Car News and Updates
2008 and 2009 promise to be important years for Mustangs, and superchargers will figure prominently in the picture. The arrival of powerful supercharged ponies from Shelby, Saleen, Steeda, and Roush would indicate that word of the supercharged Mustangs demise was very premature.
Via Karl Nichols
As in, you get more miles per gallon, but also more dead per mile. Here’s the brilliant logic, debunked: Norquist: ‘More People Will Die’ Because Bush Raised CAFE Standards.
Via editorial staff
California Mustang is looking for photo submissions from which to select a new Catalog Cover for their 1994-2008 Mustang Parts Catalog. The winner will receive a One hundred dollar gift certificate.
CRUZIN’ ROUTE 66
Sure, you’ve heard a lot of stories of Old Route 66, but have you heard the story of the alien abduction that occurred on Route 66?
My story is about Sonny Paul a fellow Route66er and classic car nut, and the horrible thing that happend to him one night on Old Route 66.
Sonny Paul was riding the Road all the way from Chicago to San Bernardino and was well along on his journey when he reached Kingman and made the decision to make a side trip to Las Vegas.
The sun was just going down, but he decided the drive to Las Vegas at night would be cooler. He was diving an absolutely beautiful 56 Chevy Bel Air convertible and he really wanted to drive with the top down. Sonny was really proud of it as and had carefully restored it over a period of 15 years and he was taking it on its maiden cruise on The Mother Road. Does life get any better than cruisin’ America’s Main Street in a sweet classic car? I think not.
How ever things were about to take a bad turn for Sonny Paul!
The First mistake was trying to travel at night because the roads are harder to follow at night.
The Second mistake was in not watching his gas gauge. He had made good time until he realized that he was almost out of gas and started looking for some place to fill up. He was some place on Highway 93 going North, he recalled later, when he thought he saw a gas station off the main road and so took the next exit and doubled back to it. Area 51 is not far from there and we all know what can happen out there! His last recollection was that the station was strange looking, kinda saucer shaped, but when you are anywhere near Area 51, you should expect to see strange things, mostly tourist traps aimed at the Alien minded tourists heading for Area 51. It is from the point that he drove up to a gas pump, that the lights went out for him.
When the police found him later on what was determined the third day after his blackout, he was stark naked and no longer in possession of the 56 Chevy Bel Air convertible and 30 miles North of Las Vegas… When they found him, Sonny was okay but dehydrated and sunburned as you might expect from someone who has been wondering around in a desert naked and without supplies for 2 or 3 days.
The police were very through in their investigation of the incident and I even drove out with Sonny to the spot he thought he saw the gas station, but all to no avail. There was no gas station and worse, no 56 Chevy Bel Air Convertible!
It has been almost a year now and Sonny is doing better. But he is still having flashbacks, his strangest flashback is that of a weird little green guy doing donuts in the sand in his 56 Chevy Bel Air Convertible, just before he drove it into the strange gas station. He says that he remebers that the gas station dissapeared straight up? He asked me if I thought a gas station could fly?
I don’t want Sonny to know this, but I think he may never see his 56 Chevy Bel Air Convertible again. Because I think he had the bad luck to run into an Alien that was a car collector?
So if you are going to Cruise Old Route 66 this summer in a classic, be forewarned, your classic may be in jepordy! Don’t make me say, “I told ya so!”.
Copyright KL Nichols 2008
Via Karl Nichols
As early spring winds whipped New York’s Javits Center, the 2008 New York International Auto Show opened to the public on March 21. Running through March 30, New York’s show has all the highlights from the 2007-2008 Auto Show Season. From Lincoln’s MKS, which kicked off the Los Angeles Auto Show, to the Transit Connect Taxi Concept, visitors to the Ford display have a lot to choose from.
The 2009 Ford F-150 and the brand new Ford Work Solutions share space with the Ford Taurus Crash test model, where visitors can see why Taurus was rated Top Safety Pick in its class by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Crossover fans can see the Ford Edge and check out the “lid” art on the 2009 Flex created by New York artist Tristain Eaton. The Mustang with pink racing stripes shines a spotlight on breast cancer research. Ford announced that it will double its donation to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for the Cure for every “Warriors in Pink” Mustang sold.
Customers curious about concept cars will find the Explorer America Concept, featuring EcoBoost engine technology, and the sleek Transit Connect Taxi Concept. Hybrid and green technology are represented by the Mercury Mariner Hybrid, the Ford Verve Concept, and the Ford Escape Hybrid. The Volvo XC90—a concept car at 2007’s North American International Auto Show—takes center stage at Volvo, and Mazda’s award-winning CX-9 shares the spotlight with the Furai Concept.
Via Jennifer
Ford’s group vice president for Marketing and Communications, Jim Farley, talked to autoshows.ford.com about the surprise star of the 2008 auto show season: small cars. Between the Verve Concept and Transit Connect, the site’s been buzzing with comments.
“Ford is world class when it comes to making small cars,” says Farley. “And not just cars that are good value. They’ve got great design, they’re fun to drive, they’re premium small cars. We want to leverage and bring this to the United States.” Transit Connect, Verve, and Fiesta are part of this strategy and it’s being well received in the press, the public, and on autoshows.ford.com.
Transit Connect’s engine is also getting a lot of attention, and people are asking: why not diesel? Farley says that though Ford makes world class diesel vehicles in Europe, “the United States emissions standards for diesel are different,” and that challenge might make EcoBoost a better option for Transit Connect than diesel. Farley sees hybrid engines as “a perfect application in Transit Connect,” but the cost—from $5,000-$7,000—can be prohibitive for customers looking for cost and value in commercial vehicles. The Transit Connect that will be available in 2009 gets 19 mpg, but Ford’s looking into hybrid, diesel, and EcoBoost technology for Transit Connect in the future.
Ford is poised to leverage its global presence to introduce proven vehicles to new markets. Premium small cars with an emphasis on design and sustainability are one part of a strategy that people are responding to.
Via Jennifer
Motor Trend announced that after careful consideration, the winner of this years Ponycar of the Year award is the 2008 Shelby Mustang GT. This is an incredible victory for Shelby since the car was pitted against refitted models from Saleen and Roush.