Jalopnik: ford

Five Best And Worst Black Friday New Car Deals

Matt Hardigree — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST

This year brings a newcomer to Black Friday steals and deals — cars. There's serious savings to be had on new cars, as well as some seriously horrible duds. Here's five of the best and five to avoid.

Good Deal #1

What: Buy A 2010 Suzuki SX4 For Under $15,000
Where: Suzuki Dealers
Regular Price: $15,849
Black Friday Price: $14,599
Savings: $500 Holiday cash on top of current deals, for a total savings of $1,300.
Why Its A Good Deal: You won't find a better utilitarian vehicle in this price range. Better yet, it comes with an in-dash navigation system featuring Garmin software.

Good Deal #2

What: GM Dealer Closing Sale: $2,000 Off For Certain Customers
Where: Cadillac, Buick-GMC, Chevrolet Dealers
Regular Price: Already heavily discounted
Savings: $1,000-to-$2,000
Black Friday Price: Between $1,000 and $2,000 cheaper
Why It's A Good Deal: Nearly one-million customers living near a closing dealership will receive a letter in the mail this week offering them an additional $1,000-to-$2,000 to purchase a vehicle at a dealership staying open. Deal ends at the end of the month.

Good Deal #3

What: BMW Diesel Luxury Sedans — More Than 10% Off
Where: BMW Dealers
Regular Price: $43,900
Savings: $4,500
Black Friday Price: $39,400
Why It's A Good Deal: BMW is trying to get U.S. buyers to accept diesel vehicles as luxury vehicles and is putting $4,500 in cash where its mouth is. Powerful and efficient, BMW diesels at a discount is a great deal.

Good Deal #4

What: 2009 Cadillac CTS-V: $5,000 Savings
Where: Cadillac Dealers
Regular Price: $58,575
Black Friday Price: $53,575
Savings: $5,000
Why It's A Good Deal: The CTS-V is a world-beater and the few remaining 2009 vehicles on dealer lots qualify for a $5,000 cash back deal. It's the fastest stocking-stuffer on the block.

Good Deal #5

What: Remaining 2009 Dodge Rams Up To $5,500 Cash Back
Where: Dodge Dealerships
Regular Price: $21,510 - $39,935
Black Friday Price: Up To $5,500 Off
Savings: $5,500
Why It's A Good Deal: Dodge is hoping they'll have a few less 2009 Rams sitting under their tree and are offering up to $5,500 in cash back if you'll help rid them of a nicely-loaded one.

Bad Deal #1

What: Ford's Year-End Sales Event Unremarkable
Where: Ford Dealers
Regular Price: Fairly Cheap
Black Friday Price: $1,000 less plus 0% financing
Why It's A Bad Deal: Ford is not as poorly positioned as other American automakers so they're offering a measly $1,000 cash back and 0% financing. This is a good deal — on Black Friday 2006.

Bad Deal #2

What: Baja MotorSports Phoenix 250cc Street Motorcycle A Bad Deal Free
Where: PepBoys
Regular Price: $1,999.99
Black Friday Price: $1,499.00
Savings: $500.01
Why It's A Bad Deal: Even with a $500 discount you're still buying a cheap-for-a-reason Chinese bike that's going to require riding lessons, a license and possibly being abandoned two weeks later on the side of the road.

Bad Deal #3

What: Get Less Than 3% Off Of A BMW M3
Where: BMW Dealerships
Regular Price: $54,850
Black Friday Price: $53,350
Why It's A Bad Deal: BMW knows it has a great product in the M3 sports sedan and it's throwing its smallest cash back offer on them. For less than 3% off most buyers won't notice it.

Bad Deal #4

What: Get A "Free" Upgrade To An AWD Charger You Didn't Want
Where: Dodge Dealerships
Regular Price: $30,540
Black Friday Price: $25,700
Why It's A Bad Deal: Dodge has a slate of attractive incentives for those wanting to buy a new car from them, but the "free" upgrade to an AWD Charger is selling you an unpopular AWD upgrade instead of more cash off the car you actually wanted.

Bad Deal #5

What: Subaru Donates $250 To Charity For You
Where: Subaru Dealers
Regular Price: Regular Price
Black Friday Price: Still The Regular Price On Many Models
Why It's A Bad Deal: We think Subaru's "Share The Love " event is great for the five charities that get $250 when you buy their car, but it's not a great deal for consumers. Blame it on Subaru building cars people want.

M-Sport Unveils Ford Fiesta S2000 For Global Rally Efforts

Ben Wojdyla — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:30:00 EST

Rally crafters M-Sport have unveiled their newest blue oval effort, the Ford Fiesta S2000 Rally Car, a fully caged, 280HP all-wheel-drive racing machine. The little car will serve as Ford's first global platform rally car.

