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Number: 1817
From: Marquis Grove <infosyssec@y...>
Date: Thu Dec 12, 2002  11:51 am
Subject: Re: [ASC McLaren ] Re: buy a capri....

Body:
I suspect that the decision to obscure the FORD name off the McLaren was
probably a marketing one
rather then an embarassment to affiliate the Ford name with the McLaren...

For example, if you are trying to command a top dollar for what is purported or
marketed to be a
Euro cruiser... then it only makes sense to strongly differentiate that vehicle
(the McLaren) from
its nearest relative ( the 5.0 GT ). Otherwise, even the dumbest consumer
will compare the cost
between the two similar vehicles and opt for the 'biggest bang for the buck'
model.

In order to command the premium price for the McLaren, I assume they felt they
had to make it
stand out as being something over and above a GT Mustang.

Oddly enough they allowed the FORD name plate to remain on the engine's air
intake plenum - which
I thought was rather odd. One of the first purchases I made for my McLaren
was to buy one of
those McLaren plenum plates. It makes the engine somehow seem 'a little
different' from the run
of the mill stock 5.0 engines with this little touch.

But then again, Ford did something the same with the Tomaso Pantera - in that
the Ford engine
under the hood was clearly marked up as a FORD engine - and did not try to mask
that it was a
Pantera engine etc. So I would assume the Ford marketing boyz of the day
assumed that a FORD
under the hood was a PLUS feature for marketing - whereas FORD on the body
would inhibit their
ability to fetch the premium dollar for these cars.

As for why the Capri got to have its badges on its body... I would assume that
it again was
marketing. The Capri was being flogged by the Mercury dealerships as a Euro
cruiser ( trying to
cash in on the fact that the previous models of Capri had actually originated
from Europe ). So
it would have been a negative to try to obscure or hide that aspect of the
McLaren Capri's
heritage. Possibly the Mercury marketing boyz felt that if a Euro Capri is a
PLUS, then a Euro
Capri with McLaren markings is a PLUS PLUS...

Ah the joys of trying to understand exactly what was in their little minds...

Marq

--- "Sandy Block <cigarsandy@c...>" <cigarsandy@c...> wrote:
> Yes, that is true, as it's there on my two 1990s also ~ but no place
> on the exterior. I believe the only ascMcLaren Mustang to NOT have
> it on the steering wheel was the 1987 when ordered WITHOUT speed
> control. (At least that is how it shows it in the '87 brochure.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

--- In ascmclaren@yahoogroups.com, "ascsbr <shortwalk@a...>"
> <shortwalk@a...> wrote:
> > Like others I've seen, my '89 has "Ford" on the steering
> wheel.....sr
> >
> >
> >

--- In ascmclaren@yahoogroups.com, "Sandy Block <cigarsandy@c...>"
> > <cigarsandy@c...> wrote:
> > > In very subtle ways, if you take the time to carefully examin the
> > > patient, you will notice that Mercury division "verbally"
> > > acknowledged the car as a CAPRI ~ whereas Ford Division never
> > > acknowledged that the car was a MUSTANG. Case in point.... The
> > 1986
> > > Mercury Capri Brochure shows the 1986 Mercury Capri ascMcLaren SC
> > 5.0
> > > 2-Seat Roadster on it's next-to-last page. True, it tells very
> > > little about it, but it does acknowledge its existance! The 1984
> > &
> > > 1985 units all carried the MERCURY emblem in the grille. Small,
> > but
> > > it was there.
> > > Skip over to the Mustang. Never mentioned in any Ford
> promotional
> > > literature, brochure or paperwork. Nowhere onany of the 1987-
> 1990
> > > cars does it say MUSTAND (or for that matter, FORD).
> > > When the Mercury dealer ordered a ascMcLaren Capri there was a
> > > special form to be used to order that car, between the Mercury
> > Dealer
> > > and Ford Motor Company ** AND ** another required form between
> the
> > > Mercury Dealer AND ascMcLaren! (Yes, 2 orders for the same car).
> > > However, over at Ford, beginning with 1987, all cars were order
> by
> > > ascMclaren and stockpiled. The dealer only sent one order,
> > directly
> > > to ascMcLaren, who had all of the invoice on each car from Ford,
> > and
> > > then billed the Ford Dealer, for the car, and the billing for the
> > > ascMcLaren part went out at shipping. No place on the Mustang
> > does
> > > it say FORD, or MUSTANG, either.
> > > Seems like Ford washed their hands of it after the last 1986
> > Mercury
> > > Capri version.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >

--- In ascmclaren@yahoogroups.com, "jdawg <jdawg@e...>"
> > <jdawg@e...>
> > > wrote:
> > > > seriously......they have always and still do make mustang
> > > > convertibles, they never made a factory capri(fox chassis)
> > ragtop.
> > > > so its more rare in a lot of ways. plus it looks
> > > > better...snicker.....
> > > > jdawg
> > > > just so you know
> > > > a 302 is actually a 4.9 liter
> > > > they round up, how convenient
>
> __________________________________________________
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  Replies Name/Email Yahoo! ID Date Size
1818 Re: buy a capri.... Sandy Block <cigarsandy@c...> cigarsandy Thu  12/12/2002   8 KB
1819 Re: buy a capri.... Marquis Grove InfoSysSec Thu  12/12/2002   8 KB
1830 White ASC McLaren 1989 - with 10k - did not sell on eBay Marquis Grove InfoSysSec Mon  12/16/2002   3 KB
1831 Re: White ASC McLaren 1989 - with 10k - did not sell on eBay Tom S. petedaycab Tue  12/17/2002   678 KB
1832 Re: White ASC McLaren 1989 - with 10k - did not sell on eBay Sandy Block <cigarsandy@c...> cigarsandy Tue  12/17/2002   6 KB
1833 Re: White ASC McLaren 1989 - with 10k - did not sell on eBay James Gibat-Thoroski jgibatthoroski Tue  12/17/2002   3 KB