Moon of Alabama Brecht quote
Back to Main

October 1, 2008
The Ford Dominator

There are serious other reasons for the recession than the credit crisis. Here is one:


bigger

This morning
someone posted pics of such a pimped up* Ford F-650 Dominator in a German model-builder forum. The first comment on them was (translated):

Any [Mercedes] Sprinter has more payload, any LandCruiser is a better off-road drive, any [Volkswagen] Passat has more interior space for the passengers, any 5er BMW guzzles less and any Cadillac Escalade has more style.

What a senseless car, and not even pretty.

A few hours later I read: Ford’s US sales drop 34 percent in September

DETROIT – Tight credit, economic worries and high gasoline prices combined to cut Ford Motor Co.’s U.S. sales once again in September, with the beleaguered automaker reporting a 34 percent decline from the same month last year.
…
Ford sales also were hurt as buyers continued to favor small fuel-efficient cars over trucks and sport utility vehicles. Truck sales were down 39 percent, while car sales dropped 19 percent.

The first sentence blames credit availability, the economy and oil prices for Ford’s problem. All do play a role but the roots of Ford’s problems are older and the ‘domination’ products and their quality are part of them.

Ford has lost $23.9 billion in the past 2 1/2 years and has had to mortgage its assets to stay in business.

Ford may have to sell its profitable foreign businesses over the next years to find enough money for a revamp of its U.S. production.

A big chunk of the money the U.S. will need to change its bad habits will have to come from abroad ($1.5 trillion in 2009?). Most of it will be borrowed from China, the Gulf States, Russia and elsewhere.

But a big chunk will also come from the sale of assets U.S. companies acquired abroad over the last hundred years and will now have to sell. If that money helps Ford to build some non-senseless cars the wounds this recession causes will heal. If that money gets wasted in further ‘Dominator’ dreams, they will deepen.

* updated, see comments

Posted by b on October 1, 2008 at 18:30 UTC | Permalink
Comments

Quite frankly, I like it. But it is just another American status toy. I couldn’t afford it, or feed it.

Posted by: vetinla | Oct 1 2008 18:36 utc | 1

Its true, that if credit were more available, the economy was booming, and gas prices were low – it would be a big hit. However, because none of that is true, they should have named it the “Denial” instead of the “Dominator”. Or maybe the “Johnny Wadd”, except that he’s already dead, from over consumption.

Posted by: anna missed | Oct 1 2008 18:46 utc | 2

These massive top of the line vehicles are used to make the other models look reasonable. Are people dumb or insecure enough to buy them? You bet. Add heavily tinted windows if you have any shame at all.
Over at Calculated Risk there was a funny comment about the new F-150 that comes with a squirrel trap and a power tree-shaker option.

Posted by: biklett | Oct 1 2008 18:52 utc | 3

Ford logic:
To make $$ on cheap cars volume has to be high; volume is down, so we’ll sell Dominators and make three times the margin per unit.
Cos, you know, some folks still have plenty money don’t they?

Posted by: rapt | Oct 1 2008 19:50 utc | 4

Hopefully this isn’t too o/t:
Can b or some other economics-minded soul please explain to me how and why there is almost compete silence on the $612 billion defence bill that was passed last week? Why is $700 billion to Wall Street such a calamity and $612 billion, small change? It’s still taxpayers’ money… Am I missing something? I feel like I must be.

Posted by: Tantalus | Oct 1 2008 19:54 utc | 5

almost compete silence on the $612 billion defence bill
Because the electorate has been trained on the need of the U.S. to be strong.
It’s a racket that works, why change it?

