I disagree with that
They would not do drive train changes due to emission testing
They would not do body changes due to crash testing
Most if not all the special orders were probably paint colors
If they changed anything in the drive train or on the body, it would need to be documented. Other wise if you took the car in for warrantee work the dealer would say it was not factory.
I do understand that as I stated in previous note but they did put a different rear in my car new from the factory. After I broke 3 of them they called in a Ford representative and when he put my Mach 1 on the lift and he went under he immediately said it has the wrong rear & drive shaft in it and they changed it and also to a gear ratio that was not optional.
The last few months of production got a mixture of parts for sure, Cougar wire harness, seat backs off Pinto solid plastic seats instead of comfort weave and lots of other odd things just to finish out the model and not spend money. When I showed my Mach 1 in a MCA National in Atlanta they said most of my fasteners were incorrect. That is why I never went back. I never changed the fasteners Ford did. If they ran out of a part they substituted a part that would work.
At my previous job we made the floor pan assemblies for the Aerostar van. In a random weld tear down at Ford they found bad spot welds in our assembly. There was a huge recall and we purchased every 1/8" pop rivet in the U.S. to use for the Ford approved repair of drilling holes and adding aluminum pop rivets to replace the bad welds. Probably any of us in the Forum if we found something like that would say Ford never did that but they did. We welded 4" wide patches in the rear panels on Chrown Vics to prevent scrapping the cars. The patches were hidden after assembly and sealed just like any other body panel.
Look at the 427 cars that got out that were never made. No testing whatsoever in durability, crash or emissions. They were made to make people think the 390, that was going into production, was a hot number so magazines got 427 cars to test and a few still exist.
VW would never program their computers to lie while under inspection would they. The auto world does what ever it takes to make a few more pennies and some things they do are just not good. Chrysler was just caught last week lying about production numbers asking the dealers to turn in more sales at the end of the month than they actually had and then remove them at the first of the next month. Kept them looking good sales were climbing and investors and future investors were so happy.
I personally saw Toyota weld a band-aid to the area of the car where the impact from the crash testing would hit to pass the test, size of your hand. If it hit 2 inches either way it would not pass. Good luck on your crash being in just the right spot. They all cut every corner they can to reduce cost and get by with as little as they can.
I do not think a little thing like gear ratio in a transmission would stop them from charging extra and putting one in.
The final ratio of both the close and wide ratio transmissions are the same so no change to emissions and would not change crash.
I worked with the automotive world too many years I have lots of hard feelings about how they lead the sheep down the path to slaughter. I will never buy a new Ford car or any car again. They are taking everyone's money and telling you how great they are and they beat their suppliers up everyday and get cheaper prices for all the components with yearly give backs to keep the business and go up on price instead of down.
I know for a fact that a BMW cost less than $15,000 out the door for cars they sell for in the $60's. I know Ford builds a F-150 or Mustangs for much less but look at those prices. Just don't want people to think the automotive world is straight as an arrow. Probably the most corrupt group of people in manufacturing. Glad I can type with both hands, lol.
I wish more people with Special Order cars would show up they have to be out there Marti says there are hundreds each year.
