Ford Gives Japan Special Edition Mustang V6 Sport Appearance

America’s second favorite muscle car after the Camaro (in terms of 2011 sales as Chevy’s model has outsold Ford’s pony car by around 33 percent through May, according to the latest data), is being offered in Japan in a limited edition version called the “Mustang V6 Sport Appearance”. Read more »

Ford and Dodge Flop, Lexus and Honda Top JD Power’s 2011 U.S. Initial Quality Study

The results are in for JD Power’s latest 2011 U.S. Initial Quality study that looks at the first 90 days of ownership and the news is not good for Ford Motor Company. The Dearborn-based company tumbled from fifth place and highest-ranking non-luxury automaker last year to 23rd in 2011 with 116 problems per 100 vehicles. Analysts claim that Ford’s freefall is due to complaints related to the company’s onboard MyFord Touch infotainment systems.

Even worse, Dodge was placed last in the list with 137 problems per 100 cars. Scion, MINI, Volkswagen, Mitsubishi and Suzuki didn’t fare well either occupying the last places in the study.

Read more »

Turbo cars lead BTCC

The 2011 British Touring Car Championship is now already midway through its season.



So far, it has been rather dominated by the contentious issue of performance parity between the turbocharged and normally-aspirated cars, although another boost reduction introduced for the most recent round at Croft seems to have helped a lot.



That said, the championship table remains dominated by cars running NGTC engines, with sixth-place Jason Plato in his Chevrolet Cruze seemingly the only non-turbo entrant with any realistic prospect of taking the title.

Chevrolet Cruze Super 2000

The series now takes its long summer break, with the next event taking place at Snetterton on 7th August.

2011 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship: Standings After Five Rounds
Pos.	Driver	Team	Car	Points
1	Matt Neal	Honda Racing Team	Honda Civic	140
2	Mat Jackson	Airwaves Racing	Ford Focus	131
3	Gordon Shedden	Honda Racing Team	Honda Civic	120
4	Andrew Jordan	Pirtek Racing	Vauxhall Vectra	111
5	James Nash	888 Racing with Collins Contractors	Vauxhall Vectra	104
6	Jason Plato	Silverline Chevrolet	Chevrolet Cruze	100
7	Robert Collard	WSR	BMW 320si	66
8	Tom Chilton	Team Aon	‘Global’ Ford Focus	64
9	Alex MacDowall	Silverline Chevrolet	Chevrolet Cruze	47
10	Paul O’Neill	GoMobileUK.com with tech-Speed	Chevrolet Cruze	32
11	Tom Boardman	Special Tuning Racing	Seat Leon	31
12	Nick Foster	WSR	BMW 320si	27
13	Tony Gilham	888 Racing with Collins Contractors	Vauxhall Vectra	12
14	Jeff Smith	Pirtek Racing	Vauxhall Vectra	12
15	Tom Onslow-Cole	Team Aon	‘Global’ Ford Focus	10
16	Andy Neate	Team Aon	‘Global’ Ford Focus	9
17	David Newsham	Geoff Steel Racing	BMW 320si	9
18	Lea Wood	Central Group Racing	Honda Integra	4
19	Liam Griffin	Airwaves Racing	Ford Focus	2
20	Rob Austin	Rob Austin Racing	Audi A4	0
21	Frank Wrathall	Dynojet	Toyota Avensis	0
22	David Pinkney	Rob Austin Racing	Audi A4	0
23	John George	GoMobileUK.com with tech-Speed	Chevrolet Cruze	0
24	Daniel Welch	Welch Automotive	Proton Gen-2	0
25	Tony Hughes	Speedworks Motorsport	Toyota Avensis	0
26	Chris James	Team ES Racing.com	Chevrolet Lacetti	0
27	Shaun Hollamby	AmD Milltek Racing.com	Volkswagen Golf	0

Related posts:

Avensis NGTC racers debut

2011 BTCC entries

Snetterton corner names

Turbo cars lead BTCC

The 2011 British Touring Car Championship is now already midway through its season.



So far, it has been rather dominated by the contentious issue of performance parity between the turbocharged and normally-aspirated cars, although another boost reduction introduced for the most recent round at Croft seems to have helped a lot.