The little beastie will be showing off at Intercontinental Rally Challenge and the S2000 World Cup races starting in 2010 and based on M-Sport's performance in the past, should run very well. The car runs a built 2.0 liter Duratec with 280 HP and 206 lb-ft of torque, driving a permanent all-wheel-drive system through a sequential six speed transmission. Brembo brakes and a "sports" suspension along, a roll cage, Sparcos and a fire supression system finish things off. We'll take one in Squeeze green with a road plate, thank you.

The highly-anticipated Ford Fiesta S2000 rally car has been unveiled at a launch ceremony at M-Sport's Cumbrian base in the UK. The new rally car, the culmination of nine months' hard work by the design and engineering team at M-Sport, was presented by M-Sport Managing Director Malcolm Wilson. Gerard Quinn, Ford of Europe's Senior Motorsport Manager was present as a special Ford guest during the S2000 launch.

The Fiesta S2000, M-Sport and Ford's first global rally car, which will be eligible to compete in national rally championships around the world as well as the IRC and S2000 World Cup, is due for homologation in January 2010. However, it will make its public debut this weekend appearing as course car at the final round of the IRC series, the Rally of Scotland.

Invited guests were given an opportunity to get a close-up look at the exciting new car which has been designed by M-Sport's award-winning Technical Director Christian Loriaux and his team led by Chief Designer Anthony Brinkman and Test Engineer Chris Gray.

Continuing their close relationship with Ford, the team at M-Sport has worked in tandem with Ford's Motorsport Technical Manager Mike Norton and the Ford small car design team that developed the acclaimed kinetic design of the Fiesta road car, to develop a dynamic and aggressive looking rally car.

The experience gained from developing the record-breaking Ford Focus RS WRC has been used by the M-Sport team to develop the Fiesta S2000 rally car while working within the new FIA Sporting Regulations which means that this car can be used by customers at both national and international level.

The Fiesta S2000 has already completed nearly 3,000 km of testing both in the UK and Europe and that extensive testing programme will continue into the start of the next year in readiness for the car's competitive debut.

The Fiesta S2000 is the latest in a long line of rally cars produced as a result of the successful partnership between M-Sport and Ford, starting with the Escort Cosworth in the 1990s and moving on to the record breaking Ford Focus RS WRC and Ford Fiesta ST.

It follows hot on the heels of M-Sport's extremely successful two wheel drive Fiesta R2, which was launched earlier this year and has already taken class victories in rallies across Europe.

The arrival of the Fiesta S2000 means that together Ford and M-Sport offer a complete ladder of opportunity for rally competitors to graduate with Ford from national level right through to the WRC in Ford cars.

M-Sport Managing Director Malcolm Wilson said:

"Today is a very exciting day for us. This is the first global rally car for Ford and M-Sport, I really believe that we have produced a fantastic rally car and this launch is a big step to seeing it out competing in rallies. It's the first time in five years that we have been able to offer a Ford rally car that can challenge for overall victory in national championships across the world.

"It is also the culmination of a huge amount of hard work not only by Christian Loriaux and his team, but by everyone who works at M-Sport. We have worked closely with Ford on this project, their best-selling road car, the new Ford Fiesta, has been a perfect base car and its award-winning styling and kinematics together with M-Sport's expertise will surely make the Fiesta S2000 a huge global success."

M-Sport Technical Director Christian Loriaux said:

"It's a fantastic feeling today to see the car actually launched to the world after all the hard work and testing behind closed doors. Everyone at M-Sport has had to pull together in order to get the Fiesta S2000 finished in such a short period of time and it has been a great team effort to get to this point so quickly.

"The design team, led by Anthony Brinkman and Chris Gray, has worked incredibly hard and the fact that we have been able to deliver the car to schedule is down in no small part to the commitment of the entire M-Sport team to the success of the project. We have made a very promising start in testing and I am more than pleased with the performance of the car so far; it will be interesting to see how the real pace of the car compares to the competition."

Ford Fiesta S2000 Rally Car Gallery

Ben Wojdyla — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:04:32 EST

2011 Ford Mustang Available In March, California Special Returns

Ray Wert — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST

Sneaky dealers have already gleaned more details from order screens on what (and when) to expect from the 2011 Ford Mustang. So far we've learned of the return of the California Special, an SVT performance package and more below.

