Cobra GT500

This 'Stang is true to the original
Some like cars fast, some like ‘em low. Som like raised SUVs and trucks, some like luxury cars. Some like top end sports cars, some like import show cars. Everyone likes different things and have vehicles to suit their tastes.
Then there is Larry Lehman of Drums and his 1990 Ford Mustang GT.
Before you get it in your head that this is just another typical Mustang feature, let it be said this car is special.
Does the car have a monster 408 cubic inch stroker? Nope. How about a few trophies for road racing? Sorry.
When I first heard it, I had to ask Lehman to repeat it. The actual mileage of the car, the 25th anniversary, 16-year-old car is a measly 6200 miles. Yep, reread it to make sure that you got it right too.
Back in his late teens, Lehman was working 60-80 work weeks at his job. Everyday he passed by the Ford dealer in Freeland and saw the GT on the lot. So finally, he got worried that someone would buy his dream car, so he bought it.

Roush Offers Supercharged Mustang to European Buyers
Roush has fitted a Roush-developed supercharger to the Mustang to create the 420RE model, and its 400-hp, 4.6-liter V8 delivers 100 hp more than a standard Mustang. In addition to the supercharger, the car has a recalibrated ECU.

The tuning kit also includes a free-flow cat-back exhaust system; revised suspension with new dampers and struts; lowered springs and stiffer roll bars; larger brake discs with new hoses and red-painted front calipers; and 18-inch Roush alloys with 275/40R-18 tires.

On the inside, it has aluminum pedals, a short-throw manual gearlever, and Roush floor mats. Finishing it all off are rear-quarter light louvers, Roush 420RE rocker decals, and front wing badges. Only a limited number of 420RE Mustangs will be built, with prices starting at $69,500 U.S.

Roush Vehicle engineering manager Dave Jones said: “We are delighted to be able to bring such a great car to Europe. This is the first time Roush will offer its own bespoke vehicle package to European customers, and we know it will be met with great enthusiasm.”

Ford Mustang project leader Hau Thai-Tang
Hau Thai-Tang is Director for advanced product creation & SVT at Ford Motor Company. He graduated from the RSB in 1993.

To start us off, can you give our readers a sense of your background and what you did pre- and post-MBA?

I worked for Ford before I went to Michigan and I joined Ford straight out of undergrad at Carnegie Mellon where I earned an engineering degree. I’d been working there for a couple of years when I quickly realized that I needed to improve my business acumen as well as be more effective in a business environment, so I elected to go to Michigan to get my MBA. And after my MBA I decided to stay at Ford.

Can you give us a specific example about what you mean by being more effective in a business environment?

I think the thing that became very obvious to me is that as an engineer I was trained for 16 years to come up with the right answer-it’s how I was evaluated. In school you’re given a test or assignment, you get a good score, and that’s how you’re graded. In the business environment, coming up with the right answer is the first step. Convincing the other 200 people that you work with that your answer is the right answer and getting them to go implement it is what you get rewarded for in business. To do that you obviously need to have strong business skills on top of your technical skills, but you also really need to learn how to market your ideas; you need to understand who your stakeholders are, what their stake is and how to appeal to those.

What was your first assignment after business school?

I was a supervisor for something called vehicle integration, which is basically integrating all of the attributes together to make sure they meet customer requirements, and I was doing that for a Lincoln product.

How did you manage the transition back to Ford?

When you return to the same company, or at least at Ford, and I suspect the same is true for other companies, there’s no immediate reward or accolades. The added value for me was being more effective in my job.

Continued…

2006 Dodge Charger SRT8 Road & Track Test
The Perfect Drive

There are a lot of reasons for wanting to live in Southern California, from the laid back left coast culture to the seemingly endless sunshine and sandy beaches, Hollywood celebrity sightings and famed car culture, but one of the most enticing prospects would be regular jaunts up the circuitous Angeles Crest and Angeles Forest highways to the equally appealing Willow Springs raceway.

