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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Ford Fox platform is a platform used by Ford Motor Company in North America for various compact and mid-size vehicles for the Ford, Mercury, and Lincoln divisions. Using a rear-wheel drive, unibody chassis configuration, the Fox platform was used by Ford from 1978 to 1993; a substantial redesign of the Ford Mustang extended its life another eleven years to the 2004 model year. With the exception of the Panther platform, the Fox platform is the longest-produced vehicle architecture by Ford Motor Company.
Designed to be relatively lightweight and simple, the Fox platform was originally intended as the replacement for derivatives of the original Ford Falcon architecture (dating from 1960); the Ford Fairmont and Mercury Zephyr were introduced to replace the Ford Maverick and Mercury Comet, respectively. As downsizing expanded beyond full-size vehicles at the end of the 1970s and early 1980s, the Fox platform came into wider use, included in many redesigns and central to several Ford product line revisions.
During the mid-1980s, Ford reduced its usage of the Fox platform as mid-size sedans and station wagons were transitioned to front-wheel drive. After the 1988 model year, only the Ford Mustang and Lincoln Mark VII coupes remained. The 2005 Ford D2C platform underpinning the fifth-generation Ford Mustang would become the fifth and final vehicle architecture to serve as a Fox-platform replacement (the second under the Mustang nameplate).