Ford Explorer concept... cool! Why doesn't anyone try things like this anymore?

Not sure where I found this, probably http://flaviogomes.warmup.com.br/

Ford F series, the best selling vehicle in America for most of the past 3 dacades... why?

For most of the past three decades, the best-selling vehicle line in America has been, strangely enough, not a family sedan or SUV but a pickup. The holder of that prestigious title is Ford's F-Series. Granted, those sales figures include not only the F-150 but also the Super Duty rigs and even commercial-use chassis cabs.

Americans love choices, something not lost on Ford's product planners whose efforts have resulted in no fewer than 75 styles of the F-150

Comparison between Ford of 1942 and 1958

During the war, and after

Found on http://aacalibrary.tumblr.com/

1958 Fords as taxis

Found on http://aacalibrary.tumblr.com/

Henry Fords great grandsons first car

Henry Ford's great grandson turned 16 on December 27, 1964 – two days after Christmas and eight months after the original Mustang went on sale. And that's just what was waiting for him in the driveway, courtesy of his father (and reigning chief executive) Henry Ford II.

 The specially-prepared pony car had a pearlescent cream paintjob with narrow blue racing stripes, functional hood scoop, chrome trim, Euro-spec fender-mounted mirrors, a blue leather and aluminum interior, a monogrammed fuel cap... and a 289-cubic-inch V8 under the hood.

 The first of many, Edsel drove this Mustang for four years, through high school and college until a friend totaled it

http://www.autoblog.com/2014/01/02/1964-ford-mustang-edsel-ford-ii/

Ford Motor Company, 1926-1946

"It barely broke even"
"there were 10 college grads in the whole company"
"they didn't have a market research organization"

Bob McNamara, The Fog of War
1st president of Ford not a member of the Ford family, quit after 5 weeks to be JFK's Sec. of Defense

VIDEO: Pat Doran Pikes Peak Off 2013

Pat Doran's 925bhp RS200 Pikes Peak proves to be a bit of a handful in qualification yesterday. Ouch! Thank God it happened in the trees, not up the top. The cars are Q-U-I-C-K this year. SO quick!

NEWS: Wales Rally GB Showcase @ Cholmondeley Pagent Of Power & 20% Ticket Offer

More great news for Wales Rally GB, Cholmondeley Pagent of Power & motorsport fans! Following the announcement last week that Wales Rally GB is to have a new, compact home and town and night special stages in North Wales 14-17th November, the UK's only WRC event is set to be showcased at the Cholmondeley Pageant of Power on 14-16th June. And there's up to 20% off tickets right now too (see below)!

New and central to the awesome Cholmondeley event will be the Wales Rally GB Village where WRC stars and cars as well as cars from the Group B era will be on display and competing on Cholmondeley’s 1.2-mile sprint track. Competitors will include Elfyn Evans, 2012 FIA WRC Academy Champion, driving a Qatar M-Sport World Rally Team Ford Fiesta RS WRC, Tom Cave driving a Citroen DS3-R3 and Garry Pearson, 2012 MSA British Junior Rally Champion driving a Ford Fiesta R2.
Displays of iconic rally cars will include Colin McRae's Safari winning 1999 Ford Focus WRC, Jari-Matti Latvala's 2010 Ford Focus WRC (in which he became the youngest ever winner of Rally Finland) and Mikko Hirvonen's Monte Carlo Rally winning 2010 Ford Fiesta S2000.

Aside from the Wales Rally GB village, the Pageant of Power features competitive motorsport around the estate track, powerboat racing, aerobatic displays and the Tri-Services helicopter competition with highlights including:

• Over 120 most valuable cars and bikes competing on track
• Aston Martin centenary celebration with track action
• Lamborghini 50th anniversary concourse
• Autocar Supercar Paddock
• Air displays including Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster Bomber
• Bolddog Lings Motorcross Stunt Display
• Marine action including wake borders and flyboarding displays

20% off tickets

Wales Rally GB has teamed up with Cholmondeley to offer a 20% discount on tickets for the three day Pageant of Power so that you can come and get a taster of the November WRC event, chat to the organisers and benefit from a ticket offer while mingling with the crews and watching them compete on track. 