Such was the day I just experienced during a full-line SRT ride and drive event that started from and ended at the Ritz Carlton in Pasadena, the aforementioned roadways tempting immature, reckless, albeit most enjoyable behavior in between. I started the drive in Jeeps new Grand Cherokee SRT8 (read about it Dec 1), filled in the middle of the day with on-track stints in the new Viper Coupe, various other SRT cars and worlds fastest SUV (at least for the time being), and capped it all off with a drive on the track and then back through the mountains in the new Charger SRT8.

This is the meanest looking LX car of the bunch, which in case you have been off continent for the last two years include Chryslers adrenaline inducing 300, and the equally tantalizing Dodge Magnum sport wagon. Charger has been positioned to take on mid- to full-size models of all sorts, and with a range beginning at $22,320 it offers a lot of car for the money. The same business proposition holds true throughout the line, with the range-topping SRT8 possibly offering the best “bang-for-the-buck” in the auto industry - period!
What grounds do I have for such a bold claim? Well, the majority of sedans that its up against offer very little bang at all, so it kind of stands alone in its field. Even sport coupes, such a Fords Mustang GT pale in comparison, and when it comes to handling corners even the blue-oval brands supercar-defying Shelby Cobra GT500 will most likely be left eating the SRT8s proverbial dust. What makes it so good?

'65-'73 Mustang Street Survival Guide

Do you remember when we used to drive classic Mustangs daily? We cruised during high school in 1967, drove them to college in 1969, came home from Vietnam in 1972 to a new Cobra Jet Mach 1, and spent an endless summer vacation with a new convertible in 1973. We like to remember our Mustangs like they were during our youth.

But, today, owning and driving a classic Mustang presents its own set of challenges. Those hard bucket seats numb the posterior on a long trip. The driver-to-steering-wheel relationship isn’t what it used to be, especially if you’re sporting a midlife belly or have shoulder problems. Leaking cowl vents or windshields make our shoes (and carpet) soggy when it rains. That clunk in the front end is annoying. Fuel economy isn’t what it could be. Forty-year-old brakes aren’t as effective as the four-wheel discs on our everyday ‘02 GT. Wind noise at highway speeds makes it hard to hear the Rolling Stones on that tinny factory radio. And what about safety?

These and other concerns come up whenever we think about driving a classic Mustang daily or as a weekend pleasure vehicle. But driving an old Mustang on the street doesn’t have to be unpleasant or unsafe. Our approach has to be laced with plenty of common sense, better technology where possible, and closer attention to driving technique.

Congratulations AV8SS Champions
The American V-8 Supercar Series recently concluded a spectacular first season. After 11 events and that brought out 41 competitors vying for the title “champion”, Barry Kline in his 1994 Mustang Cobra emerged victorious in AV8. In the 2005 only unlimited class, the team of David Morrison and Gary Henkel had the measure of the other competitors in their 1988 Mustang. Congratulations Champions!

The AV8 class saw five different points leaders throughout the course of the year. In the end it was Kline’s consistency and dominating performance at Nashville that proved to be the difference. Among the points leaders were Mike Schlickenmeyer (1979 Pontiac Trans Am) and Greg Anderson (1979 Mustang) who wound up second and third in the championship ,respectively.

The Morrison/Henkel team led the points from mid-season. Mike Kryder (1986 Mustang) finished second in unlimited followed by early points leader Lester Lesneski (2004 Mustang) in third.

The series showcased Mustangs, Camaros and Corvettes, all ranging in years from 1965 to 2004. The 2006 campaign should see 12 to 16 events spread out over 8 weekends.

2006 Ford Mustang GT Convertible Review
The GT is powered by a 4.6-liter, three-vales-per-cylinder V8 that delivers a healthy 300 horsepower. Granted, a V8 engine of this size could be expected to generate more power than this, but I think it’s enough power for this car that weighs a tick under 3,500 pounds. There was plenty of power to move the Mustang to illegal speeds very quickly. And the roar from the V8 made all the teenage home hot rod builders with their Japanese minicars that make noises like angry bees green with envy. This was a real roar.