Posted by: b | Oct 1 2008 20:11 utc | 6

This is not a car – it as an American warrior’s chariot of dreams. That brutal styling declares that its redneck NASCAR male driver is an image of America the mighty, the great nation, the power and hegemon that straddles the globe with its steel fleets of aircraft and warships poised to strike with thunderbolts wherever it wills its mighty and valiant soldiery stomping through the streets of a thousand cities across the continents. The proud patriot hero can thrust his big red pulsing steel chariot – so aptly named the Dominator – along the vast road as America powers through the continents, and he can proclaim his oneness with the One Military Nation under God, the Fortress on the Hill.
Dread foreboding news from Detroit, then, that “Tight credit, economic worries and high gasoline prices combined to cut Ford Motor Co.’s U.S. sales once again in September, with the beleaguered automaker reporting a 34 percent decline from the same month last year.
…
Ford sales also were hurt as buyers continued to favor small fuel-efficient cars over trucks and sport utility vehicles. Truck sales were down 39 percent, while car sales dropped 19 percent.” American warriors cannot afford to run Dominators and Humvees and other boy soldiers’ toys any more. So will America find the burden of a “defence” budget that outstrips the rest of the world combined too great to bear? The Soviet Union collapsed under the strain of financing foreign wars vast military budgets and a collapsing economy. America is in debt. The debts are swelling to monstrous size. How long will China and the Arabs continue to buy American government bonds? The redneckr warriors now pootle along the roads in a Prius or Honda a wimpy hatchback; for how much longer can America’s bloated military continue to suck illusory wealth from a shrivelling nation?

Posted by: drongo | Oct 1 2008 20:16 utc | 7

@Tantalus,
there is a difference, the defense spending employs a lot of people and supports a lot of different industries, from aviation to automobile as well as high tech electronics. that 612 billion pays for healthcare and child care and pensions as well as a living wage for millions of people.
the 700 billion goes to banks to maybe stop something really bad from happening. thats all we got, just a maybe it will keep it from happening.
I am the last one to defend a bloated defense budget and have seen the incredible waste that goes with annual budgets that must be spent or lost. I suspect that if you merely changed the rules for 5 year budgets you would be able to save hundreds of billions there alone over the 5 year course. End of year spending is disgraceful with many foolish items getting purchased with little or no review. If you do not spend all your money, next year’s budget is reduced by the amount you did not spend. You can not carry money over from one year to the next.
I hope that helps

Posted by: dan of steele | Oct 1 2008 20:19 utc | 8

it’s beyond ugly and the name is hideous. the front end of it resembles the front of a semi. it looks rather phallic. fr the life of me i cannot figure out why any person would want to be seem driving around in one of these things. i would be embarrassed.

Posted by: annie | Oct 1 2008 20:35 utc | 9

you might as well just wear a t shirt that says ‘hi, i’m an impotent dickhead’.

Posted by: annie | Oct 1 2008 20:37 utc | 10

The website linked misspells the word “competition.” This is not a Ford website, nor is the “Dominator” a Ford product. It is a conversion offered by a third party, and it’s not a mass-production model: they’re showtrucks.
The “Dominator” is built on Ford’s Commercial 650 model, which is little more than a big frame. From Ford’s website:

F650 Super Duty® Chassis Cab Summary
The F-650 SD chassis cab is the FORD entry in the Class 6 medium heavy market segment.It is available as an F-650 “PRO-LOADER” (low cab height) or as a Super Duty (straight frame height).In most situations, a commercial drivers license(CDL) is not required to operate this vehicle with hydraulic brakes (up to 26,000 lbs. GVWR).
-GVWR – 22,000 to 26,000 lbs (ProLoader-Kickup frame)
-GVWR – 26,000 to 29,000 lbs(Straight frame – special GVWR rating to 25,999 lbs)
-GCWR – To 70,000 lbs.maximum (Straight Frame)

http://www.commtruck.ford.com/ctw/default.asp
The largest mass-market Fords (in the US) are the 450 series:
http://www.showroom.fordvehicles.com/Showroom.jsp?space=Trucks
As for all the “small dick” references, some of us feel the same way about Ferrari’s, too. Pick your poison.

Posted by: Jeremiah | Oct 1 2008 20:55 utc | 11

And I thought that the F-350 was an absurdly large and inefficient vehicle (in all ways; packaging, carrying capacity, fuel efficiency, and price). The “Dominator” does make the F-350 seem reasonable by comparison, but only because it is comically unreasonable, an artifact of sheer folly.
Ford deserves what it gets. The new big three are Aptera, Pheonix and Tesla, mark my words.

Posted by: Li | Oct 1 2008 20:55 utc | 12

The fact that Ford thinks that vehicle is worth building and that there are people in this county who would buy it is another reason we need another Great Depression.

Posted by: lcs | Oct 2 2008 0:21 utc | 13

this would be a nice addition to the family. A little too much for the beach but I can see it on my farm, in dark blue with very dark rims.

Posted by: jony_b_cool | Oct 2 2008 2:30 utc | 14

B:
Please correct your post.
This is not a Ford product.

