Interviews with Detroit 3 powertrain bosses leave us believing that Motown is finally getting the message and that change is coming soon.Continue –>
Looking for the experience of driving a legendary racecar, but don’t quite have the budget to pull off the real thing? This Ford GT40 replica looks to provide automotive champagne on a beer (ok, maybe just slightly cheaper champagne) budget.
While this replica race car may not have all the moxie of a real sixties GT40, it’s likely to be a much more livable proposition. The car is built around a modern, and perfectly powerful Roush 427 V-8, with a Ford five-speed manual that’s less likely than an original GT40 transmission to break your ankle at low speeds. As an means to experiencing the true vintage Le Mans sensation, the replica may be marginal, but as a way to enjoy some head-turning, high speed fun, we’d guess it’s spot on.
+ eBay Motors: 2007 Other Makes Other GT40
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Ford cleared one major hurdle in completing its sale of Jaguar and Land Rover to Indian automaker Tata on Wednesday, receiving the go-ahead from U.S. government antitrust officials.
Authorities from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said in a notice on Wednesday that they had completed a review of the $2.3 billion dollar deal and had no plans to take actions to block the move.
This latest small victory over the mass of legislative red tape will help to put Tata on a path to be a builder of among the most diverse portfolios of vehicles on the planet. Tata officially announced that it would be buying Land Rover and Jag last month.
A smattering from the future Tata empire in the galleries below.
+ Automotive News: TATA GETS US ANTITRUST OK FOR JAGUAR, LAND ROVER (subscription required)
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Ford has unveiled the Chinese version of the Fiesta hatchback in Beijing, a five-door hatch trimmed out for Auto China as the Fiesta S.
While the Chinese version of the car seems to be largely the same as the European Fiesta that was shown this year in Geneva, the car’s S trim package offers a funkier body kit which could hint at performance variants of the Fiesta yet to come. The more aggressive front air dam and five-door layout certainly seem to work well on the car’s architecture though, and make us wonder how well the Fiesta five would do stateside, competing against cars like Honda’s Fit.
Take a look at the five-door Fiesta S in our gallery below or click through the jump to read Ford’s press release.
60-year-old Geoff Polites, CEO of the Jaguar and Land Rover brands, passed away on Saturday in his home country of Australia. Reports indicate that he had been battling a serious illness for two years.
A decades-long veteran of the auto industry, Polites took the helm at Jaguar Land Rover in 2005, helping to steer the brands back to profitability and through their recent sale to Tata Motors. Polites was expected to stay on with the automakers when the sale is finalized in June.
Ford Motor Company’s Alan Mulally called Polites “a real inspiration to us all,” going on to say “His drive and determination, combined with his clear sense of vision for the business, played a huge role in turning round the business at Jaguar Land Rover and returning it to profitability.”
Land Rover’s CFO, David Smith, will take the position of acting CEO until a successor is named at Jaguar Land Rover.
(Click through the jump to read Ford’s press release.)
While most of the spy photographs we publish are pictures of entire automobiles, this leaked photo happens to show one very important new engine…all on its own.
Set up for display at a recent dealer show in Las Vegas, the picture above shows Ford’s all-new 4.4-liter V-8 diesel engine, which is slated to be available in 2010 as part of the Super Duty pickup range. An attendant placard tells us that the power output will be around 340 horsepower with 430 pound-feet of torque. Ford tells us that those numbers represent substantial gains over a 5.4-liter gas engine, including a nine percent boost in power, fifteen percent in torque, and twenty percent in fuel economy.
In addition to the F-150 lineup the new diesel should make its way into the Expedition, Navigator, and new E-Series vans.
+ PickupTruck.com: Unofficial Pictures: Ford’s Upcoming 4.4-Liter V8 Diesel
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Ford has spent the better part of this week trying to keep the image you see above from cropping up on automotive websites just like ours. The automaker was able to stem the tide for a few days, but with gold like this spy photo of a possible 2010 Taurus, and the no-holds-barred sprit of the internet, it was bound to come out.
Said to be snapped inside Ford’s own design studio this prototype would seem to represent a kind of quantum leap visually for the Taurus, with chiseled headlamps, jutting front air dam, and a more subtle application of the three-bar grille.
Give us your opinion of the potential new Taurus, in comments.
