They're still designing from the 60s and 70s, best I can tell.
I remember driving around with my old man in a Ford Custom 500 he picked up after the Dodge Dart threw a rod at 2am while 40km outside of edmonton during the winter back in the 70s. I also remember learning new and highly inventive methods of cursing from him while he was constantly repairing it.
Still, it worked better than the car we got after that: a chrysler cordoba. Man was THAT shitheap a money pit. Nice veleur interior though. Pimpin' ride if you can tolerate 8 weeks out of the year in the shop getting power steering lines bled, radiators flushed, alternators alternated, starters replaced etc. Never-ending problems, and he bought the thing new!
Anecdotally crappy cars aside, Ford + GM woes are bad news. Between the two of em they employ close to 100,000 people worldwide directly, and 1000s more depend on them in ancillary services. If either of em go tits up it'd make Enron seem a calkwalk.... if BOTH of em go tits up... -shudder-
The last time any entity defaulted on debt even remotely that large was Argentina.