That said, the championship table remains dominated by cars running NGTC engines, with sixth-place Jason Plato in his Chevrolet Cruze seemingly the only non-turbo entrant with any realistic prospect of taking the title.

Chevrolet Cruze Super 2000

The series now takes its long summer break, with the next event taking place at Snetterton on 7th August.

2011 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship: Standings After Five Rounds
Pos.	Driver	Team	Car	Points
1	Matt Neal	Honda Racing Team	Honda Civic	140
2	Mat Jackson	Airwaves Racing	Ford Focus	131
3	Gordon Shedden	Honda Racing Team	Honda Civic	120
4	Andrew Jordan	Pirtek Racing	Vauxhall Vectra	111
5	James Nash	888 Racing with Collins Contractors	Vauxhall Vectra	104
6	Jason Plato	Silverline Chevrolet	Chevrolet Cruze	100
7	Robert Collard	WSR	BMW 320si	66
8	Tom Chilton	Team Aon	‘Global’ Ford Focus	64
9	Alex MacDowall	Silverline Chevrolet	Chevrolet Cruze	47
10	Paul O’Neill	GoMobileUK.com with tech-Speed	Chevrolet Cruze	32
11	Tom Boardman	Special Tuning Racing	Seat Leon	31
12	Nick Foster	WSR	BMW 320si	27
13	Tony Gilham	888 Racing with Collins Contractors	Vauxhall Vectra	12
14	Jeff Smith	Pirtek Racing	Vauxhall Vectra	12
15	Tom Onslow-Cole	Team Aon	‘Global’ Ford Focus	10
16	Andy Neate	Team Aon	‘Global’ Ford Focus	9
17	David Newsham	Geoff Steel Racing	BMW 320si	9
18	Lea Wood	Central Group Racing	Honda Integra	4
19	Liam Griffin	Airwaves Racing	Ford Focus	2
20	Rob Austin	Rob Austin Racing	Audi A4	0
21	Frank Wrathall	Dynojet	Toyota Avensis	0
22	David Pinkney	Rob Austin Racing	Audi A4	0
23	John George	GoMobileUK.com with tech-Speed	Chevrolet Cruze	0
24	Daniel Welch	Welch Automotive	Proton Gen-2	0
25	Tony Hughes	Speedworks Motorsport	Toyota Avensis	0
26	Chris James	Team ES Racing.com	Chevrolet Lacetti	0
27	Shaun Hollamby	AmD Milltek Racing.com	Volkswagen Golf	0

Related posts:

Avensis NGTC racers debut

2011 BTCC entries

Snetterton corner names

SCOOP: New Hot Ford Fiesta ST Caught Testing in Five-Door Trim

The last time we had news about the upcoming Fiesta ST was back in September 2010 when our spies snagged a three-door prototype in Germany. Now, we have some fresh pictures of the five-door version of the hottest Fiesta undergoing tests at the Nurburgring racetrack without much camouflage. Read more »

Ford’s European Sales up 10.5 % in May

Ford’s auto sales across its 51 European markets (including Russia, Turkey and certain countries from North Africa) in May rose 13 percent to 143,800 units, up by 16,600 units from a year earlier. May sales in the firm’s traditional 19 European markets rose by 10.5 percentage points to 116,500, up by 11,100. Read more »

Sticker Shock: U.S. Used Car Prices Soar as Nation Tackles Weak Economy and More

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. U.S. used car prices are up 30% over June 2010, in some cases besting Kelly Blue Book values by as much as 25%. Trade-ins are also up by 30% since this time last year.

A variety of factors, including an economy still reeling from the Global Financial Crisis, high gas prices and the Tōhoku earthquake, are thought to be responsible for the massive price rise.

Read more »

Ford Calls Rally Fans to Vote on Their Favorite Roof Livery for the Fiesta WRC

The Blue Oval’s rally team is reaching out to its fans through Facebook and asking them to choose a unique roof artwork the Fiesta RS WRCs driven by Jari-Matti Latvala, Mikko Hirvonen and Khalid Al Qassimi at next month’s Rally Finland, which runs from July 28-30, 2011.