Posted by: Jeremiah | Oct 2 2008 3:45 utc | 15

Li, aptera ? pheonix ? tesla….hmm
Jeremiah, some of us feel the same way about Ferrari’s, too. Pick your poison.
or pick something that isn’t poisonous. i’m not much of a ferrari fan either. re #15, b may be sleeping, he will likely respond to your post.
i checked out your links, it’s true the ford products look different.

Posted by: annie | Oct 2 2008 4:26 utc | 16

google images ford f650 and you’ll find literally hundreds of similar gas guzzling monstrosities paint job by redneck from a vehicle by ford.
Ford are the parents of this obscenity

Posted by: Debs is dead | Oct 2 2008 4:32 utc | 17

Vehicles are for transporation or pleasure, ideally both. The American auto industry in the last decades seems to have come up with a third category: vehicles that do neither well but convey a message – huge, expensive & vulgar outdoors of self. People buy those for the same reasons they breed pitbull dogs. The car in the picture above scares me.
I think a clever sociologist would have a lot to say about the evolution of American society – and, along the way, the loss not only of elegance and grace, but of the very concept of elegance and grace – by analyzing the differences in style between a 1967 Mustang and a 2009 Mustang.

Posted by: Pedro | Oct 2 2008 4:51 utc | 18

Maybe if the automakers didnt ship all the jobs off to slave labor nations, americans could afford such a vehicle, now there are no high paying manufacturing jobs, and then they cry that they arent making any money from the people, so now they take it through bailouts, I guess they will get our money one way or another, if they get bailout, we should all at least get a truck.

Posted by: RSBL | Oct 2 2008 5:01 utc | 19

Yes this is a showtruck. Those of us that actually do the heavy lifting (food, building, and goods production and distribution) in society need 1/2 ton trucks up through commercial truck sizes (40 ton). That magical 13 ton mark is the where commercial insurance kicks in. If it was more efficient to stock the lumber section at home depot with geo metros – they’d have found a way. I own a f250 (wish it was bigger) and a 45 mpg TDI and a one ton dump truck. Each is more efficient in its function, but I couldn’t salvage wood, metal, and move buildings behind my tdi. The dump truck is highly efficient when employed in optimal conditions and it has 454 which actually increased milage over a smaller engine. That show truck is about as useful as a chromed go cart. The problem is that the pendulum could leave those of us that actually use the functionality of trucks with highly limited overpriced options. I already pay the plumber enough and he can’t do his job out of a prius. For the record I’m curious if the sprinter pulls like a powerstroke as I’m looking at getting a 10 ton dump trailer. Although mercedes power plants tend to be less economical up front in the states rumored to be because of emmissions regulations.

Posted by: Dude where’s my truck? | Oct 2 2008 5:57 utc | 20

hell yes we’re angry! (video, AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Richard Trumka ) he doesn’t mince words.
here’s richard on racism.
powerful speaker

Posted by: annie | Oct 2 2008 5:57 utc | 21

The problem is that the pendulum could leave those of us that actually use the functionality of trucks with highly limited overpriced options.
the pendulum will impact all of us.

Posted by: annie | Oct 2 2008 6:08 utc | 22

Its not a Ford model. the Ford version is a truck that does what real trucks do: haul loads over large distances. This is a custom by an outside company, not a Ford original. This is an unfair article.

Posted by: Paul | Oct 2 2008 6:20 utc | 23

Uh regarding that 5 year budget and how you have to spend your entire budget. A properly managed office would know exactly how much it is going to spend in one annual year. If they have a bunch left it probably IS because they don’t need as much as their requesting so it should be shrunk. You let them carry over every year and you will have more opportunity for graft as they can maximize budget and just carry exess over until they feel like buying a yacht or something.
The solution is to strip the budgets bare bones across the board.

Posted by: Aaron B. | Oct 2 2008 7:57 utc | 24

Says Ford right on the grill mate, and half a dozen other places. Ford or Ford derivative, its a fair article.

Posted by: Robert | Oct 2 2008 11:42 utc | 25

Says Ford right on the grill mate, and half a dozen other places. Ford or Ford derivative, its a fair article.

