Need a ride to make you feel four times the man you are? Look no further. The Ferd F-Teenthousand is here and it's the biggest and most awesomest pickup truck ever to walk the face of the earth. Ford people and F-150 owners that despise stereotypes and lack a whimsical sense of humor may want to skip this one. The rest can watch the video right after the jump along with a couple of original Ford F-150 ads that inspired the creation of this parody. [NSFW].
Now here's a scene you don't see every day. In fact, even if you tried to do it on purpose, we seriously doubt that you'd manage to pull it off no matter how hard and how many times you tried. The truly epic landing and vertical rest of this silver colored Ford Fusion (or at least it looks like a Ford') in the snowbank is the result of a multiple vehicle accident that took place on I-93 South bound just before Exit 3 in Windam in New Hampshire on Tuesday. Video follows after the break.
The owner of a brand new Ferrari 458 Italia with some 500 miles on the odometer in Brandon Florida received a quick lesson on the disadvantages of a low slung sports car in the land of pickup trucks and SUVs when a Ford F-150 ran over its hood. We don't know if the F-150 driver mistook Maranello's creation for a red speed bump or if the Ferrari owner questioned Ford's 'Built Tough' slogan, but something tells us this video is going to become a hit. You can watch the clip after the break.
Unveiled at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show, the Vertrek Concept previews Ford’s next global compact SUV, set to replace both the European Kuga and North American Escape models. While it’s not so different compared to the Kuga, the concept car is certainly more modern than the current Ford Escape.
“It is a revolution compared to what is typically seen in this segment in North America and is a stylish evolution compared with products outside North America. This new design is sleeker and more fuel efficient and delivers the capability, including people and cargo volume, customers demand globally”, said Derrick Kuzak, Ford group vice president of Global Product Development.
With the new model, the automaker is targeting class-leading fuel economy and low emissions, without forgetting performance. The Vertrek is powered by a 1.6-liter turbocharged Ecoboost four-pot with start and stop technology.
Outside the U.S., the new global compact SUV will also receive Duratorq diesel engines, such as the recently updated 2.0-liter motor, which delivers better fuel economy and CO2 emissions reduced by up to 7 percent, depending on application.
The key markets for the Vertrek-based series model are expected to be North America, Europe and China.
In 1980, the world lost a cultural icon. Steve McQueen, the star of such films as Bullitt and Le Mans, had died. Metastatic cancer had claimed the life of the King of Cool.
Still, the legacy lives on. The actor’s love of cars and motorcycles was well known. McQueen competed in many motor races including the 12 Hours of Sebring and the Baja 1000. He also owned several semi-unique vehicles including a Jaguar XKSS, a Porsche 356 Speedster and a Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Lusso. Here was a man who loved his cars almost as much as we loved his movies.
Flash forward 25 years. In 2005, Ford released this ad for the fifth generation Ford Mustang. In it, a farmer carves a racetrack through his cornfield in a non-too-subtle nod to the 1989 film, Field of Dreams. As in that movie, “If you build it, he will come.”, and Steve McQueen magically appears out of the cornfield (looking pretty good for someone who’s been dead and buried for a quarter of a century) and takes the wheel of the Mustang for one last turn around the track.
Through the use of a body double and some nabbed footage, McQueen is there in the cornfield and behind the wheel. Even five years on the ad is pretty impressive from a purely technical standpoint. But don’t take my word for it! Watch it yourself and let us know what you think.
Even if you know your winter driving ABCs and have properly equipped your car, sometimes there’s no way to avoid getting snowed in. Should that happen in a thriving metropolis, chances are that the sanitation “cavalry” will have your back covered. However, this wasn’t the case in New York, as a Sanitation Department loader got stuck and, in what can only be described as a very poor effort of trying to free it, the on-the-scene personnel seriously damaged a city owned - ah, the irony - Ford Explorer parked nearby.
Check out the video after the jump to see dumb and dumber at work.
Even though this commercial from Delta Lloyd, an insurance company with operations in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, has been making the internet rounds for quite some time now, somehow it slipped under our radar. Now, no thanks to a tip from one of our readers, we've probably wasted half of our day watching the clip over and over again... Yes, it's that awesome. Follow the jump to watch the Euro-tuned Boomcar ad along with a few more equally humorous commercials (all featuring the tag-line 'must be Delta Lloyd insured') from the Dutch insurer.
For anyone secretly hoping that the Ford Focus ST Paris Show car would look better in motion, we're sorry to say it does not. Somehow this video makes that 'gaping mouth' grille look even worse, and all the odd creases and curves stand out even more. That 'Tangerine Scream' paintwork isn't doing it any favors either.