Tickets to the Pageant of Power are priced from £22, terms and conditions apply. To qualify for your 20% discount, book online at www.cpop.co.uk and quote: WRGBPT (Saturday, Sunday or weekend ticket).

Happy days! 

NEWS: Goodwood Revival Ford GT40 & Ferrai 250 LM Races

Ford GT40 and Ferrari 250 LM: Two more great reasons to go to Goodwood Revival this year – if you needed any more than it being the best period racing meet is history! 

Further to the recent announcement that Goodwood will be staging a unique all-Ford GT40 race at this year’s Goodwood Revival (13-15 September) to mark 50 years since development of this exceptional mid-engined Anglo-American racer began, another legendary mid-mounted endurance racer will now also be competing at this September’s event.
Like the Ford, the revered Ferrari 250 LM celebrates its half century this year, having premiered at the Paris salon late in 1963. Also like the Ford, the 250 LM went on to win the Le Mans 24 Hours race, with the North American Racing Team-entered car – driven by Jochen Rindt and Masten Gregory – taking the chequered flag in the 1965 event. This remains the last time Ferrari took overall victory in the French endurance classic.
The 250 LM raced in the Tourist Trophy at Goodwood in 1964, where it finished fourth, and last competed in this race in the modern era at the Revival in 2000. An example of the Ferrari has also run in the Whitsun Trophy race at the Revival in various years.
For the 2013 Revival, a number of 250 LMs will be returning to the prestigious Royal Automobile Club TT Celebration race for the first time in 13 years, campaigning against fierce competition from Ferrari 250 GTOs, AC Cobras, lightweight Jaguar E-types, Maserati 151s, Aston Martin DB4s, and many other rare and mouth watering machines to create the most valuable historic motor race in the world.
Tickets, grandstand seats, camping and other products for the 2013 Goodwood Revival can be purchased via the Goodwood website (www.goodwood.com/motor sport/), or the Ticket Hotline as follows: Telephone: +44 (0)1243 755055

Image: www.roylemedia.co.uk and www.facebook.com/roylemedia

VIDEO: Think You're Quick On Snow?

What with all this Wintery weather here in the UK, maybe you think you're a quick driver on snow & ice? Think again... as Pontus Tidemand's Vintertest Ford Fiesta RS WRC explains rather nicely in this ace bit of on-board footage, with a great view of the lines and great sound. Go on son! Neat!

NEWS: Amazing Car Auction @ Race Retro Event, Feb 22-24

Race Retro at Stoneleigh Park is closing in, taking place February 22-24th this year. As usual, the event will be packed with great old school cool cars, drivers, displays and activities with themes this year including covering Team Lotus, the Renault Alpine and Group B Rally beasts. Nice. One of the biggest attractions also has to be the amazing Silverstone Auctions sale, which (as ever) is loaded with amazing old skool cool machinery. 

One that stood out for us – (a) because we've always wanted to own one having been on a few, hairy, memorable stages in a similar one,  (b) have seen it rally back in the late 1980s and (c) because it's a bargain – is this 1985 Ford Sierra Cosworth Group B rally car, still wrapped in its 1988 Ulster Rally livery, as driven by Gwyndaf Evans there and in the Lombard RAC of that year and 1987. Bertie Fisher also drive the car on the 1987 Manx International Rally. Legends. 

Originally a press car, the Ford special vehicle competition team at Boreham turned the "Cossie" into a full works Group N vehicle and its recently been revamped by BGMsport, to meet current historic MSA and FIA regs. And, with 291bhp on tap from the Cosworth turbo engine and rear-wheel drive, C234 HVM, is one hell of a lot of fun waiting to happen. It's also a steal if it hits its estimate of just £27,000-£30,000. Sorely tempted! Are you?

