2005 Ford Five Hundred & Mercury Montego

The Blue Oval needs hits. Nearly 20 years ago, it had them in the form of the Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable, benchmark cars at the time that sold big. For the rest of the 1980s and much of the 1990s, domestic marques turned their attention to trucks, while Japanese brands took command of the midsize-sedan segment.

Ford is referring to 2005 as its "Year of the Car," and the all-new Five Hundred and Montego are two of its key weapons in the fight to regain lost market territory. With front-drive dash-to-axle lengths; generous passengers-first cabin spaces; and tall, 61.5-inch overall heights, the Five Hundred and Montego look like strong competition for the Toyota Camry or Nissan Altima. Line one up next to a new Chrysler 300, though, and the Five Hundred is 3.9 inches longer than the long, low, and wide Mopar. While the German-American Chrysler has classic American proportions, the Five Hundred and Montego, based on the Volvo S80/XC90 architecture, are front-drive, cab-forward designs with sumptuous interior room.

Ford says it designed its new Freestyle before the Five Hundred/Montego, which make these two sedans the first cars based on crossovers. This is reflected in their high step-in seating and optional all-wheel drive. The Volvo heritage translates into a rigid structure and includes a large side-impact protection tube to direct lateral crash forces beneath the front seats and a fuel tank surrounded by subframe rails and crossmembers. The company isn't being overly generous with safety equipment, however; side-curtain airbags cost extra.

Nearly everything the Five Hundred (the name we'll use to reference both) needs to be exceptional is baked into its underlying Swedish-American design. Unfortunately, the engine is neither baked-in nor outstanding. Ford engineered its two transmission choices around the car's Taurus-sourced 3.0-liter, 203-horsepower Duratec V-6. A smooth and tactile six-speed automatic is standard on front-drive Limited and optional on SEL FWD models, and a ZF-Batavia continuously variable transmission is standard on SE and SEL FWD, and all Haldex all-wheel-drive models. Both autoboxes offer a wider ratio span than four- or five-speed automatics in competitors' cars.