Titanium is now the top spec for most Fords.>>
I have not looked in great detail though in std form the Titanium X is the top of the range on the new Mondeo, the Titanium looses little so is probably best value in std spec, the Ghia is the same price as the Titanium, the Titanium and Titanium X have a "premium dash" as std which is an option in the Ghia though ultimately the Ghia can be specced higher than either, full leather etc.
So perhaps the Ghia badge retains its status.
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I'd wonder if the status of the Ghia badge only now exists in the minds of people who associate it with the coachbuilder rather than just a trim level - I'd say there's been very little of the old in the new for many years, and you have to go back to before Ford acquired the name to see the real deal.
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Does Ghia have any status, it's just a trim level?
Some of us remember coachbuilder Ghia as builders of the Karmann Ghia, a coupe version of the original VW Beetle, but surely no-one associates Ford's use of the badge as a replacement designation for "E" and "GXL" models with that former un-related status?
It's just the same as using "CD" as a trim level, which has no relationship to CD plates used for Corps Diplomatique vehicles
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Does Ghia have any status it's just a trim level?
I simply meant status as in relative to the other trim levels.
Ref CD it of couse appeared when the cars were called Kadett, Senator etc and went alongside Envoy, Diplomat etc.
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Having owned a Ghia for some 4 years this saddens me. When I was a lad I remember trying to convince mum to by buy an Orion Ghia (look - its got a sunroof!), but no dice and she bought the third of 3 blue Orions 1.3L's that she owned consecutively. I always aspired to the Ghia and was very please to buy mine, fake wood, drum brakes, steel wheels and all.
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There have been quite a few "top of the range" model designations over the years - thinking back to the dizzy days of Leyland and the HL-HLS-Vanden Plas hierarchy (CD for the Acclaim, no doubt to do battle with the Cavalier)... and I remember even Chrysler-Talbot joined the party with LS, GL, GLS and the highly-coveted SX (It's got headlamp wipers and a trip computer, Dad, Cor!!!)
Whilst winning hearts and minds with the nouveau riche Ghia spec, Ford was simultaneously blitzing the UK car market with "Popular" and "Popular Plus" (i.e. cheap and nasty and plain cheap) versions of its Fiesta and Escort models. Foot-operated screenwash at the front, no heater at the back, non-reclining vinyl seats and not so much as a passenger sun visor. Manufacturers wouldn't dare pull stunts like that these days!
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At least Vauxhall were honest with their non-heater equipped, crosS plyed tyred poverty spec Viva the Viva E (as in "Eeee its cold in here" or "Eeeek I've just aquaplaned in a puddle !")
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Ford have done this before. You couldn't buy a Capri in Ghia spec (only Laser, 2.8 injection and latterly 280 Special) between about 1984 and 1987.
Maybe they've done their research/focus group stuff and found that the average Focus buyer rarely specifies Ghia. Maybe the Ghia name means little to people under 30?
I remember the days when having the Ghia was a big deal - think MkIV Cortina, MkII Capri and MkI Granada. You got alloys, plush seating, wall to wall carpets, 'wood' dash, bits of chrome, leather steering wheel, radio etc etc
I think these days people aspire to BMWs, Audis etc rather than having the Ghia version of the Mondeo. I agree with a previous poster who says the "brand" has been diluted over the years with the introduction of Ghia X and Titanium/X.
Personally I still rate them, we have a Galaxy Ghia - very nice. Much nicer than a "Zetec" I never really understood naming a trim level after an engine...
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The one and only reason I didn't buy a mk2 Mondeo Ghia was because of that hideous mottled brown plastic dash. I looked at a few nice Ghias, but found this fake wood just so appalling and offensive that I would have had to have ripped it out and replaced it within hours of buying the car.
The Ghia Sierra was totally different though. No wood, nice trim, and toys such as auxiliary warning panels and fuel computers plugging all the "oddment storage" holes on the dash.
I agree also that the significance of the Ghia as a range topper has been diluted by the use of Titanium and Titanium X, again without that awful plastic "wood".
Cheers
DP
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04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
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>>The one and only reason I didn't buy a mk2 Mondeo Ghia was because of that hideous mottled brown plastic dashI tend to agree with yous distaste, but I live with my MK2 Ghia X.
I certainly would not purchase the additional matching panels that are available to give it a "total wood effect". ;-(
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>>at any given point in time>>
My Ghia X has very tasteful (IMO) black ebony wood effect where as MkIIs and later MKIIs have that rather too rich rosewood finish. Mine also has a machined/carbon look and feel to the dash area around the driver sepaerating it from the more organic pattern in front of the passenger where as later ones feature the organic leather type pattern all over, not so attractive IMO.
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Didnt the Zetec engine originally start out with the nickname Zeta as a nod to the Welsh Bridgend factory where it was to be built?
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Yes, and then it became apparent they were infringing a Lancia trademark, and swiftly renamed it Zetec.
Cheers
DP
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04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
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Yes and then it became apparent they were infringing a Lancia trademark and swiftly renamed it Zetec.
And then the marketroids thought it was such a sexy name, they wanted to use it on models that didn't even have a Zetec engine! Grrr...
