Full load floor/rear seat delete...

[scotman]

These are some "in process" images of my 16 FiST i found the other day.
This project has held up really well.
I designed it with a 275 lb capacity. I also wanted an onboard high volume air compressor, a small forward compartment that could double as a cooler and, in the right rear corner i mounted a battery tray to either improve weight distribution or provide a second battery for camping use with a 2000 watt inverter. These pics were taken early in the assembly/fabrication process. So, some of it is clamped together so i could make little adjustments.
I used the seatbelt bolt positions for most of the mild steel piers that i attached the floor to.
I didn't need a rear seat. But I had plenty of ideas for other things to occupy the dead space beneath the floor! I will try to find the finnished pics.

 

[manbearpig]

Too bad they didn't offer than van here, or any other three-door for that matter.

 

[scotman]

I also wondered that. Even if ford had offered a simple load floor like this, never mind with blanked rear door windows or any of the usual visual "van" appearance cues. It has lots of usable space. With the proper cargo retention racks or trays it would be a great florist delivery or small package delivery vehicle. Ford marketing really lacked imagination regarding the potential for the Fiesta as a commercial vehicle. Point of purchase "up fitting" is quite profitable and widely understood by the dealerships that sell vans and pickup trucks.

 

[manbearpig]

It seems like it worked well for GM and Chrysler with the HHR and PT Cruiser. I'm sure Ford didn't want to cannibalize Transit Connect sales... I would have bought one of those when they first came to the US but saw that manual transmission wouldn't be an option.

 

[scotman]

Hey! MBP. Hows it going? And yup! GM sold quite a few "delivery"versions of their HHR. But, Chrysler never made any effort to do a stripped-down PT. They went the other direction and did a convertible! I don't recall ever talking to any PT owner who said "gee, i wish they made a rag top." Those PT cruisers and HHR sold really well. But both of them were hated within their respective corporate parents. I understand from a very good source, that there was actual concerted effort to kill the HHR!
Of course, the bankruptcy killed it and Pontiac and Hummer. Along with several others.

 

[manbearpig]

Pretty sure they were both pretty junky, you don't see them hardly at all anymore. The HHR was probably riddled with the same issues the Cobalt had, being on the same platform.

I just looked up PT Cruiser Panel van, and wow, what some people are willing to do to their cars! Too bad welding up the rear doors just makes the front doors look too short.

 

[scotman]

Yup. The PT was based on the Neon. The HHR was based on the Cobalt. Almost every vehicle line has some recalls. How the issues are resolved is more important than the fact that they occurred.
With station wagon body styles being cancelled by everyone, it was a strange thing to see these "tall wagons" appear on the market!
Toyota and Pontiac launched the Matrix and Vibe. Both assembled in California and based on the boring but super reliable Corolla chassis.
I have never owned any of those cars. But I have driven thousands of miles in all of them!
I rented an HHR and slept in it when i went to watch the 12 hours of Sebring race. Drove a Matrix rental up the PCH in California and heavily used PT cruisers on various work related travels. They all got the job done economically.
I can't call them junk. It's really all about maintenance.