Ford is adding a week of production at most of its North American factories this year for an additional 40,000 vehicles, Reuters says. Plants will be idled for just one week this summer instead of the traditional two.

GM and Chrysler will also limit downtime. Three of Chrysler’s U.S. factories, including the Jefferson North plant in Detroit, will not observe the summer shutdown. GM does not have a formal summer shutdown period for its factories. Earlier this week GM North America chief Mark Reuss said GM could not afford a break.

A piece in Bloomberg that could hardly be seen as anything but relentless Detroit homerism puts forward the thesis that cutting-edge design is helping Detroit capture increasing market share in a white hot new car market. Per Bloomberg

From the fires of Detroit’s descent into near-death, GM, Ford and Chrysler Group LLC have forged some of the most distinctive designs since tail fins were soaring in the halcyon days of the postwar-era. Models such as GM’s Cadillac ATS sports sedan, Ford’s Fusion family car and Chrysler’s Jeep Grand Cherokee are turning heads and stoking sales.

On the strength of stylish new showroom offerings, GM, Ford and Chrysler all gained market share in the first quarter for the first time in 20 years. Meanwhile, Toyota Motor Corp. (7203)’s staid standard-bearer, the Camry, has endured three months of declining sales as the automaker ceded U.S. share this year.

Rather than single out Detroit as the object of my scorn, I will say that we are far from a golden age of car design, and that sentiment transcends vehicle nationalities. Safety regulations, CAFE and a relentless focus on fuel economy have made most cars look utterly homogenous; nearly all sedans are some variation of the reverse teardrop shape, while crossovers, tall wagons and SUVs blend into the same amorphous two-box conformity. There are a few standouts these days and Detroit seems to have a disproportionate share of them; the Jeep Cherokee (which is distinctive if nothing else), the Jaguar F-Type, the Chrysler 300. The Ford Mustang will sadly be turned into another organic blob as the Blue Oval prepares it for sale in Europe and other world markets. The new Cadillac CTS is a wonderful execution of the concepts expressed in the ATS, but at a price point that’s off-limits to many of us. But by and large, it is getting harder and harder to tell one car from another.

Bloomberg pays particular attention to the Ford Fusion, the 4th best selling car as of April 2013. Even so it is still being beaten by three dull-looking Japanese cars; the Camry, Accord and Altima. Cadillac is resorting to incentives to push the ATS, a car that was already the subject of more Bloomberg  boosterism and the Jeep Grand Cherokee, despite being a lovely SUV in every single respect, is not exactly a ground breaking design. Hell, the consistently criticized Chevrolet Malibu is currently ranked tenth in the sales charts despite being panned by just about everybody who fancies themselves an armchair Adrian van Hooydonk.

There are many factors driving the growth of domestic auto sales; the need to replace an aging vehicle fleet, the expansion of subprime financing on the part of certain manufacturers and of course, the general competitiveness of a wide number of American cars. But to suggest that we are in a “Golden Age” of design not seen since the 1960s – a truly superlatve era for automotive design in America - is an absolute farce.

Even as Canada’s manufacturing sector continues to dwindle, Ford is set to invest even further in its Canadian operations, putting together a new investment package for its Oakville assembly plant – provided the federal and Ontario governments can come up with the scratch.

Ford of Canada CEO Dianne Craig expressed optimism for Canada’s auto manufacturing sector, but within her remarks were subtle calls for enhanced government investment in the auto industry. Speaking at the Bloomberg Canada Economic Summit, Craig remarked

“We are optimistic despite the Canadian dollar where it is…So it’s between the business partners that we have, certainly the government, that will enable us to at least keep the footprint that we have today.“

Ford’s Oakville plant is expected to built the next generation Ford Edge, which will ride on the global CD4 platform used by the Ford Fusion. Ford and the Canadian government are said to be ironing out the details, but timing is tight for any deal, as production is scheduled to begin next June. Ford is said to be looking for $400 million from the Canadian government, which is notoriously reluctant to invest in the auto manufacturing sector compared to American and Mexican governments.