+ Autoblog: Spy Shots: 2010 Ford Taurus… finally
+ Edmunds Inside Line: Spy Photo: 2010 Ford Taurus Caught
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Ford Motor Company CEO Alan Mulally earned a total of $21.7 million dollars in 2007, including a base salary of $2 million, and $7 million worth of stock and incentive bonuses. While that amount seems considerable, Mulally’s salary was actually down significantly from 2006 when he totaled $28.2 million in compensation.
On the whole Ford lost much less money last year than in 2006, totaling losses of $2.7 billion in 2007, compared to $12.6 billion the year before.
Other high-profile Ford executives raked in major compensation increases for 2007, despite the company finishing in the red: Chief financial officer, Don Leclair, earned $11.7 million in 2007, up from $4.4 million in 2006. President of the Americas, Mark Fields jumped from $5.6 million in 2006 to $8.4 million in 2007. Head of Ford Europe and the Premier Auto Group took in $10.3 million in 2007 versus $4.3 million in 2006.
+ The Detroit News: Ford’s Mulally earns $21.7 million in ‘07
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Recent Ford employee David Sneath from Livonia, Michigan had a dream come true on Tuesday. Sneath was able to quit his job at a Ford parts warehouse after 34-years of service with the Blue Oval, because he picked the winning numbers to the $136,000,000 Mega Millions lottery jackpot.
Not even the most loyal Ford employee could fault Sneath for quitting his job then and there, but the lottery winner wasn’t content to merely leave the automaker. The rather jaded former employee told reporters gathered at the lottery office that he had no plans to buy a Ford ever again. “I worked for Ford Motor Co.,” said Sneath, “I won’t be buying a Ford product.”
Sneath didn’t elaborate as to whether or not his Ford boycott stemmed from a lack of respect for the product line, or a pent up resentment for his former company, but it certainly wasn’t a ringing endorsement in either case. At least he didn’t burn down the building.
At around 4:00 p.m. the Associated Press corrected the David Sneath quote critical to this story to read, “I worked for Ford Motor Company. I won’t be buying a foreign product.” Thanks to all those who tipped in.
+ Jalopnik: 34-Year FoMoCo Vet Wins Lottery, Promptly Disses Dearborn’s Products
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After months of speculation, posturing, and negotiation, Ford has confirmed the sale of British brands Jaguar and Land Rover to Indian automaker Tata Motors today.
The much-guessed at final purchase price for the two historic marques has been settled at $2.3 billion, though Ford has agreed to infuse attendant pension funds with an additional $600 million when the deal fully closes early this summer. Regulatory approvals are all that are needed to finalize the sale.
(Click through the jump to read on or on the thumbnails below to look at galleries of the latest Jaguar, Land Rover, and Tata products.)
From the “Truth Funnier than Fiction” department comes this YouTube video of a 1971 Ford Pinto commercial. From the long view of history, pitching a car which is almost exclusively remembered for exploding after a rear impact, with a spot about it performing in a demolition derby is almost too perfect. Edge of your seat action in the video above.
+ YouTube: 1970 (1971) Ford Pinto Demolition Derby Ad
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Ford Motor Company has reportedly given the green light to a brand new rear-wheel-drive platform for a whole new generation of vehicles. What’s more, the automaker plans to bring the development program for said vehicles back home to Dearborn, after having much of the RWD work done in Australia in recent years.
Reports are that the new platform will underpin the next Ford Mustang, as well as serving in the new wave of Ford and Lincoln sedans. The automaker’s current lineup of RWD sedans, the Crown Victoria and Lincoln Town Car, should be more than ready for replacement when their production ends in 2011. The replacement for those sedan offerings may take a form akin to the Interceptor concept (seen above) shown at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show, but are likely to be smaller with aims at improved fuel economy.
Ford is also toying with the idea of bringing the next generation of the Australian Falcon over for U.S. consumption, as another push towards the globalization of the brand.
(Check out the Ford Interceptor concept in our gallery below.)
+ Detroit News: Bringing up the rear: Ford to revive rear-wheel drive in U.S.
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Cadillac CTS-V Laps Nurburgring in Sedan Record 7:59:32
Opel Insignia Hatchback Spied Undisguised 
The Rise of Hyundai: From Mitsubishi Borrower to Possible M-B Supplier
First Look At Possible New MG TF
So Long Super Aguri: Financial Woes Cause Formula One Team to Call it A Day
