Smart Roadster

Smart city cars are now a familiar sight on Europe's roads but at Frankfurt the Mercedes-owned company took things in a new and different direction. So far it is only a concept car, with production mooted for 2002, but the Smart Roadster could have a market to itself as a small, fun, cheap to buy and run two-seat­er convertible sportster.

Skoda Fabia

Skoda, meanwhile, unveiled an even more important car than the Leon from sister com­pany SEAT. The Fabia is the first in the VW group to be based on a new platform that will be used by the next Polo. With distinctive su­permini styling and what are bound to be attractive prices, the Fabia at Frankfurt scored highly for its looks, interior space and high quality finish far removed from Skodas of old. With efficient petrol and diesel engines, it should be a hit.

Ford

Ford is still the classic American success story. Founded in 1903, the Ford Motor Company became a national hero in less than 12 years. It did so on the sturdy back of one car - the Model T. The world's first mass production car was the embodiment of Henry Ford's hopes and dreams. In the event, he held on to it for almost too long. Over 15 million "Tin Lizzies" had been made over a period of 19 years before the Model A took over. -

A very public pacifist during World War I, Henry Ford sanctioned rapid conversion to war production in 1942. When the war ended, so did Henry Ford's reign at the controls. By then well into his eighties, he'd probably stayed on for too long. Power passed not to his son Edsel -who died in 1943 at the age of 49 - but to grandson Henry Ford II. "HFII" retired in 1980, having steered the giant company to ever greater success. He did things differently to his grandfather, encouraging fresh new managerial talent instead of relying on stalwarts. On the other hand, he was just as adept at firing anyone with overt power-lust.

The Ford family no longer owns a holding, but the knack of know­ing what the public wants and selling it to them at the right price has remained with Ford for 90 years. It shows no sign of deserting them.

Ford Probe

Year. 1992

Style: two-door coupe

LayMt front-engine, front-drive

Engine: 152 cu.in. V6,24 valves

Power: 166 bhp

Weight: 2805 Ib

Transmission: five-speed manual, four-speed automatic optional

Good news: head swivelling, concept-car shape; extremely smooth Mazda engine; strong grip and composed handling

Bad news: cramped "+2" accommodation

Comment: this combination of American and Japanese engineering resulted in a coupe that was so good, Ford Europe decid­ed to import it to take on the home-grown talent.

Mercury

Mercury, the wing-sandaled messenger, was the name given (on November 4,1938) to a Ford with a different body. The Mercury really wasn't all that different from a regular Ford. This exercise by Ford was an early example of "badge engineering", the widespread practice of sell­ing ostensibly identical cars with different marque names.

In this case, the idea was largely that of Edsel Ford, who identified a gap in the market for something slightly smarter than a regular Ford but not as luxurious or expensive as "a Lincoln. Measured alongside GM's ranges, the Mercury would be in the same bracket as the eight-cylinder Pontiac but some way below the Oldsmobile.

Hence, Mercury was born out of market necessity and averaged about 80,000 cars a year in the early 1940s, a performance that placed it usually 12th or 13th in the industry sales league. Mercury brought Ford new business that would have been hard to win from within its normal model structure.

Fifty-six years on, Mercury is still with us - an important "alterna­tive expression" of the Ford model range. Over that period there have been sticky moments and great cars, as well as some memorable flops. In the early 1990s, though, Mercury is once again living up to its name.

Mercury Cougar XR-7

Year: 1989

Style: two-door coupe

Layout: front-engine, rear-drive

Engine: 232 cu.in. supercharged V6

Power: 210 bhp

Weight: 3710 Ib

Transmission: three-speed automatic

Good news: lower, wider, and lovelier; longer wheelbase and new all-independent suspension with variable damping; Ameri­ca's first supercharged "six" since the 1954-55 Kaiser Manhattan

Bad news: V8 dropped from the range

Comment: the best Cougar to date - sleek, swift, and sophisticated.