Auto Mobiles

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it is concerned that only about half of nearly 10 million vehicles have been returned for the repair. DO YOU ON THESE CARS? -- 1993-2004 Ford F-150 --1993-1999 F-250 (gasoline engine) -- 1993-1996 Ford Bronco -- 1994-1996 Ford Econoline -- 1997-2002 Ford Expedition -- 1998-2002 Lincoln Navigator -- 1998-2002 Ford Ranger -- 1992-1998 Ford Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis, Lincoln Town Car -- 1993-1998 Lincoln Mark VIII -- 1993-1995 Ford Taurus SHO with automatic transmission -- 1994 Mercury Capri -- 1998-2001 Ford Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer -- 2001-2002 Ford Explorer Sport and Explorer Sport Trac -- 1992-1993 and 1997-2003 Ford E-150-350 gasoline or natural gas vehicles -- 2002 Ford E-550 gasoline engine vehicles -- 1996-2003 Ford E-450 gasoline or natural gas vehicles -- 1994-2002 Ford F-250 through F-550 Super Duty trucks (gasoline engine) -- 2000-2002 Ford Excursion (gasoline engine) -- 2003 Ford F-250-F-550 Super Duty, Ford Excursion -- 1995-2002 Ford F-53 motor home chassis -- 2002-2003 Lincoln Blackwood

Honda's $1.4 billion Lincoln plant, which employs 4,500 people, is the sole global source of both the Odyssey and the Pilot. Last year, workers set a record by producing 313,957 of the vehicles, surpassing the plant's announced capacity of 300,000. Nice to see Americans working and keeping food on their tables for their families. And doing it and large numbers, with great pride and quality in their work. Now when people buy a new Odyssey and Pilot and soon Ridgelines, they will help American people. Unlike our domestic manufactures (GM) building cars with cheap China labor.....

Just days after we got our first spy shots of the upcoming Lotus Eagle 2+2 sports car, Lotus has now ...

Chrysler Vice Chairman Jim Press said Friday the automaker had made an "operational" profit since it was acquired by Cerberus Capital Management, and defended comments from Cerberus founders that only small ...

The Used Car Dealers Association of Ontario recently filed a lawsuit against CarProof, contending that the company is spreading "misleading and inaccurate information about its association and products." ...

Ford Motor Company outperformed rival domestic automakers and continues to gain on industry quality and reliability leaders. Honda and Toyota, continue to decline as reflected in the massive rental lots full of the all new Tundra.

Aston Martin's newest flagship dropped anchor in Troy Thursday evening. The 2008 DBS, a $265,000 super coupe, was shown at the Aston Martin of Troy dealership amid popping champagne corks and surrounded by fine ...

Chrysler on Thursday said a loss for the automaker as reported by minority owner Daimler did not reflect its operating profitability during its first months as a private firm.

Just got this email from Brent at Avenue B Pictures:

We are shooting a video for Country artist Clint Black and are looking for a very cool, classic American car. We are remaking the song “Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress”. The car should be black, classic and eye catching as it will play a prominent role in the piece. We will need it for one day in the first week or so of March, and the shoot will be in Nashville, TN. The owner is more than welcome to stay with the car the entire time and of course we are fully insured.

Clint has remade the song “Long Cool Woman” which is a song about a guy working with the FBI, so Clint will be playing an undercover agent. Hence, he should have a super cool car. I’m not sure what that means exactly, but I’d like to show him as many options as possible.

Please let anyone who might be interested email me directly. If they can send pictures, I could show them to Clint so that he could make a decision.

We’re planning to shoot the first part of March in Nashville. We are still working out the details.

Either contact Brent through his website above, or leave a comment here and we’ll put you in touch with him.

European AWD version Transit

Transit Connect with ladder rack

I had to snicker when I heard Ford was unveiling their new Transit Connect van at recent auto shows as an alternative to the larger GM Savanna and Dodge/Mercedes Sprinter Vans. Ford has actually been producing the Transit since 1953 in Europe and the current model they have been showing around is the seventh generation of the Transit.

1953 German FK100 later to be designated Ford Taunus Transit.

The first generation Transits were built in Cologne, Germany, and designated as FK100 models. The name was changed to Ford Taunus Transits in 1961 and they were offered until 1965. With the release of the second generation vehicles in Germany and the first models in the UK they were designated Transit MK I from 1965 until 1978. The Mark I was offered in many different permutations including camper vans, pickups, cab and chassis, mini buses and city delivery “cube-type” versions.

This is a 1966 version of the Transit delivery truck.

Mark II models were offered from 1978-86. Mark III versions were sold in the 1987-91 time frame. Mark IVs were made until 1994. Mark Vs were built from 1994-2000 with Mark VI models built between 2000 and 2006. Ford’s current Transit Concept (Mark VII) got a more aerodynamic front end design and was recently voted International Van of the Year for 2007. Current Connects are built on the Ford Focus C170 chassis in Turkey and should be available in major U.S. city markets in 2009-10 model year, although I’m pretty sure most that will be sold here in the U.S. will be built in Mexico. The Transit has proven itself in cities in Europe for over 50 years which goes to show you that “new” here isn’t necessarily new everywhere else.