Do You Know These Ford Cars Released Since 1980?

AUTO

By: Ian Fortey

7 Min Quiz

Image: Josip Ricov via YouTube

About This Quiz

The Ford Motor Company has been making cars since 1903, and the list of models it has released is as extensive as it is awe-inspiring. From the humble Model T so long ago, they've gone on to develop the mighty GT40, the incredibly popular F-series, the iconic Mustang and the sleek Thunderbird. And all of that was well before the 1980s even arrived.

Since that time, Ford has not stopped innovating at all. Dozens of new models have rolled off the lines in the last 40 years. Drivers who wanted a fuel-efficient compact car had the Tempo to look into. Those who wanted a performance beast could look to the GT. The Ranger Raptor can handle a lot of intensity, and the Explorer can take you offloading on an adventure. Whatever you need, Ford has probably built something to fit the bill. 

Let's take a walk through the last four decades of Detroit engineering and see which of Ford's lineup you can recognize. From compact to subcompact, SUVs, MPVs and crossovers, there's a lot to choose from and recall, but if you're a true Ford fan, there's no need to Escape. Just Flex your memory and climb this Everest of a quiz!

Introduced in 2004 and then again in 2017, which of these was inspired by the car that beat Ferrari at Le Mans?

It was the GT40 that ended Ferrari's reign at Le Mans in 1966 and Ford reintroduced a similar model, the GT, in 2004 for a single year. Then, for the 2017 model year and to celebrate 50 years since its victory, the GT was brought back and is still in production.

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This was Ford's first full-size, four-door SUV. What is it?

The Ford Expedition was made for the 1997 model year until the present. Before 2007, the Expedition was able to seat nine passengers, but after the 2007 year, they scaled back a little bit with a pair of bucket seats and made room for eight passengers instead.

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The Ford Courier was replaced by which of these models?

The Ranger name was actually first used as a trim level for the Edsel in 1958, but it was used as its own nameplate in 1983 as a compact pickup truck. It was discontinued briefly in 2011 and then resurrected again in 2018.

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Which model was made in Europe since 1968 then introduced in North America in 1980?

Europe had the Ford Escort for well over 30 years when it was ended in the year 2000. North American drivers only got the Escort in 1980 for the 1981 model year. Production ended in 2003 when the Ford Focus replaced it.

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Which popular Ford model ended production in 2019?

The Ford Taurus first arrived in 1986. The Taurus was an incredibly popular model over its lifespan. In fact, Ford made over 7.5 million of them, and it was the fifth best-selling Ford of any kind in North America.

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Mazda Tribute was the name of which of these models in Japan?

Ford began producing the Escape in the year 2000. While it was the Escape in North America and the Tribute in Japan, it was called the Maverick in Europe, still under the Ford banner, and in 2004 it was also sold as the Mercury Mariner.

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What's the name of the North American version of the Ford Mondeo?

The Ford Contour and its Mercury counterpart, the Mystique, was introduced in 1995. It replaced the Ford Tempo in the lineup but only lasted until the year 2000. It was intended as a world car, part of Ford's plan to roll out the same models in every market.

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Which of these was Ford's first minivan?

Ford introduced the Aerostar in 1986 and kept it in production until 1997. By 1995, Ford had introduced the Windstar, and they co-existed for a couple of years before the Windstar took over, and the Aerostar was finished.

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This crossover has been in North American production since 2007. Do you know it?

Ford had been making the Edge in North America for a decade before it became available in Europe. You could also get the model in New Zealand as of the second generation, but it's called the Endura there.

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Which car's nameplate was first used as a trim level for the 1955 Ford Fairlane?

The Ford Crown Victoria was produced from 1992 to 2011. The original name was a trim level on the Ford Fairlane in 1955 and 1956, and there was also a line of full-size cars made for the 1980 year called the LTD Crown Victoria.

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Which vehicle was first manufactured in Brazil in 2003 and became available in North America in 2018?

When the EcoSport was introduced, it became one of the best-selling vehicles in Brazil, Mexico, and Venezuela. By 2011, it had sold 700,000 models. First-year sales in the United States were over 54,000.

