Ample leg room front and rear means that the chauffer-driven Executive will not be cramped, but because of the lack of side support most front seat passengers preferred to have the seat well forward so they could brace their feet against the bulkhead.
The driving position is good; it needs to be with such a large bonnet. The steering wheel is adjustable for rake (there is a locking lever to the right of the column under the dash board) but with the wheel in it’s near vertical position there is not a lot of clearance between the drivers thighs and the steering wheel rim. The organ throttle and large brake pedal are well placed and come complete with unnecessary chrome trimmings.
Minor control are not so well laid out; their arrangement is probably more due to marketing requirements for an impressive array of switches than to engineering/ergonomic considerations. With the steering wheel in its straight ahead position the row of switches to its right and below the facia are neatly obscured by the horizontal spoke, so to operate the correct switch, the driver has to peer around the side of the wheel. Most of the auxiliaries are controlled from this panel, including the smeary two-speed wipers and electric washers, which on one of the cars we tried were "dribblers" and on the other gave a useful jet of water. The right hand stalk operates the horn, and flashes the lights. Unlike most other current Fords the dipswitch is on the floor and this brings on all for headlamps which can be supplemented by the auxiliary tungsten spot and fog lamps (standard in the Executive specification); the auxiliaries are operated by a single switch. With everything on there is a good spread of light. Reversing lights are operated automatically by the gear selector. Rear visibility however is not very good and the rear corners of the car cannot be seen from the driving seat; blind rear three –quarters makes filtering into a traffic stream rather fraught though this short coming is compensated for by the wing mirrors which can be used truck-driver style for reversing. The day/night interior mirror does not provide such good visibility due to its rather odd shape.
As we have come to expect from the Ford heating and ventilation are first rate. Different combinations of the facia-mounted and easy to understand heater controls give cold, warm or hot air to the feet, the same temperature variations to the screen, and whatever the other settings variable amounts of cool air to the face from the well-sited eyeball vents at the ends of the facia. A noisy two-speed fan supplements the ram flow in traffic. A heated rear window (an alternator is fitted to cope with the supply) ensures a clear rear window.
If engine noise at high revs is not one of the Executives strong points then lack of road noise certainly is. There is very little radial thump from the wide tyres and only subdued bangs from the suspension over bad surfaces. This unfortunately tends to focus attention on the excessive wind noise which comes from the guttering round the screen, spoiling the otherwise extremely quiet and effortless high-speed cruising; some instability in cross-winds mars high speed driving too.
FITTING AND FURNITURE
The appointments of this big Ford are fully in keeping with its title. The comprehensive array of instruments is well sited in the driver’s line of vision; unfortunately the glasses are at such an angle that the rear window is reflected in the face of the instruments, which makes the accurate speedometer difficult to read. The matching tachometer is of academic interest and most owners will find no use for it. None of our staff liked the chrome surrounds to the instruments; others disliked the walnut facia insert and door cappings though we appreciate that many people like this kind of embellishment.
Mounted each side of the instrument panel are two large knobs; that on the left is a cigar lighter, the other is a rheostat for the instrument illumination which also operates the front interior light. There are also courtesy switches on the front doors. The rear compartment is lit by 2 small lights integral with the grab handles (with magnifying inserts presumably for reading) which are operated by both curtesy switches on the rear doors and small switches on the door pillars. Fumbly door lock catches lie flush with the walnut cappings when depressed and lifting the to unlock the doors is a nail-breaking exercise. All door locks can be child proofed, however, and we liked the interior door handles which lie within cavities in the door panel. The sliding steel roof, operated by a handle just above the screen, is draught free and produced no internal buffeting provided it was not fully opened. Even when ajar, however, it was not possible to listen to the Ford radio, even with the balance control adjusted to give full volume to the front speaker.
This is mounted on the front face of a centre console, whose rear-hinged lid is difficult to open. Other stowage space is provided by a large lockable drop-down glove locker and a map pocket to the right of the driver’s feet. A shelf behind the rear seats can also accommodate other items. Both the Executives we tried were finished in Aubergine-one had colour-keyed trim, and the other the alternative black which we thought much improved the cars interior. Full carpeting and door panels trimmed in a pale shade of purple are not to our taste.
The inertia reel belts are easy to use with the reservation that the short section tended to get lost behind the front seats. The enormous carpeted illuminated boot took 13.1 cu, ft. of our test luggage.
SERVICE AND MAINTENANCE
With such a long bonnet there is ample space around the short V6 engine to give easy access to all routine service points, though topping up the oil level is awkward due to the proximity of the huge air cleaner to the filler cap. The release catch for the self- propping bonnet is located above the driver’s right foot and when open the bonnet is illuminated. The tool kit contains only a jack and a hub cap remover cum wheelbrace-presumably Ford consider that owners of their status car have passed the do-it-yourself stage. The jack works fairly well, but gives the uneasy feeling that it is about to seize; when not ion use it is stowed above the spare wheel at the front of the engine compartment. The Executive needs servicing at 6000-mile intervals, or every 6 months, whichever comes first.
