ford sports cars 90s image
cocovan
I have heard SUV's are built using a truck chasis, while cars have a car chasis. Not sure what the difference is...
Answer
The difference is whether a vehicle uses a body-on-frame design ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body-on-frame ), or a unibody design ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monocoque ).
In a body-on-frame vehicle, most of the structural strength of the car comes (usually) from two metal rails welded together with cross-members. This is called a "ladder-frame." The body is built separately and then laid on the frame. Almost all pickup trucks and commercial trucks ever made use this design, because it offers far greater overall strength, and allows the vehicle to flex a bit. These are desirable traits in a vehicle designed to haul cargo. Also, until about the 1970s, most cars also used this design, due to the ease of placing different bodies on the same chassis.
Unibodies, also called monocoques, are a concept originally from aircraft. In a unibody, the body of the car provides all structural strength, and there is no frame holding the car together. There may be "sub frames," small frames holding together suspension and drivetrain components, but these do not give any structural support to the passenger compartment or body panels. A unibody doesn't imply that EVERY body panel is a structural member (bumpers and front fenders usually aren't....the roof and the rear quarter panels usually are), just that there is no frame. Almost every sedan, station wagon, coupe, and hatchback made in the last 30 years uses a unibody. The only exceptions in the last 15 years or so (in North America and Japan anyway) have been the Ford Panther platform cars (like the Crown Victoria, which you probably know from its use as police cars and taxis) and some sports cars which use unusual body types like a spine (some TVRs used this), or tube frames (like in NASCAR).
An SUV used to be a truck with a fully enclosed (or enclosable as in a Jeep Wrangler) passenger/cargo compartment, and usually more than just the front seats. Prior to the Jeep Cherokee XJ, I believe all SUVs WERE on truck frames. Since then there has always been the occasional unibody SUV.
When SUVs replaced station wagons and minivans in terms of popularity in the 90s, due to people being total poseurs who want to look like they're driving something TOUGH AND RUGGED, with capabilities they never use, and because they view a minivan or wagon as a sign that they aren't cool anymore because they've given their lives over to practicality and family....despite the fact that mommy trading her Family Truckster in for an Explorer transfers the uncoolness of the wagon to the SUV... Anyhow, SUVs have gotten more and more car-like. The start of that process was SUVs based on the same platforms as popular cars (the CR-V based on the Civic, the RAV-4 based on the Corolla and such.
The difference is whether a vehicle uses a body-on-frame design ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body-on-frame ), or a unibody design ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monocoque ).
In a body-on-frame vehicle, most of the structural strength of the car comes (usually) from two metal rails welded together with cross-members. This is called a "ladder-frame." The body is built separately and then laid on the frame. Almost all pickup trucks and commercial trucks ever made use this design, because it offers far greater overall strength, and allows the vehicle to flex a bit. These are desirable traits in a vehicle designed to haul cargo. Also, until about the 1970s, most cars also used this design, due to the ease of placing different bodies on the same chassis.
Unibodies, also called monocoques, are a concept originally from aircraft. In a unibody, the body of the car provides all structural strength, and there is no frame holding the car together. There may be "sub frames," small frames holding together suspension and drivetrain components, but these do not give any structural support to the passenger compartment or body panels. A unibody doesn't imply that EVERY body panel is a structural member (bumpers and front fenders usually aren't....the roof and the rear quarter panels usually are), just that there is no frame. Almost every sedan, station wagon, coupe, and hatchback made in the last 30 years uses a unibody. The only exceptions in the last 15 years or so (in North America and Japan anyway) have been the Ford Panther platform cars (like the Crown Victoria, which you probably know from its use as police cars and taxis) and some sports cars which use unusual body types like a spine (some TVRs used this), or tube frames (like in NASCAR).
An SUV used to be a truck with a fully enclosed (or enclosable as in a Jeep Wrangler) passenger/cargo compartment, and usually more than just the front seats. Prior to the Jeep Cherokee XJ, I believe all SUVs WERE on truck frames. Since then there has always been the occasional unibody SUV.
When SUVs replaced station wagons and minivans in terms of popularity in the 90s, due to people being total poseurs who want to look like they're driving something TOUGH AND RUGGED, with capabilities they never use, and because they view a minivan or wagon as a sign that they aren't cool anymore because they've given their lives over to practicality and family....despite the fact that mommy trading her Family Truckster in for an Explorer transfers the uncoolness of the wagon to the SUV... Anyhow, SUVs have gotten more and more car-like. The start of that process was SUVs based on the same platforms as popular cars (the CR-V based on the Civic, the RAV-4 based on the Corolla and such.
What would the selling price be for a 90s ford contour?
Hails
It has about 40,000 miles on it. There's nothing wrong with it. It runs great! Just want to know how much it would sell for on craiglist or somewhere else I can sell it
Answer
There was nothing inherently wrong with the Ford Contour, aka the Ford Mondeo... but they tend to have pretty abysmal resale values. Somewhere between 1992 and 2000, Ford decided Quality was "Job 2" where cars were concerned. The Contour was a rush job to market because it would have cost too much to re-engineer the ten-year-old Tempo platform. And sales stunk.
I have not seen a Contour or a Mercury Mystique (its platform twin) in years that has not been run ragged, so even if you've kept yours in peak condition, you'll be lucky to get $2k for it. It's considered basic transportation, even if it does have only 40,000 miles. If you have a Contour SVT, with the sports handling package and the 24-valve V6 engine, that is a rarer car and I might tack on an extra $500 to it.
If you want to sell it quick, price it at $2000 OBO, and put up a flyer at your local high school's community bulletin board. Parents like low-mileage midsize sedans for their kids, and the Contour would be a more luxurious alternative to an old Escort or Civic.
There was nothing inherently wrong with the Ford Contour, aka the Ford Mondeo... but they tend to have pretty abysmal resale values. Somewhere between 1992 and 2000, Ford decided Quality was "Job 2" where cars were concerned. The Contour was a rush job to market because it would have cost too much to re-engineer the ten-year-old Tempo platform. And sales stunk.
I have not seen a Contour or a Mercury Mystique (its platform twin) in years that has not been run ragged, so even if you've kept yours in peak condition, you'll be lucky to get $2k for it. It's considered basic transportation, even if it does have only 40,000 miles. If you have a Contour SVT, with the sports handling package and the 24-valve V6 engine, that is a rarer car and I might tack on an extra $500 to it.
If you want to sell it quick, price it at $2000 OBO, and put up a flyer at your local high school's community bulletin board. Parents like low-mileage midsize sedans for their kids, and the Contour would be a more luxurious alternative to an old Escort or Civic.
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