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Which of these was unveiled in Thailand in 2018?

The Ford Ranger Raptor is an international counterpart to the F-150 Raptor. Ford confirmed in 2018 that the Ranger Raptor, at least for now, is not going to be available in North America even though the demand for the F-150 Raptor is outpacing availability.

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Which car was designed to replace the Escort worldwide?

The Ford Focus was rolled out in 1998, intended to be a world market compact car that would replace the Escort. The Focus is often viewed as a compliance model, which is to say it stays in production because its low fuel emissions offset some higher emissions from more popular models.

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Introduced in 1999, which Ford could come with a 6.9L Triton V10 engine?

Ford's Super Duty trucks are the next level after the F-150 trucks, which are the most popular vehicles in the Ford lineup. Super Duties are actually F-250s, 350s and 450s. Where an F -150 is a light-duty truck, the Super Duty is, obviously, a heavy-duty one.

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Do you know which of these is based on a rally car?

The Ford RS200 was built as the street-legal counterpart of a Group B rally car to qualify for homologation. It was only produced from 1984 until 1986. Ford had to make 200 street-legal models to race the rally cars they had made legally.

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Do you know which of these is one of the best-selling cars in the UK?

Marketed as a city car and a subcompact car, Ford introduced the Ka in 1996 as a small and fuel-efficient model popular with European drivers. If you're wondering how to pronounce the name, you're not alone, as even Ford has pronounced it different ways in ads. Officially they say it's pronounced like the beginning of the word "cat."

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What replaced the Bronco II for the 1991 model year?

Ford's Explorer is a mid-size crossover SUV that rolled out in 1991. In the years since its launch, there has been a wide range of variants made available like the Mercury Mountaineer, the Mazda Navajo, and the Lincoln Aviator.

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In 1999, which model was sold in Europe as a Ford but in Canada and the US as a Mercury?

The Ford Cougar was actually planned as a next-generation Ford Probe, but some internal decision making decided it was a bad idea, so they went with Cougar instead. The Mercury Cougar had originally been a muscle car that dates back to 1967.

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Do you know which of these cars was an Escort until 2001?

The Ford Escort ZX2 was introduced in 1998 as a sporty coupe version of the Ford Escort. By 2001, they had dropped the Escort and left the model officially as a Ford ZX2. Production ended in 2003.

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Which of these was designed by Ford as a seven-passenger family vehicle that was still not a minivan?

The Ford Flex was made from 2009 until 2019. Despite high hopes for the vehicle, it was never quite as popular as the competition, particularly the Buick Enclave and the Chevy Traverse. In its first year, Ford sold 38,700 Flexes compared to Chevy's 91,000 Traverses.

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This was Ford's first full-size model without a V8 engine. What was it?

The Ford Five Hundred was introduced in 2005 but only lasted until 2007. The name was a bit of an homage to classic Ford models like the Custom 500, the Fairlane 500 and the Galaxie 500. It both replaced and was replaced by the Ford Taurus.

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The performance model of this car first showed up in 2004. What is it?

The Fiesta was introduced back in 1976, but it wasn't until 2004 that a performance trim package, the Fiesta ST, became available. In 2014 a facelifted version of the ST was made available. This high-performance version is only available as a hatchback and comes with a 1.6L EcoBoost Turbocharged inline four-cylinder engine.

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Which of these shares a name with a Dodge model?

In 1980, Ford made the Durango after Ranchero production ended in 1979. It wasn't exactly a replacement for the Ranchero, but it did have the same visual style as the Ranchero and Chevy's more popular El Camino, which is to say a car with a flatbed.

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Do you know which of these comes in gasoline, gas/electric hybrid, and plug-in hybrid varities?

The Ford Fusion dates back to 2006 and is available as a standard gas-powered vehicle as well as a next-gen hybrid model and a plug-in hybrid model. Toss in the EcoBoost, and this is the first Ford ever available with those four separate engine options.

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Which of these was renamed as the Taurus X in 2007?

