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Ford Vega
 
 
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Not to be confused with the Chevrolet Vega
Chevrolet Vega

File:71 Vega Panel Express.jpgThe Chevrolet Vega is a four passenger subcompact car that was introduced September 10, 1970 and produced for the 1971 through 1977 model years....
, a 1970s subcompact.

The Ford Vega was a concept car produced in 1953 at the behest of the Ford Motor Company. Only one example was created.

e Gardner, a Cord
Cord Automobile

Cord was the brand name of a United States automobile, manufactured by the Auburn Automobile Company from 1929 through 1932 and again in 1936 and 1937....
 designer responsible for the Cord 810
Cord Automobile

Cord was the brand name of a United States automobile, manufactured by the Auburn Automobile Company from 1929 through 1932 and again in 1936 and 1937....
, was commissioned by Henry Ford II
Henry Ford II

Henry Ford II , commonly known as "HF2" and "Hank the Deuce", was the son of Edsel Ford and grandson of Henry Ford. He was president of the Ford Motor Company from 1945 to 1960, Board of directors and Chief executive officer from 1960 to 1979, and chairman for several months thereafter....
 to produce a lightweight, two-seat roadster. Gardner's design was two years in production and used an Anglia
Ford Anglia

The Ford Anglia was a British car from Ford of Britain in the United Kingdom. It was related to the Ford Prefect and the later Ford Popular. The Ford Anglia name was applied to four models of car between 1939 and 1967....
 chassis with one-off lightweight aluminum
Aluminium

Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white and ductile member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al; its atomic number is 13....
 bodywork.






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Not to be confused with the Chevrolet Vega
Chevrolet Vega

File:71 Vega Panel Express.jpgThe Chevrolet Vega is a four passenger subcompact car that was introduced September 10, 1970 and produced for the 1971 through 1977 model years....
, a 1970s subcompact.

The Ford Vega was a concept car produced in 1953 at the behest of the Ford Motor Company. Only one example was created.

Design

Vince Gardner, a Cord
Cord Automobile

Cord was the brand name of a United States automobile, manufactured by the Auburn Automobile Company from 1929 through 1932 and again in 1936 and 1937....
 designer responsible for the Cord 810
Cord Automobile

Cord was the brand name of a United States automobile, manufactured by the Auburn Automobile Company from 1929 through 1932 and again in 1936 and 1937....
, was commissioned by Henry Ford II
Henry Ford II

Henry Ford II , commonly known as "HF2" and "Hank the Deuce", was the son of Edsel Ford and grandson of Henry Ford. He was president of the Ford Motor Company from 1945 to 1960, Board of directors and Chief executive officer from 1960 to 1979, and chairman for several months thereafter....
 to produce a lightweight, two-seat roadster. Gardner's design was two years in production and used an Anglia
Ford Anglia

The Ford Anglia was a British car from Ford of Britain in the United Kingdom. It was related to the Ford Prefect and the later Ford Popular. The Ford Anglia name was applied to four models of car between 1939 and 1967....
 chassis with one-off lightweight aluminum
Aluminium

Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white and ductile member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al; its atomic number is 13....
 bodywork. Some styling touches, such as the pop-up headlamps
Hidden headlamps

Hidden headlamps are an automotive styling feature that conceals an automobile's headlamps when they are not in use. Depending on the design, the headlamps may be mounted in a housing that rotates so as to sit flush with the front end as on the Porsche 928, may retract into the hood and/or fenders as on the 1968 - 2004 Chevrolet Corvette, or...
, were Cord-inspired details. Power came from an elderly 136 in3 V8
V8 engine

A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinder s mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft....
, which produced 60 bhp, yielding performance that compared unfavorably with the Chevrolet Corvette C1
Chevrolet Corvette C1

The Chevrolet Corvette C1 is a sports car produced from 1953 through 1962. It is the first generation of Chevrolet Corvettes built and marketed by Chevrolet....
 of the same vintage. Celebrities such as Groucho Marx
Groucho Marx

Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx , was an American comedian and film star famed as a master of wit. He made 13 feature films with his siblings the Marx Brothers and also had a successful solo career, most notably as the host of the radio and television game shows You Bet Your Life and Tell it to Groucho....
 and Howard Hughes
Howard Hughes

Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American aviator, industrialist, film producer and director, philanthropist, and one of the wealthiest people in the world....
 visited the Ford facilities building the Vega by invitation from Henry Ford II. Henry Ford II proudly displayed the car at the firm's 50th anniversary.

Influence

The Vega was an expensive one-off project and it did not yield a car that could be produced for a competitive price. As an exercise, however, it was a success. The production of a stylish roadster kindled interest within Ford concerning making its own modern sporty roadster, which led directly to the creation of the highly successful Ford Thunderbird
Ford Thunderbird

The Thunderbird, often abbreviated as T-Bird, was an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company in the United States from 1955 through 2005 — through thirteen generations and various body types....
 in 1955. The Thunderbird convertible held the same niche as the Vega would have. After the introduction of the Ford Mustang
Ford Mustang

File:Ford mustang badge.jpgThe Ford Mustang is an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. It was initially based on the Ford Falcon , a compact car....
 in 1964, the Thunderbird shifted emphasis away from these performance aspirations and towards increased luxury, so as not to cannibalize sales within the Ford enterprise.

Eventual fate

The single car was displayed for several years in the Ford Rotunda Exhibition Center in Dearborn, Michigan
Dearborn, Michigan

Dearborn is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located in the Metro Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan, and is the tenth largest city in the U.S....
, remaining in the property of Ford. In the 2006 Barrett-Jackson
Barrett-Jackson

The Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction is a collector Auto_auction and exposition company, started in 1960. It is known today as "The Greatest Car Show on Earth."...
 Scottsdale Auction it was sold for $385,000 to private collector Sam Pack, in whose property it remains.