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2010 Ford Flex (Courtesy of Ford Media)
With the holidays behind us and the birth of a new year, my sweetheart and I decided to take a much-needed vacation. This would be our first true vacation since our honeymoon last summer.
We chose to visit Galveston, and tour the Texas coast. The Ford Flex was the car we were to do our traveling in.
We found the Flex had more room than a chuck wagon, comforts of a Pullman coach, and the strength of a 20-mule team. Make that 262 horsepower with 3.5L V6 Ecoboost engine and a six-speed transmission. Forgive me for waxing a little strong on 19th century modes of travel, but I just wanted to draw a parallel between then and a fine 21st century automobile of today.
Deep grooves stream down the body sides, seeming to move from a gleaming chrome grille up front, stacked in perfect proportion with red candy coloring of metallic tinted clearcoat topped with a white crown. This pretty much describes our Flex as we toured the coast and noticed so many envious stares.
Rather than 100-pound bags of flour stacked on the floor, sides of salt pork hanging from the wagon’s frame, barrels of molasses near the driver’s seat, and water barrels hanging from outside the tarp-covered frame attached to side boards, our Flex was loaded with modern instruments. Technology included available voice activated communication and entertainment center, plus activated park assistance. All these wonders rode on comfortable and attractive 19-inch polished aluminum wheels (standard).
Inside the 2010 Flex (Courtesy of Ford Media)
Like Pullman Coaches built near Chicago in the mid-1800s, the Flex built in America today has loads of room. It comfortably holds up to seven passengers. Flex seats two in the front, three in the middle and two in back. We didn’t have any passengers on our trip, but the middle portion of the Flex was as large as a small kingdom and as spacious as a train lounge. We filled it with ice chests, camping and fishing gear, and numerous pieces of luggage that any lady needs for one short trip.
Ambient lighting, leather and wood trim steering wheel, power lift gate, and fog lamps are all part of the convenient luxuries that apply to Ford Flex.
On our trip we averaged about 23 mpg on both highway and city. The EPA fuel economy estimates 16 city and 22 highway mpg.
Ford Flex has the highest ratings (5-star) in the government safety ratings: Frontal crash for driver and passenger, side crash for front and rear seat, while rollover commanded a four-star.
The 2010 Ford Flex that I drove had a standard price of $42,000. But in researching prices on the Internet, I found prices as low as $28,000 with loss of few noticeable amenities.
Durhl Caussey writes a car column read around the world. He may be reached at this paper or dcaussey@sbcglobal.net .
