Fords

Mainly because Ford seemed to stick to a lot of common parts across a LOT of lines and years. Nothing like having to replace a part that fits on 30 years worth of vehicles.

That's good design. Not only does it save money it shortens development time. It just needs to be done almost entirely with functional parts, not cosmetic ones.

Yes, it is a good plan, if your basic parts design and quality are good, and Ford has traditionally had some basically sound systems. Another thing that I used to enjoy about Fords was that you could do a whole lot of work with just a 1/2" and a 9/16" wrench.

That used to be quite common with the big three, parts interchanged pretty easy. Now it's as though you need the part for the exact make model and year