All-Electric Road Trip

Focus Electric owner honors historic drive—and showcases the possibilities of current EV technology

When a young engineer named Roy Chapin completed the first-ever drive from Detroit to New York City in 1901, he showed the world that the automobile—then a fledgling machine—could be used for more than jaunts around town. In summer 2012, University of Illinois engineering professor Ty Newell retraced that historic road trip in his gas-free Focus Electric to bring similar attention to the cross-country capabilities of Electric Vehicles.

Newell, 60, and his wife, Debra, picked up their Focus Electric in Wantagh, N.Y. on July 3. The couple ventured westward in a reverse version of Chapin’s route, traveling through the state of New York and across Canada to Detroit, before ultimately returning home to Urbana, Ill. The Newells' trip spanned 1,650 miles, and their use of the MyFord Mobile app and websites such as Plugshare.com steered them to battery charging stations along the way.

“We wanted to show that electric vehicles are not restricted,” says Newell, who not only teaches resource conservation but also lives it. (His self-constructed home is completely solar-powered.)

The 76-mile driving range and four-hour charge time (using a 240-volt charging station) of Focus Electric helped attract Newell to the car. Along with, of course, the fuel savings. “It’s one of the best performing cars I’ve driven,” Newell says. “And it’s oil-free. To me, that says it all.”

The trip’s many highlights included a stop at the former location of Thomas Edison’s first power plant and a renewal of the couple’s wedding vows at the camp where they first met. The Newells also received a tour of the Ford Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Mich., where Automotive Hall of Fame President Bill Chapin, Roy Chapin’s grandson, greeted them.

Although the ride back in 1901 predated gas pumps and paved roads, Bill Chapin notes similarities between that trip and Ty Newell’s. “My grandfather’s journey, like Ty’s, was larger than the trip itself,” he says. Plus, neither made a single gas station stop.

Source: Ford

How Does Ford Come Up With Vehicle Names?

A Mustang by any other name might drive as sweet, but it’s hard to imagine feeling quite as cool in, say, a Ford Moose. There’s magic behind a car’s moniker, as Rick Novak, Ford global cross vehicle marketing strategy manager, explains.

Several key members of our global-marketing team, our advertising agency team and Ford senior management work together on the naming process. The brainstorming sessions can be a lot of fun! We do it not just for Ford vehicles but also for new technologies, such as SYNC® with MyFord Touch®.

We go through several rounds of reviews, including one with customers. Our customers today are globally connected, so we want to ensure that the name has global appeal. Fiesta and SYNC are two recent examples of names that went through this global process.

We want the name to be easy to say and understand, and we want it to communicate the right message. For example, the name Explorer conveys a “can do” attitude: It communicates that the vehicle is fully capable of handling whatever you throw at it. And the name EcoBoost™ says it is a smart innovation that gives the customer the perfect “and” solution—power plus fuel economy.

The bottom line: A name is only as good as the product and features behind it. The name helps deliver the right message, but in the end it’s the product that makes the name a success or turns the vehicle into an icon.

Source: Ford

Police Presence

1919 Converted Model T police transport truck

A look back at Ford vehicles that have worked the highway patrol

For over a century, the men and women in blue have been stationed behind the wheel of Ford vehicles. Nearly every showroom model—from long-bodied Country Sedans and Galaxie Mainliners to the rugged Explorer and high-speed Mustang of today—has at one time served as a member of police forces at home or abroad, and according to company archives, 58% of police vehicles patrolling the U.S. and Canada were carrying the Blue Oval by 1961. None is more memorable than the Crown Victoria, which accounted for 75% of police sales in 1998. Here are a few highlights from this distinguished record of service.

1904

Early Ford retail models are first modified for police use.

1919

Converted Model T police transport truck

1950



First official Ford police package is unveiled

1962

A total of 26 Ford vehicles can be refit for police use.

1992



The Crown Victoria becomes its own consumer model.

2002

Police Interceptor concept makes its debut on the auto show circuit

2012



Next-generation Sedan and Utility Police Interceptor

2013

Release of the F-150 XL Special Service Vehicle

Source: Ford

2013 Ford Flex Featured in Video Series Defining Suburban Driving

What do the terms Flex Factor, Trunk Tetris and Bizzaro Husband have in common? They are all part of the newly penned Suburban Dictionary, featuring the 2013 Ford Flex.

The Suburban Dictionary, authored by bestselling author Christian Lander (Stuff White People Like), is the definitive source for terms that describe the moments and things that only seem to become part of your life after you hit the other side of 30 and ditch the city for suburban life.

Lander, working with Ford, has also produced a series of videos to show you the daily troubles of the average suburban driver. For more information about how the features in a Ford Flex can help you survive life in the suburbs, click here.

“At the heart of the project is gentle poking fun of a generation that never expected to get older,” said Lander. “But while we all lament our bodies not bouncing back from a night out or a carb-laden dinner, we're also finding out that the aging process isn't all bad. When I was twenty two, I used to lay on my futon thinking that nothing would be worse than having to live in the suburbs. Now that I'm thirty three, I can't think of anything worse than having to sleep on a futon.”

In the Suburban Dictionary video series, Lander utilizes the vehicle to battle through the daily tasks of the average suburbanite: going out to dinner on a weekend, packing your car to the brim and more. The one thing that he has up on the competition, however, is the Flex.

The 2013 Ford Flex represents the perfect suburban family vehicle in the video series. It is a seven-passenger kid-hauling machine. It has the style and attitude that parents and drivers who need a large utility but want to make a statement desire. Stacked with available features like active-park assist, MyFord Touch®, navigation and an in-car refrigerator, the Flex fills the needs of every member of the household.

