oh god the US Escort was CRAP! And Taurus. And Tempo. And a few others. I think the Escort Ford has been building for Europe is the car it SHOULD have built as the Escort in the US -- a much better car!

Hmm -- to add to the "crappy" list how about the Chevrolet Corsica and Cavalier. The Dodge Omni. And the fabulous Pontiac Aztec.

I think the lighter 1/2 ton trucks and even the light 3/4 tons were not built the way they should have been. The heavy 3/4 ton trucks (there is a big difference between a heavy 3/4 ton truck and a light 3/4 ton but that is a long explanation and better to just accept it as true) I had were indestructible beasts. Nothing broke, quit or stopped on them. Ever. I used one to pull a porch off my house in Iowa (it seemed easier to snake a log chain through it and pull it down than to tear it down by hand) and could put a ton of brick in it without strain.

Currently, and this is certainly subject to change, Nissan tentatively plans to have Dodge build its next big truck, replacing the Titan. The F150 of today is light years ahead of the old ones and the GM full-size trucks are great vehicles saddled with ugly, overdone bodies that I think are conclusive evidence that their designers spent too much time playing with Transformers as kids.