“Up until now the Ford Abu Dhabi Team Fiesta RS WRCs have simply featured the Ford logo,” said Will May, Motorsport Marketing Manager for Ford of Europe. “So we’re inviting our Facebook followers to vote for one of several designs we’ve developed under one theme – which is ‘the food that fuels you’."

Read more »

21 Studs, you awe me, this incredible artwork is made by, Nik, the guy I've admired for all his work on Carros Antigos!

These pinups are based on Gil Evgren's pin up girl paintings http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2011/01/pinups-by-gil-elvgren.html and that post has the original of this 3rd piece









tell me these aren't the coolest thing you've seen all day. Click on them to get the full size version, and thank http://21studs.tumblr.com for creating them.

Ford Says No to 7-Seat Grand C-MAX for the USA, Yes to Hybrid 5-Seat C-MAX

Earlier today, we told you about Ford’s decision to increase production of the Focus-based C-MAX minivan at its Valencia plant in Spain to meet strong demand from European customers. We also noted that Ford was planning to launch the longer and more spacious 7-seat Grand C-MAX in the United States.

Well, it turns out there’s been a slight change of plans as the Detroit automaker just announced it won’t be bringing the petrol-powered Grand C-MAX to the U.S. after all. But not all is lost for fans of the Focus-based minivan as Ford will focus on the five-seat C-MAX in both hybrid and plug-in hybrid formats. The C-MAX Hybrid and C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid vehicles were previewed at the Detroit Auto Show this past January.

Read more »

Ford Increases Production of C-MAX in Europe to Meet Growing Sales

Good news for Ford as the company has ramped up production of its new five-seat C-MAX and seven-seat Grand C-MAX to meet growing demand for the two minivans in the European market. The revamped schedule calls for an 18 percent increase in daily C-MAX production at the firm’s plant in Valencia, Spain. Read more »

Quite cool and unusual photos from 21studs.tumblr

The above gave me so many laughs, I've never heard of anyone putting divorce signs on a car to make fun of the "Just married" signs that are common. I wonder what would be proper to drag behind the car... the newlyweds drag tin cans, what would divorced people drag? Lawyers maybe?
I just read an article on this Franklin, I think it was in Hemmings Classic
Well, from the start of Ford to the late 40's anyway

see more at http://21studs.tumblr.com

U.S. Government Focusing in on Web Gadgets that Distract Drivers

We are all living in an age of networked information. Social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, smartphones and public internet access are making the world smaller every day. Unfortunately, in some instances all this information can distract us from the important things, such as focusing on driving. And no one agrees with this more than U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood:

“We know people are hooked on cellphones and texting devices. But there's absolutely no reason for any person to download their Facebook into the car. It's not necessary. "

Read more »

And the Unluckiest Car in Britain is…the Honda FR-V

Well, the question and the answer have already been given to you in the title, so let us elaborate for a moment. A UK-based car insurance price comparison website called “Confused.com” conducted a study to find out which vehicle make and model had the highest accident rates in Britain in the last five years. The company notes that the statistics you’re about to read show only a snapshot of accident-related claims made by owners of a particular make and model of vehicle.

According to the results, the Honda FR-V, a compact 6-seater minivan marketed in Europe and Japan from 2004 to 2009, topped the list with 2,529 owners of the model making 466 accident claims in the past five years, which is equal to a claim rate of 18.4 per cent, or close to one in five.

Read more »

Ford dumped toxic sludge in Ringwood New Jersey, into mines and the watershed, never cleaned it up

In the late 1960s, Ford used the Ringwood site as a dumping ground for paint sludge and industrial waste generated by a manufacturing plant it operated at the time in Mahwah. During that period, the factory produced millions of gallons of paint sludge.

Four times the federal Environmental Protection Agency ordered a cleanup, and four times the community was told their land was clean. Each time, residents found paint sludge — gooey waste that weathered into gray slabs — in parkland, in their hunting grounds or in yards.

Ford has removed nearly five times the amount of pollution it hauled out in previous cleanups of its old dumpsite. But despite government assurances that the work will finally be done right, Ford may once again be allowed to leave contamination in an area that serves as the watershed for 2.5 million North Jersey residents.

In one place in particular, the abandoned iron mines that honeycomb the area, it appears that the government may allow contamination to remain without ever determining the extent of the paint sludge that was dumped there.

