I did not come of age driving Fords. We were a Chevrolet family. The first Ford I drove dismayed me, as do the two I own today, and for the same reason.

It's the shifter, or the "gear selector" in owner's-manual language. Every Ford product I've ever operated has a spongy, imprecise shift lever. I can never be sure whether I'm supposed to grasp it underhand or overhand; neither feels right. And most of the time I have to look at the indicator to make sure I've gotten it into the correct gear. I'm usually right, but I still need confirmation.

It's that sort of uncertainty that led to a monstrous lawsuit a few years back by the family of a woman who, thinking she had set her Ford's transmission in park, got out and walked around back to close a gate and ran over herself. I do not regard her as Twit of the Year because I agree with the jury that Fords have wonky shifters.

Weirdly, years after that decision, they still do. The springs are all squishy; the detèntes don't guide strongly; and the hard stop above park feels more like a suggestion.

Would that Ford could swallow some of the pride they boast about and just copy GM's precise, confident mechanism, I'd consider buying a new Ford someday. As it stands, I only bought these cars because they were convenient and inexpensive.

Posted by: Michael Rittenhouse at 04:50 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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