Archive for August, 2006

Ford Motor Company is taking it’s 2007 “Grabber Orange” convertible Mustang on part of a 68 city tour, throughout this summer and fall.  The promotion is labled “take back the American road”. Greg Pawlowski, a “product specialist” for FoMoCo, is the lucky driver of the Mustang on the long lap from the Midwest through the southern and south-central states.

At a Center for Automotive Research meeting near Lake Michigan, Ford’s president Mark Fields, announced that Ford will begin eliminating gas caps on all production vehicles. The standard twist off gas cap design will be replaced with a “capless fuel filler“. NASCAR inspired, this was first seen by Ford in 2005 on the GT supercar but will go production based starting with the 2008 Lincoln MKS sedan.

The “capless fuel filler” will eliminate the potential of losing a gas cap, but also offer a more secure seal and help prevent gas fumes from releasing into the environment. When the nozzle of a conventional gas pump is put into the fuel filler, it pushes on two tabs that open a spring-loaded metal flap. That allows the pump to sit in the tube that delivers gas to the tank, just as a pump does after the cap is unscrewed. After the nozzle is removed, the spring-loaded door seals the pathway shut.

Steve Saleen, world renowned for his modded Mustangs (over 8,000 of them at press time) and other mass produced vehicles, has opened the doors to the companies first retail outlet - The Saleen Store. The store sells an array of Saleen-branded stuff, as well as technical displays on the company’s 750-hp S7 supercar and their supercharged Saleen Mustang, and S7 racing simulators.

If that’s not enough, The Saleen Store has a Saleen N2O Bar.  For people, menu items range from ice cream, water, soda, Red Bull and oxygen.  For their cars, nitrous oxide and hydrogen are available.  The store is sure to encompass a full-range, high-octane ambience for everyone.

According to their website, Saleen has created a unique shopping experience that will undoubtedly set a new standard in the automotive and the retail industry. The Saleen Store is so different that it has created a buzz, and that buzz has traveled almost as fast as the world’s fastest production car, the Saleen S7.

Apple’s vice president announced in a recent press release the agreement with Ford to offer iPod connectivity in the majority of their 2007 models beginning later this year.  Rumor has it that Ford’s iPod adapter will be known as “TripTunes Advanced.”

Ford starting prepping for production a retail version of the Shelby made Hertz GT-H rental car. The news was revealed to Ford dealers at a dealer meeting in Las Vegas last week. This will be the third in a potentially a long line-up of special edition Mustangs inspired and produced under Carrol Shelby’s guidance.

The car will be a 2007 model and production will be at least a few thousand. No word if the Shelby GT will differ from the rental car in any way, either visually or mechanically. Special thanks to John Neff for emailing us about this, you can find the orginal article he wrote here.

We’re not to sure what to think of this. As we reported earlier, Shelby has expressed interest in getting more special model Mustangs into production, but to rip the Hertz model this is unexpected to say the least. Ford used to own Hertz, and the ball was rolling on the Hertz GT-H revival long before the deal was made (for 5.6 billion dollars by the way) to produce a Mustang for the rental fleet.