In the last six years, Ford contractors removed more than 47,000 tons of paint sludge and tainted soil.

Realize that 47 thousand tons is not the total they dumped into the area, illegally, immorally, and obscenely... it's just how much they've been forced to clean up in the last 6 years. A lot remains in the abandoned iron mines Ford used to dump the millions of gallons mentioned in the article. A million gallons weighs 8 million pounds, is 4000 tons. Check all the math to see that 47k tons is 94 million gallons.

94 million gallons has been removed, and they aren't finished. The area is a cancer causing mess due to Ford dumping paint sludge into a residential area, not a hazardous material toxic treatment facility.

information found on http://www.northjersey.com/recap/121210ringwoodrevisited.html from an article at http://lostinjersey.wordpress.com/2010/12/15/ford-payouts-dont-make-up-for-the-damage-they-inflicted/
and Lost in New Jersey was found from a favorite non automotive blog I'm addicted to reading http://www.scoutingny.com

‘Tis Official: Mazda to Stop Building the North American Mazda6 in the USA, Successor will Come from Japan

For better or for worse, depending on which side of the line you are standing on, Mazda has confirmed rumors that it will stop building the Mazda6 at the AutoAlliance International (AAI) plant in Michigan, which it runs jointly with Ford, after the mid-size sedan's current cycle ends.

The company said the Mazda6's replacement for the North American market will be produced at its Hofu Plant in Yamaguchi prefecture, Japan, adding that the decision was driven by the firm’s “ongoing efforts to increase global manufacturing efficiencies”.

Read more »

Report: Mazda to Cut Ties with Ford and Stop U.S. Production by 2013

Earlier in May, we told you about a report concerning Mazda’s plans to discontinue production of its Mazda6 mid-size model at its joint-venture plant with Ford in Michigan. Today, new reports from both Japan and the U.S. are claiming that Mazda Motors will dissolve its 50-50 joint venture with Ford and stop building cars in the USA by 2013, with the Japanese company already in talks with the Detroit automaker to sell its stake in their car production venture Auto Alliance International [AAI]. Read more »

Ford’s Smallest Production Engine Ever: The New 1.0-liter EcoBoost Three-Cylinder Gasoline Unit

It took the Ford Motor Company a very long time to jump aboard the turbocharged engine bandwagon for mainstream, non-sport models, but now the Detroit automaker is going full speed ahead with the presentation of a full range of force-fed gasoline powerplants. Ford latest offering is a new 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine, the company’s first three-cylinder unit and its smallest production engine ever.

Designed by the engineering team at Ford’s Dunton Technical Centre in the U.K., the 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine promises to deliver performance of a larger four-cylinder unit with even higher fuel economy. It employs all EcoBoost technologies, such as turbocharging, direct injection and twin independent variable camshaft timing (Ti-VCT).

Read more »

Toyota Sales Plunge More than 33% in May, Chrysler Group up by 10%

The numbers for U.S. auto sales for the month of May are out and as expected, Japanese automakers continue to be hit hard by the ongoing production disruptions caused by the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in their home market. As a result, Toyota’s sales plunged 33.4% over the year-ago month to 108,387 units, while rivaling Honda saw its sales fall 22.5% to 90,773 vehicles, Nissan recorded a 9.1% drop to 76,148 units and Mazda 17,875 vehicles, down 20.9%.

General Motors dealers in the United States delivered 221,192 vehicles in May posting a decline of 1%, while the Ford Motor Co. said its sales decreased by 0.1% to 192,253 cars, trucks and SUVs.

Read more »

Big Brother is Watching, Well, All of us: U.S. DoT Seeks to Make Event Data Recorders Mandatory

Australian inventor and all-round genius Dr David Warren is widely considered to be the father of the “black box” Flight Data Recorder (FDR). His invention helped make flying safer by giving investigators valuable insights into the mechanical goings-on of a crashed aircraft. What may surprise you is that for the last twenty years similar devices have been installed in our cars.

Event Data Recorders (EDRs) are the automotive equivalent of an aircraft’s FDR. These devices record acceleration and deceleration forces, engine RPM, temperature, oil pressure and a host of other things. After a crash, the information can be recovered and studied, aiding investigators.

Read more »