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To piggyback on my thread about Ford turning down the offer to get Volkswagen for free in 1948, I want to skip to another missed small car opportunity. In 1960, the success of the Volkswagen convinced Ford to design its own subcompact to be known as the Cardinal.
It was front wheel drive, a radical feature back then, and to slot below their own compact Falcon. It was not to be however, Dearborn cancelled it and the car was instead rebadged as the Taunus (that's with an "n" not an "r") and sold by Ford of Germany. I think this was a missed opportunity for the Blue Oval, it would've been a revolution for the American auto industry, instead we had to wait another 10 years for a Ford subcompact, the infamous Pinto. So what if Ford decided to go with it?