First look: Ford Equator a little on the wild side
BY NEIL MCDONALD | 21st Oct 2005
The Ford Equator Concept originated with Paul Gibson, chief designer for Ford’s Asia-Pacific and Africa region, the man responsible for the Focus Concept that was shown at Auto China in Beijing last year.
Gibson had a distinguished career at Ford Australia, being responsible for several Falcon projects, including some race-cars.
With the Equator, Gibson worked with William Lee and his team at the Ford Design and Research Centre in Taipei.
The project started 10 months ago and grew from a collection of simple design sketches based on current model 2005 Ford Escape.
However, the new Ford offers a glimpse of what the next-generation Escape could look like.
The show car celebrates the more sporty side of smaller SUVs and, in Mr Gibson’s words, "is certainly a lot more track than it is truck".
Visually the donor car’s exterior is bolder with a new grille, enlarged air intake and slimline headlights.
Inside there’s new sports seats, upgraded dashboard, three-spoke sports steering wheel and cobalt blue interior colour scheme.
The engine is a development of the Escape’s existing 3.0-litre Duratec V6 tuned for 145kW at 6000 rpm and 359Nm at 4700 rpm.
The V6 drives through a six-speed computer-controlled automatic with a button-activated electronic gear-selection system.
An aggressive wheel-and-tyres are 255/50R-19 Michelins on 10-spoke wheels with a "Chrome Shadow" finish.
The Equator uses an intelligent 4WD System has a fully computer-controlled clutch that engages the rear wheels as needed.