* California Special (GT/CS) Returns (Package 402A)
* SVT Performance Package (Option 67F)
* Brembo Brake Package (Option 55D)
* 6-speed Automatic Transmission available
* (3) – 19-inch tire options available
* Order Banks open January 18, 2010
* JOB 1 begins March 15, 2010

[GMInsideNews via MustangHeaven]

World's Fastest Street Legal Jet Truck Looks Illicit

Matt Hardigree — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:10:00 EST

The Frictionator Ford F650 has a General Electric J85 Jet Engine in the bed and is the "world's fastest street legal jet truck" though we're sure kicking on the afterburner invalidates that claim. One more check-body-cant-cash jet truck photo below.

Photo Credit: ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images

Motor Trend Car Of The Year: 2010 Ford Fusion

Ray Wert — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:40:00 EST

The newly-refreshed 2010 Ford Fusion was just named MotorTrend's Car Of The Year for 2010. Not a bad choice in our opinion as Ford's got the most money to spend on marketing. Also, the car's damn good.

Ken Block, Chris Atkinson Spank A Vintage Ford Escort In Woods

Sam Smith — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST

What do you get when you combine one Rally America star, one factory WRC driver, and one of the coolest two-wheel-drive rally cars ever built? A bunch of grown men giggling, that's what. Strap in, kiddies.

[DC Shoes]

Ford Transits Down On The Paris Street

Murilee Martin — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:00:00 EST

This is Down On The Street Bonus Edition, where we check out interesting street-parked cars located in places other than the Island That Rust Forgot. Some examples of the British Van Expeditionary Force, courtesy of PCH Poster Child Franzouse!

So to test out my theory I left the camera at home today and went about my day. In the afternoon, while walking to a meeting, what do you know, I come across a beautiful vintage Ford Transit (Mk II I think, the '78 to '86 production run, yes the Ford streak continues!).
Well technically I stumbled upon a beautiful yellow one first, and then, hidden by a moving truck, there was a grey/blue/bondo beater one with a high roof ( a camper top of some kind) that was even cooler, or at least more sinister.
The guys in the moving truck were quite amused by the weird dude in the Corduroy suit, snapping pictures of two old vans with a look of genuine happiness on his face...
I hope you find these two vans as I cool as I did!
bon weekend

DOTS FAQ

1995 Ford Cargo Rollback Gallery

Ben Wojdyla — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:28:46 EST

Hello, Officer: Ford Announces New Police Interceptor For 2011

Sam Smith — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:30:00 EST

Before you ask, no, this isn't it. But an all-new Interceptor is set to replace the old-and-busted Crown Vic, and it's likely to be rear-wheel drive. Get in the car, perp.

Confession time: A few us have driven a Police Interceptor. One of us even owns one. Some of us, on the other hand, have barely even sat in one. (There was that one time with the live chickens and the three hundred pounds of prime rib, but for legal reasons, we're not allowed to talk about it.) So from a personal standpoint, we can't really explain why we dig this, or why it gets us excited, or why it makes us want to get all Good Cop/Bad Cop and go hunt down some junkie fool with a dirty mouth and blood on his mind.

The skinny: The next Interceptor arrives in 2011. Ford claims it will be engineered and built in America, and that it will offer better fuel efficiency, quality, safety, and performance than the current Crown Vic. (Given that the Crown Vic was designed when Calvin Coolidge was in diapers, none of this should difficult.) Further details should arrive in the first quarter of 2010.

The speculation: For starters, the picture above is the Ford Interceptor concept first shown at the New York auto show in 2002. That car was based on the '03 Police Interceptor; it sported crush-resistant bumpers, push bars made of reinforced steel, eighteen-inch alloy wheels, and a 4.6-liter, four-valve V-8 that produced 300 hp and 300 lb-ft of torque. As you might guess, it is not what Ford is unveiling next year.

What's actually on the way? Our bets are on a rear-wheel-drive ass-hauler based off the Australian-market Ford Falcon. There's a slim chance that it could be Taurus-based, but durability issues would likely preclude that from happening. Note that all of this comes on the heels of Chevrolet's Caprice announcement. Nothing like a good cop-car shoot-out, is there?

[Full press release here: Ford]

EXCLUSIVE: We Told You This Engine's The Boss

Matt Hardigree — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:15:00 EST

Remember the 6.2-liter V8 we showed you earlier today? Ford may not be marketing this engine as the Boss, but trust us, it's a Boss engine. Here's the mother of all Easter Eggs to prove it.

Cast inside the valley of the Boss 6.2-liter V8 are the words "The Boss Is Back." It's the kind of Easter Egg from a confident company. Of course, if they were so confident we're not sure why they seem to be holding back on marketing it as the "Boss."

(Hat tip to Fastlane!)

First Production Ford Mustang On EBay: Buy It Now For $5.5 Million!

