Ford initiates a flurry of new cars for 2005 with a sleek flagship for the fleet called the Five Hundred. Built on a tight platform borrowed from Volvo of Sweden, the Five Hundred is a responsive four-door sedan with mid-size body but the cabin of a big car and one of the largest trunks on the market.

Mustang, Ford's legendary muscle car, is new for 2005 in coupe format based on a new rear-wheel-drive architecture with six-inch wheelbase boost and the promise of best-yet handling and braking.

Ford's full-size Crown Victoria sedan carves out enough room in the cabin to haul a team of tall basketball players plus heaps of gear stuffed into the cavernous trunk. The rear-wheel driveline and a chassis with wheelbase extending nearly ten feet comes from a platform also used by Lincoln's elite Town Car. There's ample power from a V8 rigged with high-tech hardware and tuned for low-torque output. The 4.6-liter Ford plant in standard application produces 224 hp. An optional performance package adds dual exhaust pipes and boosts output to 239 hp.

Four trim grades continue as the Crown Victoria Standard, up-level LX, deluxe LX Premier and LX Sport, the latter with equipment added for keen performance plus a monochromatic body coated in shades like Dark Toreador Red. Side air bags appear on the list of options, along with TCS and a six-disc CD changer. A power moonroof is available for LX and LX Sport models.

The popular family cars from Ford fit in the mid-size class and appear in configurations of a four-door sedan and five-door station wagon. All issues for 2005 line up in simplified trim sequences as SE or SEL. Cabins for sedans hold five or six due to a choice in front seat style -- bench or buckets. The three-person front bench for Taurus SE contains a flip-down center back section that becomes a console when tipped forward. A console that has an open bin in front and a closed compartment in back splits two front buckets for Taurus SEL.

The wagon version brings seats for seven or eight with an optional rear-facing third bench. Engines for Taurus include Ford's 3.0-liter Vulcan V6, rated at 153 hp, and a dual-cam Duratec version available on SEL that rises to 200 hp. Ford's four-speed automatic transaxle mates with either engine. A premium package for SEL adds leather seats, a six-disc CD changer, electronic climate controls and automatic headlamps. (CONTINUED...)