Posted by: Robert | Oct 2 2008 11:43 utc | 26

Dude @ 20:
You need to go Ape…
No denying that contractors etc need vehicles that haul. But the rest of the world manages without these hyperthyroid beasts, somehow… I loved my truck. I loved the way I could see the needle on the fuel gauge drop as I tooled down the road (10 years ago, fresh from the UK, $0.80 gas was completely hilarious to me). It was a hoot, my full-size GMC, but it was also a total piece of shit, horribly built, pretty much Soviet primitivism under the hood, and the steering was terrifying (here’s J Clarkson on BBC Top Gear savaging the new F150, so things haven’t changed). Since then I’ve got 3 sheep (and 3 kids) into the back of my Subaru wagon, and framed/drywalled rooms with what I could fit on the roof.

Posted by: Tantalus | Oct 2 2008 13:17 utc | 27

The UMARIKIN taxpayer is a idjit. We gots tuh milk ’em fur all we can git ’cause eventually theys gonna fight back – when they has nuttin’ left.

Posted by: George Wanker Bush | Oct 2 2008 13:34 utc | 28

Of course Ford will get a bail-out. After all, government is sold out to the highest corporate bidder. When the gov’t needs illegal wire-taps, Verizon allows them secret rooms to listen in on calls. When Haliburton (and KBR) need more revenue, the gov’t hands out no-bid contracts. When the gov’t dislikes literature, Amazon, Wikipedia and Facebook ban America Deceived (book) . The corporations own our government, not the people.

Posted by: Hal P | Oct 2 2008 13:57 utc | 29

Ford needs to go back to some of their “better ideas”…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxlj6fgQ-ZU&feature=related

Posted by: A rope leash | Oct 2 2008 14:57 utc | 30

@ Hal P:
You mean thisAmerica Deceived that you can buy on Amazon? The America Deceived that you can read on Google Books? The one that’s all over the internet trying to drum up publicity via bullshit and completely fictional ‘censorship’ controversy?
If there’s one thing worse than trolls it’s shills for self-published fiction.

Posted by: Tantalus | Oct 2 2008 15:09 utc | 31

I actually saw one of these in a dental office parking lot, he was having a hard time with maneuvering. My preteen son was NOT impressed. I used to drive six ton trucks decades ago, what a relief it was at the end of the shift to hop on my motorcycle. I knew it would end this way when the insecure began opting for “urban assault vehicles” of ever increasing stature and weight almost two decades ago. You would have to pay me to get into the cab of that thing.

Posted by: atheo | Oct 2 2008 15:31 utc | 32

Has anyone ever moved by 26’rental truck? Not exactly fun but if the truck is empty you could concievably intimidate motorists by tailgating or other psychopathic behaviors.

Posted by: atheo | Oct 2 2008 15:35 utc | 33

Dude, those Sprinters are awesome. You see them flying down the autobahn at 100mph
the diesel engines they have will pull stumps. you should check one out.

Posted by: dan of steele | Oct 2 2008 15:51 utc | 34

Christ on a stick some of you are thick….
This crappy blogpost is based on a COMPLETE misunderstanding of what B was seeing.
But hey, don’t let that stop you from peddling your foregone conclusions anyway….
FOR THE TENTH DAMN TIME: This truck is NOT a mass production nor a Ford factory model, and IS NOT available to the general driving public: they require a special permit to operate.
In simpler terms, these are not normal trucks, so relax already.
The reactions of commentors here betrays some weird insecurity – why does everything big and shiny have to be a reflection of something you don’t like?!?
And btw, it’s not like America’s got some monopoly on stupid-sized things: seen what the Russians or Saudis are doing with truck conversions lately?!?

Posted by: Jeremiah | Oct 2 2008 17:22 utc | 35

This isn’t any sort of “image” vehicle whatsoever. This truck has a very specific function because of it very high towing capacity and high ground clearance. This thing also has all wheel drive which means that, in combination with its other attributes, it can reach areas a regular semis can’t such as remote oil drilling sites.
It is also used to haul forty foot trailers of the type used for race cars along with a race crew in the cab. I have also seen it used to haul very heavy trailers comtaining portable MRI and CAT scan machines from hospital to rural hospitals along with six man setup/operating staff for the machines, something a regular semi can’t do.

