Free Republic

These days, most people consider themselves lucky if a new car lasts 5 to 10 years. Make it to 100,000 miles in your vehicle, and the car company might make a commercial about you...

Calling for higher taxes may bring applause at partisan political events, but it won't lower energy prices." I think all of the above energy strategy that Tom laid out and that the president articulates at times is not altogether pursued. Take for example the vote in the Senate last week. The deductions enjoyed by the oil companies are enjoyed by all U.S. manufacturers. So to single out oil companies at a time in which gas prices are high, in which our U.S. domestic industry, or to say domestic oil industry... MS. BRZEZINSKI: Eighty billion in profits. FMR. REP. FORD JR.:...

President Obama kicked his PR campaign on gas prices into a higher gear Wednesday, giving what is believed to be the first ever presidential interview to AAA. “I understand what folks are going through because it wasn’t that long ago that I was having to fill up my gas tank and drive to work, shuttle the kids back and forth to school or events, and it takes a big bite out of folks paychecks,” Obama told the motorist group, which has 53 million members. The interview, which appears online and in AAA publications today, is the latest indication that...

(WXYZ) - Ford Motor is stepping up to help the victims of the recent wave of tornadoes. The Ford Motor Company Fund is donating $75,000 to the American Red Cross and the Dare to Care food bank in Louisville. Ford employees are expecting to raise another $25,000 through donations to help their neighbors. The money will be used to help victims of the tornadoes in southern Indiana and Kentucky. Other employees are volunteering their time to help victims rebuild in southern Ohio.

Allegations of faulty car design are at the center of a lawsuit by an injured Fresno teen against Ford Motor Co. Shaela Warkentin, 16, suffered serious head and facial injuries a year ago when the 2000 Ford Mustang she was riding in was rear-ended by a pickup. Shaela's head was pinned against the rear edge of the car's roof, and rescuers had to cut the roof from the car to free her. The injuries cost the girl her eyesight and left her hospitalized for weeks. Fresno attorney Warren Paboojian filed the suit Friday on behalf of Shaela and her sister,...

Chicago Bound: City of Chicago Places Order for 500 Ford Police Interceptors Written by: Jake Holmes on February 24 2012 1:30 PM Ford has long cornered the cop-car market with the old Crown Victoria, but now that the aging sedan has been put out to pasture, police departments must find new cruisers. The City of Chicago will continue to use Ford vehicles, and mayor Rahm Emanuel today announced that Chicago plans to buy 500 new examples of the Ford Police Interceptor police cars. It’s a fitting choice, given that the vehicles are built just south of the City at Ford’s...

Ford (and other automakers) envision future cars with high tech infotainment systems galore where car dashboards could have downloadable app's just like todays smart phones and tablets. With the OpenXC platform Ford is creating a channel for open collaboration with 3rd party application developers, allowing them to use cars like the Ford Focus to prototype their gizmos. Ford, like most other automakers, is heading towards a vision of the car as a platform for high tech wizardry and gizmos. Consumer electronics need not be limited to our living rooms or mobile computing devices, but can also be on-board the car....

GM, Ford feud over Super Bowl ad (Reuters) - A simmering feud between General Motors Co and Ford Motor Co heated up on Sunday as Ford objected to GM's Super Bowl advertisement for its Chevy Silverado pickup truck. The ad, which will run on NBC's television broadcast of the Super Bowl on Sunday, depicts an apocalyptic scene in which Chevrolet Silverado pickup trucks and their owners escape death and make it to a pre-arranged meeting point. But, one of their friends, identified as "Dave," who drives a Ford, doesn't make it to the meeting site, in the video that plays...

The National Center for Public Policy Research is claiming a scalp today after Ford Motor Co. formally withdrew from the liberal U.S. Climate Action Partnership. The conservative non-profit announces today that Ford has withdrawn from the organization, which uses corporate support form management to work against shareholders' interests by promoting a cap-and-trade framework for carbon emissions.

The government's pending (2016) 35.5 MPG CAFE fuel economy requirements -- which for the first time apply to trucks as well as passenger cars -- are going to make it very difficult for any automaker to sell trucks in volume in this country. Ford has just dropped the compact-size Ranger from its U.S. model lineup -- making it the first CAFE casualty -- and I predict that larger trucks are on the endangered species list now, too.... Even a small truck with a four-cylinder engine will have a hard time averaging 35.5 MPG....

