The Ford Interceptor was a

concept car A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle, show vehicle or prototype) is a car made to showcase new styling and/or new technology. They are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or ...

which debuted at the 2007 North American International Auto Show in

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Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. The Interceptor was a retro-styled

full-size Full-size car—also known as large car—is a vehicle size class which originated in the United States and is used for cars larger than mid-size cars, it is the largest size class for cars. In Europe, it is known as E-segment or F-segment. ...

sedan that reflected a modern interpretation of the classic sporty American

muscle car Muscle car is a description according to '' Merriam-Webster Dictionary'' that came to use in 1966 for "a group of American-made two-door sports coupes with powerful engines designed for high-performance driving." The '' Britannica Dictionary'' ...

s from the 1960s, like the

Ford Galaxie The Ford Galaxie is a full-sized car that was built in the United States by Ford for model years 1959 through to 1974. The name was used for the top models in Ford's full-size range from 1958 until 1961, in a marketing attempt to appeal to the e ...

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

officially introduced the Interceptor concept in a company press release dated 31 December 2006. Ford described the Interceptor design styling as being influenced, "...much like a Marine in

dress uniform Full dress uniform, also known as a ceremonial dress uniform or parade dress uniform, is the most formal type of uniforms used by military, police, fire and other public uniformed services for official parades, ceremonies, and receptions, ...

. He looks smart and elegant but you can see the raw power that lies beneath." Ford currently has no production plans for such a full-size rear-wheel drive sedan, and almost all of Ford's sedans have been discontinued as of 2022, making the Interceptor's production extremely unlikely. Some of the Interceptor's design cues later appeared in the sixth-generation Ford Taurus.

Engine

The Interceptor Concept used a

Ford Racing Ford Performance (formerly Ford Racing) is the high-performance division of the Ford Motor Company and the multinational name used for its motorsport and racing activity. History * 1896 – Henry Ford reached a top speed of 20 mph in his ...

5.0-liter Cammer engine which produced , with the capability of running on

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ethanol Ethanol (abbr. EtOH; also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound. It is an alcohol with the chemical formula . Its formula can be also written as or (an ethyl group linked to a ...

. It included a manual six-speed transmission . The 5.0-liter Cammer engine was an upgraded variant of the 4.6-liter modular engine that powered the

Mustang GT The Ford Mustang is a series of American automobiles manufactured by Ford. In continuous production since 1964, the Mustang is currently the longest-produced Ford car nameplate. Currently in its sixth generation, it is the fifth-best sellin ...

until 2011.

Exterior

The car included a powered clamshell “shaker” hood, which covered the engine. The fullsize sedan was based on a stretched version of the rear wheel drive

Mustang The mustang is a free-roaming horse of the Western United States, descended from horses brought to the Americas by the Spanish. Mustangs are often referred to as wild horses, but because they are descended from once- domesticated animals, the ...

's Ford D2C platform, featuring a solid rear axle. The body was proportioned with short front overhang and a long rear overhang, and featured a low roofline and a high beltline, when compared to other Ford sedans like the

Ford Taurus The Ford Taurus is an automobile that was manufactured by the Ford Motor Company in the United States from the 1986 to 2019 model years. Introduced in late 1985 for the 1986 model year, six generations were produced over 34 years; a brief hiat ...

, with a wedged profile. The Interceptor Concept continued with the current Ford horizontal three-bar grille design introduced on the Ford Fusion and

Ford Edge The Ford Edge is a range of crossover SUVs manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. Introduced for the 2007 model year, the Edge is the first mid-size CUV marketed by Ford in North America; the model line is currently in its second generation. ...

. The hood was high up, and flat with a rawased rear-middle section. The

squircle A squircle is a shape intermediate between a square and a circle. There are at least two definitions of "squircle" in use, the most common of which is based on the superellipse. The word "squircle" is a portmanteau of the words "square" and "ci ...

-shaped rear headlights on the Interceptor later influenced those on the

Interior

The Interceptor incorporated a four-point "belt and suspenders" harness

seatbelt A seat belt (also known as a safety belt, or spelled seatbelt) is a vehicle safety device designed to secure the driver or a passenger of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result during a collision or a sudden stop. A seat belt red ...

design in the front and rear seats, with inflatable safety belts for rear seat passengers. The four-point belt represented a possible next-generation safety belt system that was designed to be more comfortable and easier to use than traditional three-point belts. The dash, headliner, steering wheel, and four low-back bucket seats are wrapped in leather. There were retractable headrests that deployed from the roof, adjusting fore and aft as well as up and down for each occupant. The audio control panel and climate controls were stowable, and there was a gated six-speed shifter in the center dash.

Specifications

*Powertrain: 5.0-liter Cammer V-8 / / flexible fuel *Transmission: Manual six-speed gearbox *Chassis Dimensions: **Overall length: . **Wheelbase: . **Overall width: . **Overall height at curb: . **Front track width: . **Rear track width: . *Suspension **Front:

Double wishbone A double wishbone suspension is an independent suspension design for automobiles using two (occasionally parallel) wishbone-shaped arms to locate the wheel. Each wishbone or arm has two mounting points to the chassis and one joint at the knuckl ...

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

**Rear: 3-Link design with

Panhard rod A Panhard rod (also called Panhard bar, track bar, or track rod) is a suspension link that provides lateral location of the axle. Originally invented by the Panhard automobile company of France in the early twentieth century, this device has been ...

*Interior **Front Headroom: . **Rear Headroom: . **Front Legroom: . **Rear Legroom: .

References

External links

Ford Interceptor press release from Media.Ford.com - 31 Dec 2006Additional Interceptor PR article from Media.Ford.com - 17 Jan 2007Ford Says No to Mustang Sedan, Wagon; Announces "Interceptor" Concept at LeftLaneNews.comIt's a 'squircle'Ford Announces Development of 2012 Police Interceptor for Law Enforcement
{{Ford Concept