Ford Versailles

Last updated
Ford Versailles
Ford Versailles.JPG
Autolatina-built Ford Galaxy (Argentina)
Overview
Also calledFord Galaxy (Argentina)
Production1991–1996
AssemblyBrazil: São Bernardo do Campo
Body and chassis
Class Mid-size/Large family car (D)
Body style 2/4-door sedan
3/5-door station wagon (Ford Royale)
Chronology
Predecessor Ford Del Rey
Successor Ford Mondeo I

The Ford Versailles was a mid-size automobile between 1991 and 1996 in Brazil and Argentina. It was a version of the Volkswagen Santana sold in the 1990s, when Ford and Volkswagen shared models in South America in a joint venture known as Autolatina. It replaced the Ford Del Rey in Brazil and the locally built Ford Sierra in Argentina. The station wagon version was sold as the Ford Royale.

Contents

History

1996 Ford Versailles 2.0i GL; facelift model Ford Galaxy 1996 ex-directoria ford.jpg
1996 Ford Versailles 2.0i GL; facelift model

The Ford Versailles took over from the Ford Del Rey in 1991 (for the 1992 model year). [1] Design differed from the Santana by using Ford's corporate front end treatment, somewhat squarer taillights, and more upright D-pillars. Like the Santana, the Versailles was available as a two- or four-door sedan, and as a station wagon called the Ford Royale. The Royale was initially only offered as a three-door, even though the Volkswagen Quantum on which it was based was available with five doors. [1] (It was alleged that Volkswagen did not want the Royale to be available as a five-door model, as this would have posed a competitive threat to the popular Quantum.). In 1995 and 1996, Ford did offer a five-door version of the Royale. The Versailles and Royale were both built at Volkswagen's plant in São Bernardo do Campo and not at Ford's own facility.

The GL came standard with a 1.8-liter Volkswagen engine, or an optional 2.0-liter version. Both were offered in either gasoline or alcohol-powered versions. The top Ghia model only received the 2.0-liter engine and was also available with electronic fuel injection. From 1993, fuel injection became available on the GL as well. [1]

Changes

In 1994, the model-specific front seats were replaced with the cheaper units from the locally built Ford Escort. In 1995, the Autolatina joint venture ended. Nonetheless, Ford presented a facelifted version of the Versailles and Royale, which coincided with the availability of a five-door station wagon.

Ford Galaxy

The Versailles was also sold as the Ford Galaxy in Argentina (not to be confused with the European MPV of the same name), where it replaced the Ford Sierra. [2] Both the Versailles and the Galaxy were eventually replaced by the Ford Mondeo.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ford Cortina</span> Car model

The Ford Cortina is a medium-sized family car manufactured and marketed initially by Ford of Britain, and then Ford of Europe in various body styles from 1962 to 1982 over five generations — and was the United Kingdom's best-selling car of the 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ford Sierra</span> Motor vehicle

The Ford Sierra is a mid-size car or large family car manufactured and marketed by Ford Europe from 1982–1993, designed by Uwe Bahnsen, Robert Lutz and Patrick le Quément — and noted for its aerodynamic styling producing a drag coefficient of 0.34, a significant improvement over its predecessors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ford Laser</span> Motor vehicle

The Ford Laser is a compact car, originally a subcompact car in the first three generations, which was sold by Ford in Asia, Oceania, and parts of South America and Africa. It has generally been available as a sedan or hatchback, although convertible, wagon and pick-up versions have also been available in different markets. The sedan, and briefly station wagon, versions were badged Ford Meteor in Australia between 1981 and 1987. The Ford Meteor name was also used in South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ford Telstar</span> Motor vehicle

The Ford Telstar is an automobile that was sold by Ford in Asia, Australasia and Africa, comparable in size to the European Ford Sierra and the North American Ford Tempo. It was progressively replaced by the Ford Mondeo. The car was named after the Telstar satellite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ford Orion</span> Motor vehicle

The Ford Orion is a small family car that was produced by Ford Europe from 1983 until 1993. A total of 3,534,239 units were sold during the car's ten-year production life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volkswagen Santana</span> Motor vehicle

The Volkswagen Santana is a nameplate used by Volkswagen for various sedans and station wagons since 1983. The first generation is based on the second-generation Volkswagen Passat (B2). It was introduced in 1981 while production started in 1983 for China. The use of the "Santana" badge rather than "Passat" echoes the use of different names for the sedan versions of the Polo (Derby) and Golf (Jetta).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volkswagen Pointer</span> Motor vehicle

The Volkswagen Pointer was a small family car sold by Autolatina in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay from 1994 to 1996. The Pointer was available as a five-door hatchback, and the two-door coupe version, called the Volkswagen Logus, was sold from 1993 to 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volkswagen Gol</span> A subcompact car manufactured by Volkswagen do Brasil

The Volkswagen Gol is a subcompact car that has been manufactured by Volkswagen do Brasil since 1980 as Volkswagen's entry-level car in the Latin American market—where it succeeded the Volkswagen Type 1 (Fusca) and the Volkswagen Brasilia. Several variants of the Gol-derived Voyage and Parati were marketed in North America as the Volkswagen Fox from 1987 to 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ford Corcel</span> Motor vehicle

