Official press release:

Ford Motor Company has unveiled a dramatic new aerodynamic concept car which has the potential of providing a 27 percent better fuel economy than a similar-sized 1982 model car.

Called Probe III, it was created by Ford of Europe's design team and is the latest in a succession of design studies by Ford worldwide to achieve fuel savings through advanced air-management techniques.

Ford President, Donald E. Petersen, said Probe III incorporates several advanced aerodynamic features which together reduce the drag coefficient to .22 — about 50 percent better than the rating of today's new cars.

He said that although Probe III incorporates a number of unique experimental features, it remains a completely practical four-passenger car which does not compromise present day family-car standards of roominess, comfort and luggage space.

The special aerodynamic features on the Probe III include a fully enclosed underbody with automatically adjustable front section that smoothes air flow under the car; flexible plastic wheelarch extensions and contoured lower body sides to reduce air turbulence around the wheels; a unique twin deck by-plane rear spoiler, and specially designed aerodynamic door mirrors which add only a fraction of the resistance created by conventional designs. The interior is similarly advanced with new materials, numerous original features and a fully electronic display module.

The conventional drip rail for the roof has been eliminated by incorporating drainage channels behind the tops of the doors and flush fitting glass is used for front and rear screens and door glasses.

The headlamps and auxiliary lamps are recessed behind glass panels. A unique underbody pan, which runs from front to rear, smoothes out the air flow beneath the car. The pan incorporates an automatically adjustable front section which is controlled electronically and lowered at speeds above 25 mph to form a special ground effect to reduce drag and lift at speed. Below 25 mph where the aerodynamic, effect is less critical and in towns where the front section in the lowered position could be damaged when the car is parked close to high curbs, it is automatically retracted into the raised position.

To control turbulence around the wheels, Ford engineers are evaluating a new generation of narrow section low-profile radial ply tires, mounted on narrow rims. Aerodynamically efficient wheel covers duct air through the wheel to assist the cooling of the brakes. Air turbulence around the wheels is further controlled by the incorporation of flexible plastic inserts within the wheelarches to reduce the space between the tires and the bodywork.

The most dramatic and obvious aerodynamic aid adopted for Probe III is a special twin deck bi-plane rear spoiler. Mr. Petersen said that wind tunnel development showed that the double surface rear spoiler was twice as effective as a single one. "However, we have proved that the improvement is not directly related to the number of elements as a tri-plane spoiler is not three times as efficient.

Rear aerodynamics also are improved by a lip located under the rear bumper which ensures that air leaves the car in a controlled manner and reduces dirt collection on the rear lamp.

Mr. Petersen said that aerodynamics is playing a major role in the company's fuel economy effort. "At Ford, since 1977, we have reduced our sales-weighted coefficient of drag from a little over .50 to .43 in the 1982 model year which has accounted for an improvement of more than one-mile per gallon in our Corporate Average Fuel Economy. By 1990 we expect the average coefficient of drag to drop to .33 and account for as much as 2.5 miles per gallon of CAFE."