During the launch of the Ford Fiesta 1.0L Ecoboost, multiple outlets ran articles parroting Ford’s PR line about the lack of an automatic transmission. Apparently, Ford declined to offer an automatic or Powershift dual-clutch gearbox on the 3-cylinder Fiesta since a two-pedal option would run counter to the 1.0L’s stated mission of being both fun to drive and good on gas.

Not so, says a supplier source. According to them, there were plans to offer such a combination, but the combo was axed due to “customer expectations” not being met. What does that mean? The performance, ride and NVH characteristics were far below what was considered acceptable, and therefore the decision was made to offer the 3-cylinder with 3-pedals, and no fewer.

With 4-cylinder engines increasing their market share from 40 percent to 53 market share in just 5 years, Ford is forecasting even more growth for these engines in the years to come. The Blue Oval is betting that by 2020, 66 percent of cars will come with a 4-banger.

If Ford’s numbers sound on the high side, that’s because they are.  Four-cylinders have become more prevalent in recent years, making their way from compact cars to vehicles as large as the BMW 528i and the Ford Taurus. But for the forseeable future, they won’t be making their way into full-size trucks, which still account for 13 percent of all auto sales, will be sticking with V6 and V8 engines. Larger crossovers and body-on frame SUVs have also retained their V6 and V8 engines, as well as minivans.

Having invested so heavily in 4-cylinder engines, it’s natural that Ford would be so bullish on their future. But the engine downsizing trend also looks here to stay, and with so many boosted 4-cylinder engines replacing V6s in various products, their numbers may not be so unreasonable.

The Ford Fiesta looks to be picking up and moving from its current assembly locations in India and Mexico to a central location in Thailand when the next generation rolls around in 2016.

While other outlets are reporting the story as a rumor, TTAC has confirmed this news via an independent source. Since Fiesta’s main markets are Europe and Asia (as well as South America, which loves the ungainly 4-door sedan version), Thai sourcing is seen as the smart move to help bring costs down.

Moving the Fiesta from Mexico will also free up production capacity in a NAFTA country. Thailand does not have a free trade agreement with the United States or Canada.

According to the “Infinite Monkey Theorem”, if you lock three monkeys in a room with typewriters for infinity, eventually they will produce Hamlet. By the same measure, should you lock three engineers in a room for infinity, eventually they will produce the perfect car. Ford has seemingly absorbed this philosophy through their European division, however, as most theorems go, instead of a the perfect car, they produced “Aston Martin Rapide part Deux, the Budget Restrained Sequel”.

The previous generation Euro Ford Mondeo 2.2 TDCi Titanium set up my expectations for the latest Ford Fusion/Mondeo when I flogged it around the Nurburgring in about 9 minutes. Capable, comfortable, attractive, and well screwed together, the Mondeo was the best car to wear the wrong badge. So now comes an even better looking, and supposedly even more capable version to both shores of the Atlantic (according to Ford). So does the Budget Restrained Sequel to the Aston Martin Rapide (or BRSAMR according to my Blackhawk pilot mentor, Lt. Col Mary Bell) match or exceed the high precedent set forth by the engineers in Cologne, Germany? Well, ja und nein.

At first glance, the BRSAMR looks gorgeous. The designers nailed the classic flowing lines coupled with a gigantic grill in near perfect proportions. The grill and headlights assemblies are remarkably well integrated, especially next to the nearly similar sized Taurus: making the Big Bull Barge look dated. Euro creases down the side with a fastback rear complete the effect of looking fast while standing still. But look closer. Ford sweated the details: the creases merge and flow in incredibly complex ways that make nearly every angle interesting to look at, with surprise and delight to behold. For example, the center high-mounted brake light: instead of slapping it inside the rear glass, Ford designers and engineers made a relief in the glass, a unique element for the brakelight that merges into the roof.  It provides a slight spoiler effect for the rear. This is functional, cleans up the air flow, and looks interesting. If they put that much thought into the brake light, that speaks volumes to the rest of the car…hopefully…

But it looks like an Aston Martin rip-off you say. Well…yes, and I welcome it. That’s like complaining Kiera Knightley looks too much like Natalie Portman. We need more beauty in this world, not more Malibus. Yet, the rear spoiler needs more elegant integration and when staring up close, the vertical front grill is massive. While it shall make a great zombie ram (take note Walking Dead producers, ditch Hyundai, you want the Fusion), I wonder how well pedestrians in crowded cities fare when the driver fails to look up while adjusting that MyFord Touch stereo.

