At today’s Ford backgrounder event for the company’s New York Auto Show debuts, we managed to corner Jamal Hameedi, Chief Nameplate Engineer at Special Vehicle Teams. And while there have been rumors lately of a Ford Taurus SHO revival, or possibly a fettled Fusion, the reality is that nearly 100-percent of SVT’s engineering might is busy developing a truck.
What sort of truck? Hameedi won’t say, but given the production-bound Foose Edition F-Series we showed you earlier today, it’s safe to say that an F-150 would be redundant. When pressed, the Ford engineer admitted that his definition of “truck” is “a body-on-frame vehicle.” In other words, SUVs remain on the table.
Hameedi was loath to talk details, but seemed genuinely excited about the project, proclaiming that the finished product “…will blow your mind.”
What do you think the next vehicle to wear an SVT badge will be? An Expedition? An Explorer? An F-350?? Leave your say in ‘Comments.’
In addition to the performance-oriented Shelby GT500KR and Foose Edition F-150, Ford pulled back the sheet on this big boy, the 2008 Funkmaster Flex Expedition.
To be available this autumn, the FFE is essentially a cosmetically upgraded short-wheelbase Expedition Limited. Flex was on hand at this morning’s meetings in Dearborn, and the urban-minded entrepreneur and DJ made sure that those in attendance knew that this wasn’t his personal vision, it was a reflection of the trends and wants of his constituents on the street. Fashioning himself as something approaching an urban automotive ethnographer, Flex believes that this new Expedition will address an untapped market niche.
The FlexPedition features a 3d Carbon body kit (which will be made available separately through Blue Oval dealers) slathered in two-tone Colorado Red and Black paint. Rolling on 20-inch chrome-capped aluminum wheels, the vehicle’s suspension is unaltered, but appears to be lower thanks to aforementioned body kit.
Inside, FFE owners will be treated to black leather seating surfaces, with decidedly unsubtle Colorado Red accents slathering the center console, dash, and doors. Pricing has not yet been announced.
(Click through to the jump for more images and Ford’s official press release)
Behold, the world’s first open-source car. Cumbersomely dubbed “c,mm,n” (say “common”), the vehicle was introduced at AutoRAI in Amsterdam.
The project is a product of the Netherlands Society for Nature and Environment, better known as the “Stichting Natuur en Milieu,” along with a trio of universities: Eindhoven, Enschede, and Delft.
So how is the c,mm,n open-source? The entire vehicle’s genetic makeup (specifications, technical drawings, etc.) are available online to anyone, and the car’s creators hope that people will adapt it to their needs and wants, with the caveat that they must share their modifications with the rest of the community.
The c,mm,n was designed to be an environmentally-conscience family vehicle, so it features a hydrogen fuel cell, and incorporates such features as an advanced sat-nav system that incorporates traffic and parking availability.
We’ve lamented the loss of Ford’s SVT Lighting pickup for some time now, but apparently the Blue Oval is set to return to the high-performance pickup market in a big way, thanks the 2008 Foose Edition F-150.
The supercharged and intercooled truck is based on the company’s FX2 Sport F-150, and its 5.4-liter V-8 will pump out 450 horsepower (@ 5200 rpm) and 500 foot-pounds of torque (@ 4000 rpm) exclusively through a four-speed automatic.
Beyond the obvious drivetrain augmentations, the F-150 FE receives a slate of model-specific upgrades, including Eibach coils and leafs and Sachs dampers and jounce bumpers to get that gumption to the pavement, and a Ford Racing exhaust for a sportier tone and added power.
(Click through to the jump for more details, images, and Ford’s official press release)
WINDING ROAD was on hand at Hyundai’s Veracruz test drive event in San Diego today where executives fielded questions from journalists about the future of the company in America. In discussing the Veracruz (itself a rather premium mid-size SUV) and the forthcoming Genesis V-8 sedan (above), we weren’t the only ones who wondered if the company would consider creating a premium brand to market their increasingly upmarket product lineup. Originally we thought that strategy had been thrown out, but today we were set straight. Both John Krafcik, VP of product planning, and Steve Wilhite, COO, stated that the option was still on the table.
We’ve just returned from Dearborn, where Ford showed select members of the media an advanced preview of some of the new iron they’ll be debuting in New York next week. Chief among them is this limited-edition Shelby GT500KR Mustang, which will find its way into the driveways of 1,000 fortunate customers next spring.