See more images on our Facebook page. 

NEWS: New 175mph Radical RXC To Launch @ Autosport International

The brand-new, 175mph, 380bhp, 900KG Radical RXC will be launched at the 2013 Autosport International Show at the NEC in Birmingham, January 10-13th. We would like to say it looks good, but this render (and colour) are awful! Sure the real thing will be nicer though! 

The new Radical Xtreme Coupe supercar – Radical’s first model with an enclosed cockpit – will be available for only £89,500+VAT for the first ten customers.

Radical already holds the production car lap record at the Nürburgring Nordschleife – and the RXC is said to be "faster and more performance-focused than anything built in its sector before." .
It is powered by a 3.7-litre Ford V6 producing 380bhp and tips the scales at just 900kg, offering 0-62mph in just 2.8 seconds, and is capable of a top speed of 175mph. A space frame chassis is coupled with an aggressive, Le Mans-styled body including a full-width, carbon bi-plane rear wing and gullwing doors.
Three-and-a-half years in the making, the RXC will be available in both road and race versions from summer 2013.
"In the history of Radical I don’t think I’ve been more excited about a new car than I am now with the RXC," said Phil Abbott, Radical Sportscars Managing Director. "It’s the car we’ve always wanted to make, and by applying our extensive knowledge and understanding we have produced a GT car that, just like our other products, will outperform machinery costing many times more. But more important than that, it’s going to be incredibly thrilling to drive."
Since the company’s formation in 1997, Radical Sportscars has sold over 1,600 cars. The world’s favourite racing car, the 800th Radical SR3 RS will join the new RXC on display at Autosport International, along with the 200th SR8 constructed at its Peterborough factory.
"Radical Sportscars is one of the real success stories of the British motorsport industry," said Ian France, Autosport International Show Director. "It’s a real market-defining manufacturer, continuing to evolve its product range and offering to customers, including track days and its own race series’ around the world. As the first enclosed Radical, the RXC is another example of this growth, I’m looking forward to seeing it launched."
The Radical RXC joins a host of sensational machinery on show at the NEC. Running alongside Autosport International in Hall 19, The Performance Car Show: Powered by www.pistonheads.com will feature a multi-million pound collection of exotic supercars and rare and historic models.
The likes of Lamborghini’s 700bhp, V12 Aventador, the fastest Ferrari ever built, the F12berlinetta, Audi R8 V10 Spyder and Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG will headline the stunning showcase, while local manufacturers Ariel Motor Company, Hawk Cars, GKD Sports Cars and MK Sports Cars will all exhibit their latest road and race models.
Tickets for the show are on sale now. Adult tickets are available from £31 and children’s tickets available from £20. For more information call 0844 581 1420 or visit www.autosportinternational.com.

You going? Looks like one not to be missed... 

VIDEO: Kenny Of The Block Gymkhana V: Ultimate Urban Plyground, S.F

It's been live for only 24 Hours and already has over 5.1 million hits! Yup, Kenny of the Block is back, with his fifth Gymkhana – The Ultimate Urban Playground, ripping up the streets of San Francisco. It's longer than the others, at almost 10 minutes, and features the usual incredible driving skill antics in Ken's Ford Fiesta Hybrid Function Hoon Vehicle (HFHV)... all 650bhp and aggro antilag of it. 0-60mph, just 1.8s! Directed by Ben Conrad and with cinematography by Stephen Blackman, it features some fabulous new wide angle slow mo shots, Kenny helmet camera angles and some fabulous new bullet camera shots of the suspension getting a serious workout over the famous San Fran yumps... BIG air. Our favourite shot is at 5:50, with a huge sideways air shot, and God only knows how ken managed to catch that slide. The big finish with Ken smoking his tyres on a boat in the harbour is amazing too, as is the fact he got the bridge shut for the opening shot. Modern advertising at its genius best... DC Shoes and clothing sales sure to keep on climbing. Bravo Mr Block: Job done!