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The Ford Five Hundred is a four-door, front-engine, front- or all-wheel drive full-size sedan manufactured and marketed in North America by the Ford in a single generation for model years 2005-2007, using what was at the time, Ford's global D3 platform. The Five Hundred is directly related to a group of rebadged variants, Ford's ''Chicago D3's'', so called for the plant where they were manufactured (Chicago Assembly) and the platform (D3) they share: the Mercury Montego and third generation Mercury Sable sedans; the Ford Freestyle and Taurus X wagons, marketed as a crossover vehicles; as well as the fifth and sixth generations Ford Taurus and Lincoln MKS. The Five Hundred is closely related to Ford's ''Oakville D4's'': the Ford Flex, Ford Explorer and Lincoln MKT, all sharing a modified D3 platform. Introduced in 2005, the Five Hundred, Montego and Freestyle met a cool market reception and were all swiftly facelifted and given new nameplates for model years 2008-2009 — as the Ford Taurus, Mercury Sable and Ford Taurus X. The sedans were subsequently more fully restyled as the sixth generation Ford Taurus (2010–present) and the Lincoln MKS (2009–present) — with the wagon/CUV variant transitioning to the Ford Flex. All received electro-hydraulic Haldex all-wheel drive system, optional on the sedans and standard on the Freestyle/Taurus X. Noted for their simple, straight-forward styling, large interior cabin, prominent greenhouse and high H-point seating, the Five Hundred was designed by George Bucher, Chief Designer,〔〔 under the direction of Ford Vice President of Design, J Mays.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 publisher = The New York Times, Phil Patton, November 5, 2013 )〕 The ''Five Hundred'' nameplate recalls the Fairlane 500 and Galaxie 500 models of the 1950s-1970s. ==Design and manufacture== The full-size Five Hundred (code name ''D258'') was introduced at the 2004 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. With Ford having acquired Volvo in 1999, the Chicago D3's feature body design technology developed in conjunction with Volvo structural and safety engineers and first used on Volvo's S80 and XC90.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 publisher = Larry Edsall, Web2cars )〕 As an example, for side impact protection the bodywork is structured between the B-pillars via an energy-channelling roof crossmember along with a corresponding hydroformed cross-car energy-channeling underseat beam with pre-engineered failure points under the center console — and with the front seats mounted above the lower beam, locating them above a side impact energy path. The system derives from a side-impact safety design marketed by Volvo as its Side Impact Protection System (SIPS).〔〔(【引用サイトリンク】 publisher = The Auto Channel, February 7, 2004 )〕 The Chicago D3's are based on the Ford D3 platform, a variant of the Volvo P2 platform. George Bucher, Ford's chief designer said "it was a challenge to sculpt a Ford-styled body around a Volvo chassis, and added that designers used what he calls plainer surfaces with taut lines to give the car a modern look without losing its passenger-car proportions."〔(【引用サイトリンク】 publisher = Larry Edsall, Twincities.com )〕 Marketed as ''Command Seating'', the Five Hundred features high H-point seating (the location of the occupants hip-point relative to the road or the vehicle floor); its H-point-to-ground distance (H30) is lower than that of a sport utility vehicle, but higher than a typical sedan, easing entry and exit. Also, the distance from the H-point-to -floor (H5) dimension results in more upright seating. At its press launch, Ford said the Five Hundred's H-point is up to four and a half inches higher than its competitors. The Five Hundred also features theater seating, where second row seats are higher: in the front row, the distance between the H-point and the heel point, where the occupant's foot touches the floor, is 12.7 inches — in the second row the distance between the H-point and the heel point is 15.7 inches. The Five Hundred features LED tail lamps — at the time, the largest application of LED taillights in the Ford Motor Company lineup.〔 To augment its 21 cubic feet of trunk space, the Five Hundred featured a fold down rear seat, as well as a fold down front passenger seat, enabling transport of an object up to 10 feet long, inside its cabin. Interiors on SEL and Limited trim levels featured a new hydrographic system for applying wood appliqués. The Chicago D3's were manufactured using a Volvo-derived quality control system internally called Total Vehicle Geometry (TGV) to ensure fit, finish and craftsmanship — by requiring comprehensive participation by all engineers as well as suppliers and vendors. Heavily using computer-aided design, TVG tracks all design modifications, translating them into the central CAD database which in turn allows each engineer access to current project data. The system improves part tolerance at the body-in-white stage as well as early cabin integrity testing, via air leakage testing. TVG improved fit and finish at the first prototype stage and decreased manufacture times for preliminary production vehicles, so called ''pilot'' vehicles.〔 The Five Hundred entered production on July 12, 2004 at Chicago Assembly, which previously produced the fourth-generation midsize Taurus, and became available to the public in September 2004. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ford Five Hundred」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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