Inside, the Fusion delights and surprises almost as much as the outside. I said almost…the dash swoops between the front passengers hiding a cavernous storage hole and elevating the multimedia interface within easy reaching distance of the driver and passenger. But what’s this? Fake wood on the door panels and dash? FAKE WOOD?!? Or is it tortoiseshell a’la Chrysler Sebring circa 2008. I can’t quite tell as the panels are small, and the sparkly element fails like a Twilight vampire. All I could ascertain was it was plastic, and unwelcome. Brushed aluminum, or even silver plastic would have worked wonders here…but I’m paid to criticize, not design, so Ford guys…fix this.

The other ergonomic foible that drove me up batty was the location of the manual shift mode buttons. The Toyota Camry had well placed paddles behind the wheel. The BRSAMR has a rocker switch on the side of the shift lever placed at a bizarre angle, while made of not the stoutest feeling plastic ever. This ergonomic misstep left me awkwardly angling my wrist to the point I left the BRSAMR in ‘Sport,’ hoping the magic transmission angel’s controlled shift logic avoided behaviors of a demon spawn. It wasn’t successful, but managed to remain on the level of annoying street preacher and not Westboro Baptist Church. Yet when pushed, the transmission snapped off shifts and downshifted in corners like a wizard. I guess it likes torture and not sedation. BDSM followers take note.

I shall now point out that the Fusion SE with the 1.6L turbo comes in manual. But I will only point it out, as the BRSAMR does not need it, nor will it add much to the enjoyment of the car. As I shall now explain, stay with me padawans.

The Fusion grips, steers and flows with aplomb… for such a large car. The steering feels a bit dead on center, but once past that, the wheel is accurate, well weighted, and precise. Turn into a corner, and the Fusion grips with minimal understeer, while giving decent feedback through the tiller. It’s possible to alter your line mid-corner without much drama, but then, the BRSAMR is heavy. You feel the suspension working overtime like a fat dude at Zumba. Body roll remains limited, but the alacrity in turn transition is just not there. The brakes stop, but the initial travel felt a bit vague as the big car tries to slow down. It makes commuting easier as you can lazily stomp on it with no finesse, but you are not driving a Focus, and you know it.

Ride quality remains good with firm, damped responses, although the optional larger wheels on my tester transmitted surface irregularities a bit more than I liked. Stick with the stock wheels. You aren’t fooling anyone that you are driving an expensive car, and if you are concerned about that, buy an old Lincoln for cheap, and get some 22’s… so you can indeed be ‘different’.

Overall, the Fusion was fun when pushed, but only just. Climbing back into my Audi A4 only compounded this impression. I wouldn’t mind trying to flog the Fusion, but I wouldn’t seek out any twisties just because I could.

Oh yeah, I forgot… the engine. Well, I heard something under the hood, but it was so smooth and quiet, I kinda forgot it was there. So did the acceleration curve. At 170bhp and minimal turbo lag, the engine proves adequate, if not mind blowing acceleration. It keeps the excitement down to levels where a Mormon girlfriend won’t leave you for the guy in the Camry, but won’t leave you trying to outgun the hipster in the diesel Golf.

So what IS the Fusion/Mondeo/BRSAMR? It’s simply the best looking, and nearly the most capable mid/full-sized sedan on the market. The Accord drives better. The KIA/Hyundai twins do the same for a bit cheaper, and the Malibu provides subprime financing fodder. Yet I give the Fusion the nod, as it looks good, drives well for a commuter, and has little things that remind you that cars should have character. Now Ford, make an SHO version…but don’t call it the ‘Rapide’.