Ben Wojdyla — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST

This 1964.5 Ford Mustang convertible, number #100212, is believed to be the very first Mustang built on the production assembly line and sold to the public. It's for sale on eBay. Buy it now for an astonishing $5.5 million.

$5.5 million is a helluva a lot of ducats to spend on a 45-year-old car with no heater and an original sale price of $3,318.60, but this sucker's apparently been established as the very first Mustang to roll down Ford's assembly line. That means it's got a born-on-date of March 9, 1964, making it the 212th Mustang built — following 211 prototype and promotional cars built in the Allen Park prototype facility. Although it now lives as a museum piece, this first of an unbroken progeny of nine million cars wearing the same name, still managed to get over 55,000 miles on the odometer in its lifetime.

The eBay listing is worth a look for no other reason than to check out the cool history of the early cars. [Ebay

First 1964.5 Ford Mustang Gallery

Ben Wojdyla — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:39:01 EST

Indiana Ford Dealer Commits Suicide In Office

Matt Hardigree — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:30:00 EST

Richard A. Burd, owner of Burd Ford in Central Indiana, was discovered dead in his office this morning in what police are calling a suicide. His wife Christine, who stars in the dealership's commercials, found him dead on a couch.

At this point, it's not clear why or how this suicide occurred, though the mayor of the town where his business is located said he'd been told by Richard Burd himself that business was good and mentioned they were in the process of replenishing their sold-out stock. It's possible he was just one of the many Americans suffering from depression and the location of this suicide isn't significant. Until the police release a note or details it's all just speculation.

You can see Christine in one of their "Burd Is The Word" commercials below. (Hat tip to Carrew!) [IndyStar]

Photo Credit: MICHELLE PEMBERTON/Indianapolis Star

Need For Speed Gamers Race Real Mustangs Against Video Game Mustangs

Wes Siler — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST

Ford brought a few Need For Speed SHIFT gamers to Willow Springs to see if they could break their virtual lap times for real. Could they? Of course not.

A marketing ploy, sure, but we have a thing for any marketing exercise which carries risk of serious injury and/or death. This should also definitely prove to armchair racers that they're faster in their minds than they would be behind a real steering wheel (force feedback doesn't count). Of course it also proves that the 2010 Ford Mustang GTs stability control is now so good that it kept four nincompoops from killing themselves in a powerful RWD car, I mean really, did you see how they were driving in the game?

Ford Ka, New Ranger Pickup Won't Come To U.S.

Ray Wert — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST

Ford's decided smaller may not always be better. CEO Alan Mulally told Automotive News this weekend they won't be selling the Ka minicar or the next-gen-for-the-global-marketplace 2012 Ford Ranger pickup here in the U.S. [AutoNews]

Ford Unveils New 1993 Taurus For 2010 Model Year!

Ben Wojdyla — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:30:00 EST

The Onion News Network covered Ford's exciting unveil of the 1993 Taurus for the 2010 model year. At $650 it's designed to fulfill the needs of Americans in challenging economic times. Video below.

Features include functioning exhaust, working battery and standard Primus cassette tape, it's sure to be a hit.

Ford Unveils New Car For Cash-Strapped Buyers: The 1993 Taurus

Ford's Inflatable Seat Belt Explained, Exploded

Ben Wojdyla — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:30:00 EST

Yesterday we told you about the Ford inflatable seat belt that's definitely not an airbag. Today we get to see just how the thing works with crash event test footage and additional explanation on why Ford says they're important.

Fairlane Afterburner Gallery

Ben Wojdyla — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:23:06 EST

Mobsteel Bags 400HP Taurus SHO

Ben Wojdyla — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:30:00 EST

The new Ford Taurus SHO is a pretty sweet ride, but the fellas at Mobsteel have gotten their hands on one and blacked it out, smoothed things over and slammed it to the ground. We're not sure about this one.

Mobsteel took the SHO and added its trademark mobster style with custom front and rear fascias, black-out grille, restyled fender chrome (it's not a side vent, let's not pretend here) and rear bumper trim. Of course, the whole car gets a heavy coat of black. Running gear includes a set of huge 380mm cross-drilled and vented Brembos, Air Runner front and rear air system with custom Mobsteel bags in the back, 22 inch wheels on Pirelli tires turned by a 400 HP tuned 3.5-liter twin turbocharged Ecoboost V6 breathing through a Magnaflow cat-back exhaust.

It's hard to judge any bagged car when it's layin' frame, right now it looks a little goofy with those huge wheels tucked up under the fenders. Considering we've loved everything Mobsteel's ever made, we want to see this car out in the wilds before passing final judgment.