<p>DETROIT — Ford is recalling more than 128,000 Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan sedans from the 2010 and 2011 model years because the wheels can fall off the cars.</p> <p>The recall affects only cars with 17-inch steel wheels built from April 1, 2009 through April 30, 2009, and from Dec. 1, 2009 through Nov. 13, 2010.</p>

When Chevrolet unveiled the 580 hp 2012 Camaro ZL1 and its high-tech magnetically-adjustable suspension, ostensibly claiming the title of king of the pony cars, the folks from Ford were oddly unfazed. “Don’t worry,” they said, “wait until you see what we have in the works.” They weren’t kidding. The 2013 Shelby GT500 will come packing a 650 hp supercharged engine that Ford says is the most powerful production V8 in the world. The 5.8-liter mill sends its 600 lb-ft of torque to the rear wheels via a carbon fiber driveshaft.

General Motors Co. may be the largest of Detroit’s Big Three, but it is the only one to not be represented on Automobile Magazine’s ‘2012 All-Stars’ list. The magazine, which ranked the 2012 Audi 7 the best vehicle of next year, feature vehicles from Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Group LLC on the top 10 list, but left GM in the dark. Ford drove onto the list with its compact Focus, which was awarded car of the year by the magazine in 2000, and the highly-acclaimed Mustang Boss 302, which the magazine dubbed “the best Mustang ever.” January 2012 issue,...

Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit has written that comparing President Obama to Jimmy Carter would be a best-case scenario for President Obama. But President Obama may be in the process of getting a lucky break. Not that it will help him. This next election might not be an exact replay of 1980, with President Obama playing the part of Jimmy Carter. Imagine if, instead of nominating Ronald Reagan for president, the Republicans had dusted off Gerald Ford and run him against Jimmy Carter in 1980. That is a good analogy of what is probably going to happen in a Mitt Romney...

It's not easy to challenge a legend, especially one that has simmered in the minds of loyal Mustang enthusiasts for over 40 years. The Boss 302, offered in limited quantities for '69 and '70, was the ultimate in high-performance for its time. Everything about the car spoke to its purpose of homologating the unique Boss 302 engine for Trans-Am racing. You can check off the list of equipment for the fastback-only Boss: high-revving 302 with large-valve Cleveland heads and solid-lifter cam, Top Loader four-speed transmission, 9-inch rearend with nodular housing, handling suspension with staggered rear shocks, 15-inch wheels with F60x15...

If all you wanna do is ride around, the classic convertible can be yours for $15,000. Ford Motor Co. will soon sell brand-new 1965 Ford Mustangs for just $15,000 each. The only hitch: There's some assembly required. As part of its Ford Reproduction business, Ford revealed today it had approved a new stamping of the steel bodies for first-generation Mustang that buyers could then build into their own 1964 1/2 through 1966 Mustang, using whatever engine, axles, interior and other parts they can find on their own...

Asian brands continue to dominate Consumer Reports' 2011 Annual Auto Survey, sweeping the top nine spots. Toyota's American brand Scion leads the pack, followed by Lexus, Acura, Mazda, Honda, and Toyota. The brands scored strong on predicted reliability tests. Of the 91 Japanese models for which Consumer Reports has sufficient data, 87 (96 percent) were rated average or better. 24 Japanese models earned the highest rating.

A new book chronicling the financial collapse of General Motors and Chrysler in 2008 reveals new details about just how desperate the situation was for the giants of the automobile industry. New York Times reporter Bill Vlasic's new book, "Once Upon A Car," relates the fiscal turmoil facing General Motors in the months leading up to the financial collapse.

As the UAW rank-and-file continues to vote on the contract offer hammered out between management and UAW honchos, the Detroit Free Press reports that at least one local has rejected the offer, even though it includes a $6,000 cash bonus, a $3,700 profit sharing bonus and at least another $1,500 cash for each of the four years on the contract for a total of $15,700 on top of wages and benefits. (Snip) No wonder some auto companies needed a bailout. $56 and $58 an hour? Most CEOs and small business owners make less than that.

GOP House Oversight and Government Reform chair Rep. Darryl Issa has questions for Ford CEO Alan Mulally about the White House Ford fiasco. In a new letter Mulally received today, Rep. Issa requests more information and notes that he is “deeply concerned about undue political pressure exerted by the White House on public companies. Issa asks Mulally the same question I asked White House press flack Dan Pfeiffer yesterday (and which Pfeiffer refused to answer): Did any White House officials — or any other current or former administration officials — contact any Ford officials/employees to discuss the anti-bailout ad? He...