer said "it was a challenge to sculpt a Ford-styled body around a Volvo chassis, and added that designers used what he calls plainer surfaces with taut lines to give the car a modern look without losing its passenger-car proportions."
Trim levels, equipment and updates At introduction, Ford marketed the Five Hundred in three graduating trim levels: SE, SEL, and Limited. An all wheel drive system was available across the range, and included self-leveling shocks. Base prices start at US$22,795 for a front-wheel drive SE and range to US$28,495 for an all-wheel drive Limited. Interior trim featured a new hydrographic system for simulated metal mesh on the SE trim and burled wood on SEL and Limited. All models received a 36,000 mile, three year warranty.
MY 2005: 2005 trim level equipment included:
SE - SE equipment included front-wheel drive; CVT transmission; cloth upholstery; six way power driver's seat with manual lumbar; delayed accessory power; power remote trunk release; folding power mirrors; power locks; power windows with one-touch up/down driver's window; cruise control with steering wheel controls, black speedometer and tachometer,tilt collapsable steering column (aligned to the driver's size and safety-belt use, two power points, front overhead console with dome light, map lights and sunglasses holder; 17" painted alloy rims; AM/FM stereo with single-CD player; body color mirrors and handles; black front grille; simulated carbon fiber interior and console trim; floor mats front and rear, eight cupholders, sliding sunvisors with illuminated vanity mirrors, air conditioning with rotary controls; illuminated entry, second-row reading lights, 60/40 split-folding rear seatbacks, compact spare tire, anti-lock brakes, Ford's proprietary engine immobilizer key passive anti-theft technology, marketed as SecuriLock; post-crash alert system and fob-operated remote keyless entry augmented by a door-mounted keypad system, marketed as Securicode, to enable tiered or time-restricted permissions, i.e., the code giving access to the vehicle but not its operation — and the code being easily changed to prevent subsequent vehicle access.
SE options included a chrome grille; traction control; and a "Safety and Security" package with front-seated mounted side air bags and two-row side curtain airbags; marketed as Safety Canopy — along with anti-theft perimeter alarm, heated side mirrors, and security approach lamps.
SEL - SEL equipment additionally included message center with trip computer, vehicle information center and compass; electrochromic auto-dim rearview center rear view mirror; heated side mirrors; fog lamps; air-conditioning ducted to the rear of the front console, perimeter security alarm; automatic headlamps; automatic temp control; chrome grille; AM/FM stereo with 6-disc in dash CD player with MP3 capability and steering wheel audio controls, eight way power front seats with manual lumbar; two way power passenger seat; fold-down passenger seat, simulated wood interior dash and console trim and an auto-dimming rear view mirror.
SEL options included CVT transmission; rear parking sensors marketed as Reverse Sensing System; power moonroof; traction control; shirred (gathered) leather seats and a safety package with side and two-row side curtain airbags.