Posted by: John Dudley | Oct 2 2008 17:28 utc | 36

To the disgruntled motorheads: b’s point, I think, is that the US auto industry is still clinging to an outdated model of size and bling. So what if that truck isn’t a production model: I see monsters like that every day on the road. What’s the difference, really, between that truck and a Hummer, a Navigator, a Suburban, a Jeep Rubicon (classic name that, no irony intended, surely?) etc etc etc. They’re still busily making the superannuated beasts that are dragging them down into oblivion – no, make that a large government handout.

Posted by: Tantalus | Oct 2 2008 18:42 utc | 37

ford won’t go down Anarchore, it will evolve.

Posted by: annie | Oct 2 2008 19:25 utc | 38

Great truck for the local Mexican drug dealers. I will probably see a few driving through my neighborhood even if we are in the Great Depression II in another year. Crap loads of Mexican front business around here. Rolling in nice Lincoln Navigators with chrome and Mexican slogans in back.

Posted by: Josh | Oct 3 2008 3:16 utc | 39

Remember, companies don’t just sell products anymore, they sell dreams. The dream of the fully independent maverick with a truck that will take him through hell and high water to take him further down the road to greatness.

Posted by: ralphieboy | Oct 3 2008 9:24 utc | 40

Careful, Josh, Annie will label you a racist and government agent. The Dems have some lucrative government sponsored programs for those Mexicans…cheap homes and property that doesn’t have to be paid back thanks to CRC.

Posted by: Jesus | Oct 4 2008 1:32 utc | 41

josh, jesus
you are filth, fuck off

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Oct 4 2008 1:41 utc | 42

giap: the shit-pile breeds lots of flies. maybe this vid is worth a couple dark chuckles

Posted by: Lizard | Oct 4 2008 3:23 utc | 43

I don’t understand the people defending these abominations. I’ve seen a few on the roads where I live and they’re status symbols, nothing more. They’re $80,000-$200,000 depending on the options, get abysmal gas mileage, and are a hazard to everything else on the road. (The same could be said of the International MXT, Hummers, Lincoln Navigators, etc.)
I’ve been wondering about this for years now. American car manufacturers keep making bigger and bigger vehicles. Compare a current F-150 with one from the 70’s or 80’s–it’s about twice the size. Yet they’ve been losing market share for the past decade to the Japanese companies who make smaller, more reliable vehicles. Are they really that dense?

Posted by: Chemmett | Oct 4 2008 4:34 utc | 44

I’ve been wondering about this for years now. American car manufacturers keep making bigger and bigger vehicles.
chemmet, a few years ago cheneyco gave a massive ($25,000) tax break to companies purchasing these vehicles, making it advantageous to not only buy one but to turn around the next year and trade up for another model, and another tax break. it was aimed at not only stimulating the market but insuring we had these guzzlers on the road sucking up oil for the remainder of their lifetime. it was a giveaway to the oil companies.

Posted by: annie | Oct 4 2008 13:56 utc | 45

LMAO!
Seems some people love it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsD4QnKS7Xo

Posted by: Mike Delaney | Oct 8 2008 6:37 utc | 46

Hey !!! I think anyone that can afford one should have an F650. We own a Construction Company and my husband bought one, I drive it all over town. I also just brought one of the largest contracts our company has had in 1.5 million dollars one !! I really believe the truck had a lot to do with. I am seen by everyone !! You can not miss our truck and it doesn’t hurt anything that a beautiful young women drives it !! Makes the truck and all 6 contracts I have brought in sooooooo much sweeter !! By the way, I look and feel just as good in the new Corvette, my husband bought for me but I still think the truck is great for advertising !! Trust me, it is !!!
From Hardtzz in Florida !! Tight Lines & Fish On !!

Posted by: 1FLBOATER | Oct 9 2008 5:18 utc | 47

This isn’t a forum of brain surgeons, is it?
Ford does NOT build this truck! It’s a HiMarc conversion. Dissing Ford for that would be the same as dissing Toyota for a Tundra that I chopped, added 4000lbs of dead weight to, painted bright pink, and called the Hiroshima.
The F-650 it’s built on is a real WORK truck. It’s not for you people that whine about ride quality. It’s for people that need a truck that can do some serious hauling. Leave Ford out of this and make fun of HiMarc.

Posted by: Logical Poster | Oct 22 2008 23:34 utc | 48

Obviously, this isn’t a forum that a certain, Logical Poster has read either, or they would have seen above in the comments that we had figured that out. Doh!

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Oct 22 2008 23:46 utc | 49

Back to Main