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Whilst winning hearts and minds with the nouveau riche Ghia spec Ford was simultaneously blitzing the UK car market with "Popular" and "Popular Plus" (i.e. cheap and nasty and plain cheap) versions of its Fiesta and Escort models. Foot-operated screenwash at the front no heater at the back non-reclining vinyl seats and not so much as a passenger sun visor. Manufacturers wouldn't dare pull stunts like that these days!
Ford started this years ago. The mk1 cortina could be bought in poverty or "de luxe"
The owner of our corner shop got a "de leeewx" as befitted their status as the HB's of the area.
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< Ulla>
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>> > Ford started this years ago. The mk1 cortina could be bought in poverty or "de luxe"
Yep, my dad had a '69 Escort 1300GT so I picked up on the badges, I am told that I always said Cortina Dulux !
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The fake dark burr-walnut in my old Mondy Ghia doesn't look too garish IMHO. I would go as far as to say it's the best bit of the car - in fact, it's probably the only original part that works as well now as when it was new!
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I've got dark brown wood in my 05 Galaxy - looks great. Very tasteful. Much better than the "wood" dash on my dad's old 78S Capri Ghia. The "wood" was like that iron on stuff - it peeled off from the backing.
Reckon I'm going to get myself a cracking deal on a nearly new 2.3 Mondeo Ghia as everyone seems to hate the wood in them so much.
Wasn't the MkI (CND rear lights) Cortina also available in "Super" trim?
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Wasn't the MkI (CND rear lights) Cortina also available in "Super" trim?
Yes as well as GT and Lotus.
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As it 'appens my Mondeo is a "Ghia X". The badge was irrelevant in my choice, it was simply the fact that it came with leather and a sunroof which appealed to me. I would probably prefer it to have had no badging at all. Having said all that, I'm not sure if I really care either way ! I just like it. Oh, and it's very reliable by the way ! :-)
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I sense a "favourite wooden dashboards" thread opening up very soon....
My dad had a Maxi with some kind of walnut veneer dashboard. It housed, amongst other luxuries, a large bakelite ashtray and a cigarette ligher, quite a rarity in the 1970s.
A subsequent Ford Cortina Mk III XL of similar vintage had a truly awful dashboard, one of the early versions which sloped away from you, with horrible knobbly toggle switches. The glovebox lid was covered in "wood effect" sticky backed plastic - would have sent John Noakes into a frenzy - and there were odd strips of this faux Formica dotted about the dashboard and on door cappings.
If only it'd been a Mk III Cortina XL from a later vintage - real Gene Hunt territory: no fake wood but real 70's glam.
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When looking for the replacement car the new Mondeo was high on my list apart from size. But the Titanium not out and fake wood trim in the Ghia horrible. Note the Titanium X was out but too expensive.
Got a mazda in the end. But a colleague got a Mondeo Ghia and the wood was like the previous model in colour. Maybe original cars were in European coloured
fake wood?
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A subsequent Ford Cortina Mk III XL of similar vintage had a truly awful dashboard one of the early versions which sloped away from you with horrible knobbly toggle switches........ only it'd been a Mk III Cortina XL from a later vintage ->>
The later MkIII, '74 on, (when the GXL was replaced by the 2000E) had a totally new dash that was award winning at the time and was carried over into the MkIV.
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The mass manufacturer who I reckon turned out consistently appealing wood interiors was BL / Austin / Rover (etc).
It was never more apparent than when they were producing rebadged Hondas. Compare the interior of an R8 Rover 200 with that in its Honda Concerto equivalent, for example. All the mouldings are shared, but the Rover manages, with deft use of wood and carefully selected trim, to look far more appealing. Ditto the 600 and Accord.
This isn't a "bring back Rover" lament - just credit where it's due. Even cheaper Rovers were usually pleasant just to sit in.
Cheers
DP
--
04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
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I used to have an old N reg Mk1 Granada Ghia which had a real wood instrument panel (the one with the holes for the dials) and loved every minute driving it (apart from the 16 mpg when driven hard) until it went up in flames. Not too long afterwards I had a D reg Sierra 2.0 GL and couldn't help noticing how it had more 'luxury' items than the old Ghia had.
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The original sloping dash of the 'coke bottle' MkIII Cortina (with dials down tubes) is nowadays more prized than the ergonomic facelift one Cheddar mentions - due to its relative rarity.
Remember the 1982 run out MkV Cortina 'Crusader' with Daily Express logo decals? That had REAL wood door cappings IIRC.
Agree that BL could do a decent wood interior - particularly liked Triumph myself
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Just received a preliminary Spanish brochure for the new Focus, and the Ghia apparently will be returning with the "proxima comercializacion" which translates as next marketing - probably when sales need a boost at the end of 2008
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As far as I recall the Maxi and the near contemporary Triumph 2000 Mk 2 had real planks of wood for the fascia. None of this stick on plastic rubbish!
The Maxi dashboard chirupped madly until I mounted it on a sheet of rubberzote foam. Dad cut a hole in the Triumph dash to mount a tasty oil pressure gauge (that's what being a marine engineer does to you)
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