Admittedly, the Paris Show Car makes the old, pre-facelift ST look boring and understated by comparison, but is it really better to be garishly ugly than conservatively dull? At least things are better under the bonnet. A 2.0-liter turbocharged four cylinder good for 250 hp should make the new ST a real corker when it launches in 2012, as will the rumored dual-clutch Powershift 'box.
Here's hoping Ford reconsiders the styling before then. Oh well, at least if you're driving it, you can't see that hideous gaping grille.
Styling trends come and go, but if there's one thing that has remained relatively unchanged in the past 105 years of personal motoring: the steering wheel.
Although plastics have replaced iron and wood and airbags (1970s) and radio controls (1990s) have been added, the basic design remains the same: a circular ring with spokes connected to a central hub.
Some cars had horns in a ring circling the hub (Mercedes-Benz 300SL), others had oblong steering wheels (Austin Allegro) and a few had only one spoke (Citroen DS). At the end of the day though, they all had some sort of steering wheel... except this car.
At Mercury, engineer Bob Rumm produced this one-off 1965 Mercury Park Lane convertible with so-called "wrist-twist" steering controls. The standard steering wheel has been replaced by two 5-inch, wrist-operated dials, that the promo claims frees up knee room, improves visibility and makes parking easier. Now take a moment to consider why Mr. Rumm is an "ex-"missile engineer at the height of the Cold War.
The promo also cheerfully informs us that the wrist-twist can be used by, "a driver who promises to be about as non-technical as they come," by which they mean a woman. Carscoop is reliably informed they can vote now [...].
I suppose we should be thankful that a lot of these concepts, including the wrist-twist, never left Ford's Dearborn proving grounds.
It's the sort of thing that could only have been made in the 1960s, the decade that gave us the laser, manned spaceflight and Astroturf. Like everything else, cars were becoming more futuristic, and by futuristic we mean daft. And by daft we mean Modern Mechanix of the 1930s daft.
It's also the sort of thing the Ford Motor Company was coming up at the time. Just for fun, type 'Ford Nucleon' into Google, and see what other disastrous innovations motorists of the 1960s were spared.
This video of a real-life Transformer snapped rolling on Hollywood Boulevard has been making the rounds on YouTube for a few months. No, it's not a lame viral marketing attempt by Citroen or a trailer for a new shaky cam Michael Bay / Jerry Bruckheimer movie.
It's a guy in a transforming Transformers costume. How cool is that? Remember when you were a kid and you had that cardboard box that you used to hold around your waist, pretending to be a fire truck? This is like that, but a million times cooler.
The video says its Optimus Prime but come on; everyone knows Optimus is a big rig. Binaltech has a Mustang Transformer called Wheeljack, but that's pretty obscure even from a fanboy perspective. It could be Barricade from the 2007 movie but if so, where's the police get up?
Ford has dropped some new teaser footage of a camouflaged 2011 Explorer, with the vehicle's Program Manager, Julie Levine, describing how the new SUV is being put to the test in various on and off-road tests. The new unibody Explorer will be unwrapped in July and go on sale in the States later this year.
Tech highlights include a Land Rover-like terrain-management system and a new Curve Control safety feature built on top of the existing roll stability control (RSC) and electronic stability control (ESC) systems that can apply four-wheel braking and/or rapidly reduce torque to cut speed by up to 10 mph in approximately 1 second and help keep the vehicle under control.
Production of the Focus RS may be coming to an end soon, but that isn't about to stop Ford from introducing yet another [we've lost count of the number...] series of special edition versions of the... limited edition hot hatch.
Today, Ford of Europe unveiled a collection of five Focus RS cars in unique paint schemes, each paying tribute to a Ford race car that made history at the Le Mans 24 Hours.
The Focus RS in black with white stripes and gold rims echoes the 1966 GT40 Mk II; the red with white strips the 1967 Mark IV; the white with a thin blue centre stripe surrounded by a red border the 1967 GT40 Mk IIB; the two-tone sky blue and orange the GT40s that dominated Le Mans in 1968 and 1969 and finally, the two tone white and blue, the Capri RS 2600 which took the Touring category in 1972.
All special edition Focus RS get customized interiors including Recaro seats upholstered in leather and diamond-quilted alcantara with stitching that matches the bodywork. In addition, the gearshift gaiter, hand brake handle and central arm-rest are upholstered in leather, and a leather safety belt guide has been added to the front seats while each car carries a personalized numbered plaque on the dashboard.
The automaker said that the five special Focus RS models will be seen in action at the 2010 Le Mans Classic in July, and will be driven on a number of laps of the full track by Ford-invited special guests and VIPs behind the wheel.
After the event is over, the five special edition RS models will be put up for sale, and will be offered with exclusive accessories including a Le Mans Classic watch of which only 600 are to be produced.
