2009 Ford Flex Review

The 2009 Ford Flex simply looks like no other vehicle in its class—and you have to scan the sides of the much smaller MINI Cooper or the much higher-priced Range Rover to see the resemblance to anything on the road.

Automobile sees the “quirky, modern designs of the Mini Cooper and Scion xB” in its profile, while Car and Driver imagines the Ford Flex as a “nearly perfect doppelgänger for the Fairlane concept shown at the Detroit show in 2005.” It stands “ramrod upright, with four strakes along its flanks, tinted glass all around, and a body-color top or a Mini-esque contrasting top that will be available in white or silver,” they add. Edmunds colorfully describes it as a “rolling stare magnet,” from the “four horizontal grooves stamped into the outer door panels to the Range Rover-like blacked-out pillars to the Mini-with-elephantiasis roof.” Another Edmunds editor writes, “If nothing else, the Ford Flex will not look like every other $30K crossover,” while Jalopnik reports that “on the streets the Flex actually looks pretty cool.” Automobile circles back to explain how the Flex’s “ribbed doors recall classic American 'woodie' station wagons, but not in a cheesy, retro sort of way.”

The interior of the 2009 Ford Flex “will be the best in the Ford lineup,” Automobile promises. “The overall look and feel of the interior” is “impressive as well,” Edmunds says. It’s “exceptionally spacious,” they add—but Jalopnik giggles at “Star Wars robot trooper inspired headrests.”

TheCarConnection.com recently drove, and was driven in, the 2009 Ford Flex in New York City. The Flex’s two-box styling and its all-black greenhouse, along with those four ribs on the sides and a continuous belt molding, give it a low, long look and styling unity. It’s squat and square, with one foot planted in British heritage (the side view is pure Range Rover; the front stance, a knockoff of the MINI Cooper), the other in good old-fashioned Americana, circa 1955.

Inside, TheCarConnection.com sees hints of the high-end fashion and furniture that Ford stylists say they looked to when designing the interior of the 2009 Ford Flex. The influence of the Land Rover Range Rover is evident, too; the center stack of instruments and some gray plastics look like those on the Range Rover. The instruments are clear and lit with blue, while the cup holders have low-watt red lighting. The best interior package also has black leather seats with white stitching, a handsome touch.