To mark the occasion of the Next-Generation Ford Territory Titanium’s first anniversary after being launched in the Manila International Auto Show, the car brand staged a city drive that hopped into museums.
Clever way to celebrate the car’s breakthrough considering that the 2024 MIAS is just around the corner.
But what makes it exceptional is that it allowed for a drive through urban traffic covering the dreaded rush hours.
BEHIND the velvet ropes is a piece worthy of display.
Packaged as the ideal family car, Ford Territory Titanium and its upscale X variant demonstrated how it could make city-driving a little easier.
Hey, we all need a little help in dealing with everyday tasks: Going to the office, picking up something from the mall, dropping the kids from school.
Its smooth drive and easy handling make the bumper-to-bumper 7 p.m. traffic at Quezon Avenue quite bearable.
That comes in handy when you’re tired at work and all you want to do is go home, take a shower and hit the bed.
Arriving in style.
Night ride should be a good time to enjoy its retractable moonroof. To air out the stresses of the day. And to keep the kids entertained.
Oh, the open-road is even more pleasant.
It zooms past the Skyway segments from its north portion to the NAIA Exchange and down again by the busy Roxas Boulevard.
There, you get to use the cruise control, auto brakes and lane-keeping features of the Next-Generation Ford Territory Titanium.
Museums
Now the choice of the places to visit is brilliant: Museums that we only get to see when we pass by them every day on the way to somewhere.
Who would know that all the presidential cars are now under one roof, right in the middle of the Quezon Memorial Circle?
Well, I remember seeing a few of them at Fort Santiago during a field trip back in the ‘70s.
A CITY landmark and an emerging classic.
Am not sure if those are the same exact cars, but the “Museo ng Pampangulong Sasakyan” gathered everything — except for those used by the very recent Chief Executives.
The rarest in the lot is the 1934 Cadillac V16 used by President Manuel Quezon and Gen. Douglas MacArthur. Its restoration was done in 10 years.
In fact, the United States government is asking it back, according to the museum guide. But of course, it’s already a property of the Philippine government.
The whole drive, conducted by the team of automotive legend Georges Ramirez, only officially started with the parking activity in a corner of the QMC.
There the motoring media marveled at the self-parking Titanium — parallel or perpendicular parking all within a few touches on the screen.
Again, it makes a case for being the ultimate city car because it affords the owners the luxury of sending “already here parking, you’re exactly where?” while the Titanium employs its extensive sensor capability to squeeze through tight spaces.
WHAT better way to begin the museum-hopping Ford media drive but at the Museum of Presidential Cars.
The next segment took the media to the National Museum of Natural History and the National Museum of Anthropology.
Listen, these two museums sit on a newly established Museum Complex which now occupies the chunk of the Rizal Park starting from Taft Avenue.
They complement the National Museum of Fine Arts — yes, the national museum we all know of — across the street fronting Intramuros.
From there, comes the long afternoon traffic going back to Las Casas de Acuzar. Not in Bataan but in the congested part of San Francisco del Monte, Quezon City.
Well worth the trip, though. A full day of demo-driving that dramatized the qualities of the Next-Gen Territory Titanium.
Oh, by the way, as for fuel consumption. The indicator needle hardly moved.
