Ok, I know, The Garage is all about cars not singing so why are we talking about American Idol? Well, Ford has been involved with the hit reality contest series since the beginning and they’ve created some pretty cool videos using Idol contestants and Ford products. Oh yes, that and they are giving stuff away. Not just any stuff though, they are giving away a trip for 2 to the 2008 season finale in Los Angeles, $5000 cash and a 2008 Focus equipped with the SYNC technology package.

All you need to do is visit the American Idol site before the end of today and answer a few questions about the Ford American Idol music videos. You can do it! We know you’ve been watching! I’ll even admit that my money is on the little guy.

That’s not all! Watch The Garage over the next couple of days, where we’ll be having our own contest with an American Idol give a way courtesy of Ford!

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When we picked up the 2008 Ford Focus from Ford, we were on out way home from a few days in Niagara Falls. We consists of a family of 5 and we were concerned whether we would be able to fit all of our stuff into the little sedan. Fortunately, those fears were unfounded as the Focus’ trunk is enormous, even with a sizable sub-woofer occupying the left corner.

That substantial storage locker comes at a price however, as the rear seats don’t have much in the way of legroom. The trip from Oakville to Whitby was just about far enough for the 13 & 9 year olds. The 7 year old was just happy to check out the cool mood lighting. I hate to say it, but the car would benefit from a few inches less cargo space if it allowed for more rear legroom.

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Perception and reality are often very different. If the reaction I got from friends and co-workers is any indication, Ford has some perception issues to deal with with the 2008 Ford Focus.

“Nice looking car. How much? 25 grand? Why buy that when a Civic is so much cheaper?”

When did people get the perception that Honda’s are cheap? In Canada, the base Civic sedan lists for $16,990. Compare that to $15,999 for the entry level Focus. Our tester was far from entry level, having been jammed full of every option conceivable at this level. The msrp on our little silver sedan was a lofty $24,764 before freight and pdi. Just for fun, I decided to do a little number crunching on the Honda site. All I can say is, Wow! To get all the stuff that was in our Focus, you have to begin with a Civic EXL and then start adding options. By the time you have all the goodies the matched up, you have a Civic that sells for $31,175!

Now that we’ve got a firmer grip on reality, we can get on with life with the Focus on the road.
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Let’s take a trip across the pond to view the 10 most popular British drives of 2007.

The most popular car in the country - as it has been since 1999 - was the Ford Focus, of which 126,928 units were sold.

The Focus was one of only three cars to break through the 100,000 barrier, the others being the Vauxhall Astra and the Ford Fiesta. Completing the UK top ten were the –
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Which automobile do you think a new car dealers most want to sell?

This 2005 Honda Civic..

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It’s funny sometimes how brand perception can vary across continents. While public perception of Ford’s quality has struggled for decades in North America, in Europe it’s a different story. Ford of Europe and the UK has long had a top reputation for building good cars.

Reader’s Digest polled over 24,000 respondents from 15 European countries about what brands they trust most. Ford won it’s division as Britain’s most trusted car brand. Now if they could just get that loyalty across to the North American public they might get things on track.

Press release after the break
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Over at Top Speed they have listed the Top Ten cars for Making Love. Of course this is a european list, so most of the cars aren’t available on North American soil.

1. Fiat Stilo

2. Seat Leon

3. Fiat Grande Punto

4. VW Golf

5. Ford Focus

6. Renault Twingo

7. Honda Civic

8. VW Fox

9. Ford Fiesta

10. Renault Clio

Just like Travolta said in Pulp Fiction, it’s the difference between “here” and Europe is the little things. In my eyes, there is no way that any of those cars qualify as a Love Machine. My best ever Love Machine was either the double bed sized bench seats in my 69 Plymouth Fury 2, or the folded down back seats of my 79 Dodge Monaco wagon.

What was your favourite Love Machine?

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