Ford's Freestyle was manufactured from 2005 to 2007. It was meant as a replacement for the Taurus station wagon. When the Ford Taurus was reintroduced for the 2008 model year, the Freestyle was tweaked and just renamed the Taurus X.

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Ford partnered with Mazda to make which of these cars?

Ford sold the Probe from 1988 until 1997. It began life as a concept vehicle back in the late 1970s, and the first Probe concept was shown in 1979 with a wedge design and covered rear wheels to reduce overall drag.

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Indian drivers know which of these as an Endeavour?

The Ford Everest has been produced since 2003, based on the Ford Ranger. Essentially, it's a 5-door SUV version of the Ford Ranger, and each generation has been built based on the Ranger platform.

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The Aerostar was replaced by which of these?

In 1995, the Ford Windstar was introduced as a lone model until 2004 when they introduced a nearly identical Mercury co-model, the Mercury Monterey. By 2007 the van was withdrawn from the market due to declining sales.

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This was the European Car of the Year in 2007. What is it?

The S-Max was the first Ford designed with what they call Kinetic Design Styling. That was just an esthetic design approach that involved the use of large wheel arches, a low trapezoidal grille, and headlights that look stretched back.

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Chevy once made a car with a nearly identical name as which car?

Ford Del Rey is easily confused with the Chevy Delrey, but they're quite different cars. Chevy made its Delrey in 1954 complete with fins and classic '50s styling. Ford Brasil produced the Ford Del Rey in 1981 for 10 years.

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Which car was introduced as the Kia Pride and the Mazda 121 in some countries?

The Ford Festiva, not to be confused with the Ford Fiesta, was designed by Mazda in a partnership with Ford back in 1986. Some months after Mazda started, Kia did so as well in collaboration with Ford in South Korea.

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The North American version of this car wasn't a Ford, it was a Merkur. What is it?

The Merkur Scorpio was only available from 1988 to 1989. In Europe, the Ford Scorpio was available from 1985 until 1998. It was also called the Ford Granada in the UK and Ireland for several years as well.

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Ford sold 3.5 million of which model between 1983 and 1993?

The Ford Orion was based on the Ford Escort, but it was not a hatchback, distinguishable from the Escort by the trunk. As hatchbacks became all the rage in Europe through the early and mid-'80s, the Orion was designed to appeal to the people who just didn't want one.

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Do you know which car was also sold as the Mazda Familia?

Ford made the Laser from 1981 until 2007. It was also sold for a time in Australia under the name Ford Meteor, which was not to be confused with the Mercury Meteor, a much different car from the 1960s.

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First offered in 2007, the second generation of which car was designed for 2019?

Ford Puma was a sport compact on its introduction in 2007, but the 2019 model is a subcompact crossover SUV. The current model is actually based on a 7th generation Fiesta chassis and comes with a hybrid EcoBoost engine.

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This was Ford's first MPV marketed outside of North America. What is it?

Ford Europe introduced the Galaxy in 1995. "Top Gear" rated the Galaxy as the least satisfying car in the UK in 1999, but it sold more than twice as many models as its nearest rival and was the best selling MPV on the market.

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Ford spent $100 million developing which of these?

The Ford Verona was another project between Ford and Volkswagen in Brazil. The VW version was called the Apollo. Despite the effort put into marketing, the cars were fairy unpopular, and the car was only produced from 1989 until 1992.

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Which of these was a version of the Volkswagen Santana?

Sold in Brazil, the Ford Versailles was the same model as the Volkswagen Santana from 1992 to 1996. Ford and VW had struck a deal called Autolatina in which the two shared models in the South American market.

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In Europe, which of these is the Ford Sierra?

The Merkur XR4Ti was the U.S. version of the Sierra, not to be confused with GMC's Sierra, which is actually a Chevy Silverado. That's vaguely confusing to follow, but all you need to know is Chevy has a Sierra, so Ford called their car the Merkur XR4Ti.

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Do you know which of these was the North American name of the Festiva?

Ford has used the name Aspire more than once. It was the North American name for the Festiva in 1993, but it was also used for a model of the Ford Figo that was released in India as well. It's still available as a trim package on that car.

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