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The Ford P7 is a range of large family saloons/sedans that were produced by Ford Germany between Autumn 1967 and December 1971. There were, at launch, four different engine sizes available, ranging from 1.5 to 2.3 litres. A more lavishly appointed version of the car, branded as the Ford 20 M was also offered, but only with the larger two engines. The range was subsequently broadened further, and from 1969 the Ford 26 M joined the range, featuring the same body, but a larger engine, automatic transmission as standard, and various other luxury features. The Taunus 17M name had been applied to a succession of family saloons/sedans from Ford Germany since 1957, but the introduction of the 1967 car coincided with the removal of the “Taunus” name. Nevertheless, for the avoidance of confusion the 17M and 20M models introduced in 1967 as well as the 26M introduced in 1969 are usually identified, in retrospect, as the Ford P7. It was the seventh newly designed German Ford to be launched after the war and for this reason it was from inception known within the company as Ford Project 7 (P7) or more simply as the Ford P7. During the months following its introduction sales were disappointing and the company rushed to produce an extensively face-lifted model. This appeared, with various styling changes and a modified range of engine options, in August 1968, less than a year after the P7’s introduction. To differentiate between the model produced before August 1968, and that produced between August 1968 and the end of 1971, the former is normally designated as the Ford P7a and the latter as the Ford P7b.〔 Between September 1967 and August 1968 155,780 P7a models were produced. Between August 1968 and December 1971 567,482 P7b models were produced.〔 ==Evolutionary design and a lukewarm reception== The Ford Taunus P7 inherited its wheelbase from the previous model but the new body was nevertheless longer and wider, though lower. This reflected the design trends evident throughout western Europe at the time, but the extent of growth in the footprint of the Ford P7 was matched by few other cars, although interestingly a very similar trend had been evident across the sea at Dagenham where Ford of Britain’s new Zephyr Mk IV model, had also excited national press comment because it took up so much more road-space than its predecessor. The P7 was also longer and wider than the Opel Rekord which still set the standard for large family cars in Germany: there was a feeling in the press that its styling was more Anglo-American than mainstream European. An otherwise not unsympathetic review in August 1967 described the car as a „Volksstrassenkreuzer“, and expressed the view that such a “Peoples’ boulevard cruiser” might be out of tune with the spirit of the market place, at least in Europe.〔Hobby: das Magazin der Technik vol:17/67 date:23 August 1967: Obwohl wir wissen, dass man bei Ford intensiv Marktforschung betriebt, sind wir nicht ganz sicher, ob die Entscheidung zum „Volksstrassenkreuzer“ auch wirklich des Volkes Wille ist.〕 Doubts in the press would not have mattered too much if the new 17M had enjoyed a warmer welcome in the showrooms, but it was the warmer welcome received from the market in 1968 by two new entrants to the segment, the Audi 100 and the imported Peugeot 504, which suggested that the antennae of the journalist may have been more accurately attuned to the preferences of Germany’s family car market than those of Ford’s Marketing Department. 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 P7」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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