The Suburban Dictionary lives on the Ford Flex Facebook page and is fed by humorous definitions created by both Lander and the Ford Facebook community.

Source: Ford

Evolution of Ford Vans

Click Here to see the video.

Source: Ford

2014 Ford Transit Vans

2014 Ford Transit with medium roof and long wheelbase in Ingot Silver Metallic. Coming fall 2013. Preproduction model shown.

Source: Ford

2014 Ford Transit Connect

Multi-purpose for the multi-you.

The all-new multi-purpose 2014 Transit Connect** is ready for anything. Short- and long-wheelbase versions offer generous room for passengers and cargo.



Just the Right Fit for Your Business Plan



The new Ford Transit Connect can be configured to fit perfectly into anyone’s business plan. It’s durable and capable, maneuverable and efficient, with a modern design that projects a professional image for your company. Coming to the North American International Auto Show, January 2013.

Source: Ford

2014 Ford Fiesta

Recently, the world got a glimpse into the future when the 2014 Fiesta was revealed. Sporty and spirited yet remarkably efficient, Fiesta offers available leather-trimmed and heated front seats, plus available SYNC® with MyFord Touch® technology,* now with a 6.5-inch color touch screen and available voice-activated navigation. Fiesta ST clicks up the cool quotient with a 1.6L EcoBoost® I-4 engine, 6-speed manual transmission, unique sport suspension, available ST RECARO® Package and more. Coming spring 2013.

Source: Ford

Limited-Production Continental Mark II

The Ford retractable roof was originally developed for the limited-production Continental Mark II. With the price of the Mark II already so high, Ford decided against adding the retractable roof feature, as it would further inflate the price of a car that was already outlandishly expensive for its time. With an estimated $2 million already invested towards its development, Ford decided to apply the expensive new technology to their more affordable Fairlane model, giving birth to the 'Skyliner.' The promise of higher-volume production did a better job of amortizing the costs, and improved feasibility.





This Skyliner has been in the same family/friends since the mid-1960s, traded between brothers, and a 20-year stint of ownership by a close family in Canada. In 2006 the car, which had been totally disassembled since the early 1980s, was re-purchased by the Schmidt family and carried to Hill's Automotive for a concours restoration, completed late in 2007.

Source: Internet

1958 Skyliner Retractable Convertible

This 1958 Ford Fairlane 500, Skyliner Retractable Convertible was purchased by the present owner in 1972, when he was sixteen years old. The purchase price at that time was $200 and a used shotgun was worth about $50.

Ford produced the Skyliner Retractable Convertible for three years - 1957, 1958, and 1959. It was the most expensive vehicle offered by Ford. The 1958 Skyliner sold for $3,163 while the standard convertible sold for $2,650 and the send went for $2,055. A total of 14,713 units were produced in 1958. The 4,609-pound car is powered by a 300-horsepower 352 cubic inch, V-8 engine.

The car has undergone a complete restoration by RM Restoration in Ontario, Canada.

Source: Internet

1958 Skyliner Retractable Convertible

This 1958 Ford Fairlane 500, Skyliner Retractable Convertible was purchased by the present owner in 1972, when he was sixteen years old. The purchase price at that time was $200 and a used shotgun was worth about $50.

Ford produced the Skyliner Retractable Convertible for three years - 1957, 1958, and 1959. It was the most expensive vehicle offered by Ford. The 1958 Skyliner sold for $3,163 while the standard convertible sold for $2,650 and the send went for $2,055. A total of 14,713 units were produced in 1958. The 4,609-pound car is powered by a 300-horsepower 352 cubic inch, V-8 engine.

The car has undergone a complete restoration by RM Restoration in Ontario, Canada.

Source: Internet

1953 Ford Sunliner

Sunliner Convertible

Chassis Num: B3LC-124499

Sold for $44,000 at 2012 RM Auctions.

For 1953, Ford produced 2,001 Sunliner Indianapolis Pace Cars of which 25 are known to the Pace Society Register. Pace cars had been a tradition at the Indy 500 since the first 500-mile race in 1911. William Clay Ford was invited to drive the 1953 Ford Indy 500 Pace Car, accompanied by multiple Indy 500 winner Wilbur Shaw. At the post-race banquet, winner Bill Vukovich was awarded a Pace Car replica. The original example is housed in the Henry Ford Museum.

The special edition 1953 Ford Pace Cars were given special trim and can be identified by their data plates, which list 'SS' for both color and trim. All were built between February 18th and May 5th of 1953.

This example was built in Long Beach, California on April 25th of 1953. It is painted White Sungate Ivory, with a gold and white leatherette interior and a white Orlon convertible top. It has the anniversary gold dash and top bows, the crossed checkered flag emblems on the front fenders, black lettering and the 'Coronado' Continental trunk kit. Other accessories include chrome wire-spoke hubcaps, dual mirrors, a radio, clock, heater, power steering, fender skirts and back-up lights.

The odometer shows 64,762 original miles and the car has been treated to a professional restoration. Power is from an L-head V8 engine displacing 239 cubic-inches and offering 110 horsepower. There is a Ford-O-Matic three-speed automatic transmission and four-wheel hydraulic drum brakes.

In 2012, the car was offered for sale at the RM Auction in Scottsdale, Arizona. It was estimated to sell for $50,000-$60,000 and offered without reserve. As bidding came to a close, the car had been sold for the sum of $44,000 inclusive of buyer's premium.

By Daniel Vaughan

Source: Internet