The Ford MN12 platform (Mid-size North America, Corporate Program #12) is a car platform that was used by the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

from 1988 to 1997 for the 1989–1997 model year

Ford Thunderbird The Ford Thunderbird (colloquially called the T-Bird) is a personal luxury car produced by Ford from model years 1955 until 1997 and 2002 until 2005 across 11 distinct generations. Introduced as a two-seat convertible, the Thunderbird was pr ...

and

Mercury Cougar Mercury Cougar is a nameplate applied to a diverse series of automobiles sold by the Mercury division of Ford from 1967 to 1997 and from 1999 to 2002. While the nameplate is most commonly associated with two-door coupes, at various times durin ...

two-door

personal luxury car Personal luxury car is a North American car classification describing somewhat sporty, sophisticated mass-market coupés that emphasized comfort over performance. The North American manufacturers most often combined engineering, design, and ma ...

s. A variant of this platform, known as the FN10 (Lincoln, North American, corporate Program #10), was used for the 1993–1998 model year

Lincoln Mark VIII The Lincoln Mark VIII is a grand touring luxury coupe marketed by Lincoln from the 1993 to 1998 model years over a single generation, manufactured at Ford's Wixom Assembly Plant. Succeeding the Lincoln Mark VII, the Mark VIII shared underpinn ...

from 1992 to 1998. Each car based on this platform had a

front-engine, rear-wheel drive layout In automotive design, a FR, or front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout is one where the Internal combustion engine, engine is Front-engine design, located at the front of the vehicle and rear-wheel-drive, driven wheels are located at the rear via a ...

with an independent rear suspension.

Development

The roots of the MN12 program began in 1984 when Ford sought to build on the success of the then-current, Fox body-based Thunderbird and Cougar. Going beyond unique styling, Ford wanted to produce a Thunderbird and Cougar that could compete with more sophisticated and higher performing cars from European automakers such as BMW. To accomplish this, Ford needed to develop a new platform since the existing Fox platform couldn't satisfy the requirements of the MN12 program. Heading the program was Anthony "Tony" S. Kuchta, who was appointed to the position by Ford management in 1986, when formal production program began. Kuchta decided to retain a rear-wheel drive layout for the MN12 platform as a basis for delivering better road performance, as opposed to following the Thunderbird and Cougars'

front-wheel drive Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional longitu ...

-based rivals from General Motors, such as the

Pontiac Grand Prix The Grand Prix is a line of automobiles produced by the Pontiac Division of General Motors from 1962 until 2002 for coupes and 1989–2008 for sedans. First introduced as a full-size performance coupe for the 1962 model year, the model varie ...

and

Buick Regal The Buick Regal is a line of mid-size cars marketed by Buick since 1973. For nearly its entire production, the Regal has served as the premium mid-size/intermediate offering of the Buick product range. Introduced as a submodel of the Buick Centu ...

. Kuchta also approved an independent rear suspension for the MN12 platform, something that would make the Thunderbird and Cougar the only rear-drive domestic cars other than the

Chevrolet Corvette The Chevrolet Corvette is a two-door, two-passenger luxury sports car manufactured and marketed by Chevrolet since 1953. With eight design generations, noted sequentially from C1 to C8, the Corvette is noted for its performance and distinctiv ...

(and the later Dodge Viper RT/10) to feature this. Ford engineers working on the MN12 program also explored the use of

all-wheel drive An all-wheel drive vehicle (AWD vehicle) is one with a powertrain capable of providing power to all its wheels, whether full-time or on-demand. The most common forms of all-wheel drive are: ;1x1 : All unicycles Reflecting one axle with one w ...

for the platform with Ford going so far as paying German automaker Porsche to study the feasibility of its use, but Kuchta ultimately decided against it out of cost concerns.

Overview

1998 Lincoln Mark VIII LSC in red, rear left

MN12 cars had a 113" wheelbase and were available with a 3.8L V6 engine, a 3.8L V6 supercharged engine from 1988 to 1995 (1988-1990 in Cougar), a 5.0L V8 engine from 1991 to 1993, and a 4.6L V8 engine from 1994 to 1997. A 4.6L DOHC V8 engine was used for the FN10 platform Lincoln Mark VIII from 1993 to 1998.

Suspension

The front suspension consists of upper and lower control arms with coilover shocks. A common misconception with this platform is that the front end has struts; however, since there is an upper control arm they are actually coilover shocks. Brakes were a vented rotor / single-piston caliper with Sport model Thunderbirds receiving a larger diameter rotor. The rear suspension consisted of upper and lower control arms with coil spring and shock. Varying sway bar diameters were used among the different models of Cougar and Thunderbird. All MN12 cars shipped from the factory with a 5 x 4.25" (5x108mm) lugnut bolt pattern.

References

{{Ford platforms MN12