Engine power reaches the rear wheels through a five-speed automatic transmission. I have to confess that I was slightly nervous about the manual. I drove last year’s GT and the year before’s Cobra, each with 5-speeds, and didn’t like them because of the gearbox. I thought the gearboxes used in those cars was notchy and hard to shift. The 2006 5-speed, however, is a pleasure to use. It is still a serious gearbox that requires the driver to shift it properly (and not get sloppy choosing the gears), but there’s far less of a chance that you’ll find first instead of third when you’re downshifting, and that’s a comfort in a car like this.

Transferring the power to the road in wet weather, or on wet roads, sometimes became a problem. There were times when I had to feather the clutch before tromping down on the accelerator pedal.

The GT is equipped with four-wheel power disc brakes that are significantly larger than the 4-wheel discs used in the standard Mustang. They do a great job of stopping the car, and give the driver the confidence necessary with all the power under the hood.

Miami Vice: Steeda Q Mustang
It must be the intense heat of Southern Florida, which has begun to fry our brains like eggs on a hot sidewalk, but every time we fire the 4.6-liter V8 in the Steeda Q Mustang the incredibly humid air surrounding the car seems to ripple, wrinkle and undulate. It’s as if each and every pulse of the Ford’s hot exhaust disturbs the Earth’s atmosphere with the concussion of a firing Howitzer. If a Toyota Prius nibbles on the planet’s resources, this car is in a feeding frenzy.

Based at a four-building campus in Pompano Beach, about 30 miles north of Miami, Steeda Autosports has been tweaking Mustangs since 1988 and owner Dario Orlando has been racing them longer than that. The company’s catalog of parts for 1979 to 2005 Mustangs runs 110 pages long, but it also builds complete cars for sale through Ford dealers — and “Steeda Q” is the name for those machines.

In short, Steeda is the Southeast’s answer to California’s Saleen, and the ingratiating personality of the stock Mustang GT can still be found in the Steeda Q — it’s an exaggeration rather than a transmogrification.

The basic Steeda Q’s subtle upgrades emphasize handling and maximizing the Mustang GT’s SOHC, three-valves-per-cylinder, 4.6-liter V8 in naturally aspirated form. Although subtle, they still make it look and sound pretty bad ass.

Marine Corps Motorama
This summer the United States Marines Corps hosted the annual Military Car Show at Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, California, on Saturday, Sept. 10. Attended by Marines, sailors, and their families, the show was held to benefit the Military Relief Fund.
The show was sponsored in part by Hot Rod magazine, so it was no surprise to see great cars of every make on hand. Other companies supporting the show included Coca-Cola, Proctor & Gamble Co., Nestle, Mission Foods, and Johnsonville Foods.

Although all varieties of American iron were featured at the show, Fords seemed predominant, perhaps because the San Diego Chapter of the Southern California Shelby Club was in attendance. Cobras were lined up one after another, taking up one whole side of the show.

Many of the show participants had just returned from Iraq and would soon head out to help the hurricane relief effort in New Orleans.

Rahal continues lifelong car passion
From the pit of a historic Indianapolis 500 in May to the forefront of adoring car buffs at the Concours d’Elegance on Hilton Head Island this weekend, 2005 has been one wild ride for Bobby Rahal.

Rahal is an International Motorsports Hall of Famer who has won three Indy Racing League point championships, 24 Indy races and more than $16 million in his 17-year driving career.

The 51-year-old New Albany, Ohio, resident now spends most of his time in the race pits as the co-owner of Rahal-Letterman Racing. The other co-owner is David Letterman, host of The Late Show on CBS, who keeps in touch with Rahal on a weekly basis.

Rahal’s passion for cars hasn’t reached the checkered flag yet. He admits that passion compelled him as a boy to spend more time diligently reading racing publications than doing homework.

Nowadays, it’s vintage cars he loves and drives. He owns 10 cars — his favorite is a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT, the same model actor Matthew Broderick gallivants around Chicago in in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”

So naturally, a car show such as the Concours, which ends today and exhibits a wide array of vintage cars, holds a lot of interest to him. That’s why he agreed to be the honorary chairman of the event, Rahal told members of the media Saturday.

“I’m a car nut,” he said. “I grew up in an environment of cars-cars-cars. I never thought I’d race cars for a living. I just got into it because I loved it.”