The Ford Corcel is a family car which was sold by Ford do Brasil in Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay and Venezuela. It was also assembled in Venezuela. The French-influenced styling of the Corcel was unique to Brazil until late 1977. From this year, the redesigned Corcel II bore a strong resemblance to the European Ford Escort and Ford Cortina of same era, but its Renault underpinnings remained the same. The Corcel was eventually replaced by the Del Rey, which was originally introduced as a better equipped version of the Corcel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ford Del Rey</span> Midsized car from Ford do Brasil (1981–1991)

The Ford Del Rey is a midsized car produced by Ford do Brasil in Brazil from 1981 to 1991. It was a successor to the popular Ford Corcel II. Like the Corcel II, the Del Rey was designed exclusively for Brazil, but was sold in Chile, Venezuela, Uruguay, and Paraguay, as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ford Verona</span> Motor vehicle

The Ford Verona and Volkswagen Apollo are a pair of small family cars that were manufactured in Brazil by Autolatina, a joint venture between Brazilian subsidiaries of Ford and Volkswagen. The Verona was produced from 1989 to 1992 and from 1993 to 1996, initially as a direct replacement for the ageing Ford Del Rey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volkswagen Fox</span> Motor vehicle

The Volkswagen Fox is a subcompact car produced and designed by Volkswagen of Brazil and sold in Latin America from 2003 until 2021 and in Europe from 2005 until 2011, where it was sold as the city car offering. The Fox was produced as a 3-door and 5-door hatchback. There is also a mini SUV version called Fox Xtreme and a mini MPV/station wagon model called Suran, SpaceFox, SportVan or Fox Plus depending on the market.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ford Pampa</span> Motor vehicle

The Ford Pampa is a coupe utility manufactured by Ford do Brasil between 1982 and 1997. It was derived from the Ford Corcel and Ford Del Rey, and was the best-selling coupe utility in Brazil for several years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volkswagen Type 3</span> Compact car built from 1961 to 1973

The Volkswagen Type 3 is a compact car manufactured and marketed by Volkswagen from 1961 to 1973. Introduced at the 1961 Frankfurt International Motor Show, the IAA, the Type 3 was marketed as the Volkswagen 1500 and later as the Volkswagen 1600, in two-door Notchback, Fastback, and Variant body styles, the latter marketed as the 'Squareback' in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AutoLatina</span>

AutoLatina was a joint venture between Volkswagen Group subsidiary Volkswagen do Brasil (51%) and Ford Motor Company subsidiary Ford Brasil (49%) in South America. The main reason for the joint venture was the bad economic situation at the time, which made joint survival more attractive than an individual fight for a share in a dwindling market.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ford Escort (Europe)</span> European small family car

The Ford Escort is a small family car that was manufactured by Ford of Europe from 1968 until 2000. In total there were six generations, spread across three basic platforms: the original, rear-wheel-drive Mk.1/Mk.2 (1968–1980), the "Erika" front-wheel-drive Mk.3/Mk.4 (1980–1992), and the final CE-14 Mk.5/Mk.6 (1990–2002) version. Its successor, the Ford Focus, was released in 1998, but the final generation of Escort was phased out gradually, with the panel van version ending production in 2002 in favour of the Ford Transit Connect.

The Ford Royale is an automobile which was produced in Brazil by Autolatina, a joint venture between Ford and Volkswagen, in the 1990s. It was a wagon version of the Ford Versailles sedan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ford Brasil</span> Brazilian import subsidiary of the Ford Motor Company

Ford Brasil is the Brazilian subsidiary of American automaker Ford Motor Company, founded on April 24, 1919. The operation started out importing the Ford Model T cars and the Ford Model TT trucks in kit form from the United States for assembly in Brazil. The Ford brand, however, had already been present in the country since 1904 with both vehicles being sold in Brazil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ford Granada (Europe)</span> Motor vehicle

The European Ford Granada is an executive car manufactured by Ford Europe from 1972 until 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volkswagen Passat (B2)</span> Motor vehicle

The Volkswagen Passat (B2) is an automobile which was produced by German manufacturer Volkswagen from 1981 to 1988. It was the second generation of the Volkswagen Passat. The platform was slightly longer than the preceding Passat (B1). As with the previous generation, it was based on the platform of the Audi 80; the corresponding B2 version of which had been already launched in 1978. The Santana was also manufactured in China, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina. In Brazil, the Santana station wagon was sold as the Quantum. In the United States, both the Santana sedan and station wagon were sold as the Quantum. The Passat saloon and estate were produced in South Africa for their local market until 1987. The production of Passat B2 in China ended in January 2013.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Pereira, Fabiano (2017-04-20). "Grandes Brasileiros: Ford Versailles Ghia era um Santana que ia além" [Brazilian Greats: Ford Versailles Ghia was a Santana that went above and beyond] (in Portuguese). Quatro Rodas. Archived from the original on 2022-12-04.
  2. Piquini, Marco (1995), The motor industries of South America and Mexico: poised for growth, Economist Intelligence Unit, p. 185, ISBN   9780850588156