Designed to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the original “King of the Road” Mustang, this hardtop-only coupe (no convertible model is planned) has been massaged by SVT to get a full 540 horsepower/510 pound-feet of torque out of its 5.4-liter supercharged V-8.
Officials were quick to point out that the KR doesn’t only gain in power, it also has a number of other bits that will find their way into Ford’s performance catalogs, to be available ala-carte to current Mustang owners.
(Click through to the jump for further details, additional images, and Ford’s official press release)
2007 Toyota RAV4 Sport 4×4
Price as tested: $27,944
Miles driven during test: 41.9
At a glance, the Toyota RAV4 doesn’t seem like an appropriate partner for an enthusiastic drive down scenic, speed-friendly roads. But after only a short drive in the baby Toy, I’m still nostalgic with thoughts about how fun our little cute-ute was. Equipped with Toyota’s 3.5-liter V-6, our tester proved to be quite fast, its handling was tight, and its steering responsive – all elements one looks for in a drivers’ car.
While I was unable to put the RAV4 to a true off-road test, I am reminded that a majority of the people who drive RAV4s will only drive them on-road, perhaps experiencing some unpaved roads here and there. For these scenarios, our Toyota was a truly splendid and fun crossover vehicle.
(Click through to the jump for more of this WR Fleet review)
Nissan’s new V36 Skyline sedan is handsomely beating sales predictions in Japan. Fully redesigned last November (as the Japanese-speaking cousin to America’s new Infiniti G35), the Skyline was targeted to sell 1000 units per month. Year-to-date, however, the car has done more than 11,000 units, producing many smiling faces at Nissan in the bargain.
(Click through to the jump for more on the Skyline’s achievements)
DaimlerChrysler’s Jeep brand is facing legal action from a children’s book publisher, of all things.The discontent stems from a trademark suit brought by Chooseco LLC, the publisher for the “Choose Your Own Adventure” series of books that encourages young readers to decide the fate of the storylines in their books. Jeep apparently had a similar idea, running advertisements with the tagline “Choose Your Own Adventure.”
For its part, the publisher says that not only is the automaker’s slogan identical, it is also earmarked for men ages 20-30, the very sort of consumers who grew up reading the R.A. Montgomery series.
Chrysler’s PR guru Jason Vines on the suit: “Obviously, they’re looking for money… we’d offered to link our site, which gets nine katrillion times more traffic, to their site.” According to the Associated Press, Vines also indicated that DCX was expecting to reach a settlement, and was thus surprised that a suit had been filed. Someone evidently forgot to tell the Chooseco spokesperson, however, as they indicated that the two parties have held no negotiations whatsoever.
2007 JAGUAR XJ8L SUPER V8
Price as tested: $92,000
Miles driven during test: 702.1
If there is one thing I learned from my three days in Jaguar’s biggest and baddest supercharged sedan, it’s that I, at twenty-one years of age, am not the target audience for this vehicle. I drove the big Jag around southeast Michigan and ventured to the west side of the state, racking up seven hundred miles over the course of one weekend. In the end, I’ve come to praise the XJ for its smooth ride quality and comfortable atmosphere, but I was not necessarily completely impressed by the super-saloon’s driving dynamics.
This statement is brought into sharper focus as I glance at the speeding ticket I received on M-14 East in Plymouth, Michigan…
That didn’t take long. Earlier this morning, Honda introduced its Japanese-market Civic Type R sedan, and it only took mere minutes for Mugen Motorsports to trot out their own upgraded version.
As seen here, the Mugen CTR gains a whole host of body modifications (front spoiler, grille, vented hood, rear wing and diffuser bumper cap), and it sports a range of bolt-ons, including a sports exhaust, air intake, and an uprated braking system (new rotors, lines, fluid, and pads), a sports suspension, and 18-inch gold-toned alloys.
(Click through to the jump for more images and a link to the company’s website)
Making hay while the sun shines appears to be Ford’s plan with the Mustang, as the company continues to churn out special-edition pony cars with a vengeance. For its part, Ford will be revealing the Shelby KR, a moniker designed to echo the seminal 1968 GT500KR, which was powered by a 428-cubic-inch engine.
Shelby and Ford have come a long way from the first Mustang, which Carroll and Co. referred to as a “secretary’s car” before he and his crew got hold of it. They’ll have to continue to convincingly fortify the ‘Stang in order to stave off the coming Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet Camaro revivals.
Click on the video above to hear Shelby talk turkey about the legacy of the KR, and the new model coming to New York.
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