It seems like just yesterday that your humble author was bitching up a storm about having to deal with a recalcitrant Ford EasyFill fuel filler.

That’s because it was just yesterday.

Had I waited another day to gripe about it, I would have seen that Ford’s already on the job.

The Quality job. Which is supposed to be Job #1.

Automotive News reports that Ford is taking a more critical look at launch-time quality-control issues:

The Escape and MKZ launch woes were the most publicized. A cooling problem that emerged on the 2013 Escape could cause engine fires. There were no injuries, but Ford asked owners of some Escapes with 1.6-liter EcoBoost engines to park their vehicles until repairs could be made. Ford tweaked the engine software to address the problem.

Quality glitches and parts shortages at the factory in Hermosillo, Mexico, forced Ford to ship hundreds of MKZs to its Flat Rock, Mich., assembly plant for quality inspections and repairs this year… In addition, Hinrichs said, some Ford Fusions had to be brought to Flat Rock for extra inspections and repairs. He did not specify the problems except to say they were similar to the MKZ’s. The cars share the same mid-sized sedan platform and many suppliers, and they are built on the same line at Hermosillo.

Nobody mentioned the Ford Pinto in the above-quoted article, but I think we’ve all moved on from that particular issue, except for the folks who were, like, totally burned to a crisp in Pintos and never got a chance to move on. It’s a little-known fact that the infamous General Motors X-car brake problem was actually, according to certain very well-respected lifestyle journalists, a counter-engineering attempt to make sure that Citations, Phoenixes, Omegas, and Skylarks would spin 180 degrees before hitting a stopped Pinto ahead of them. This prevented the Citation driver from being unduly concerned by the sight of the impending Pinto ass-ramming and allowed the Pinto’s fuel tank to be cushioned by the Citation’s more thoroughly-engineered fuel tank in a maneuver known to modern drivers as the “Jennifer Connelly”.

The flag-waving American in me would like to humbly suggest that one way to fix the Lincoln MKZ issues would be to build the Lincoln MKZ in the United States, since apparently they’re going to wind up there anyway for extra inspections. Given that globalism has become a Thing You Must Not Question on both sides of the American political divide, however, I’ll keep my mouth shut and stick to the article as reported. I won’t mention Jennifer Connelly again, either. Except to say that “The Hot Spot” is worth seeing even if you aren’t a Don Johnson fan, or a Virginia Madsen fan. But if you are neither of those things, I don’t want to hear about it.

Where were we? Oh yes. Ford’s going to take a sharper look at launch-time quality-control issues. I’m glad they’re doing it. Ford has some of the most interesting product in the market right now and it would be a shame if that product was overlooked because of small problems. One thing about this business: fortune doesn’t always favor the bold.

My experience with Ford’s Easy-Fill capless fuel system has been universally positive. It’s one of those why’d-it-take-so-long ideas and I’m surprised it hasn’t become the industry standard. It’s also certainly reduced the number of women drivers who leave the gas station with their fuel caps dangling or missing entirely.

On Saturday, however, the 2012 Edge SEL AWD currently being driven by my son’s mother experienced a most unusual issue: the Easy-Fill mechanism stopped working. And on further examination, it turns out that this malfunction isn’t as unusual as I’d thought.

Easy-Fill is more complicated than it looks at first glance. It locks the filler door in place unless the power door locks are released. It also won’t release unless a fuel nozzle of the appropriate size is inserted. Those are two Things That Can Go Wrong, of course. Naturally, this happened to the Edge in question when there was about two gallons of fuel left in the tank. Ford provides an additional plastic nozzle to be used in the Easy-Fill to facilitate the use of portable fuel canisters, so we placed said nozzle in the Easy-Fill and hammered it lightly, to no effect.

While I was busy experiencing defeat at the hands of a plastic nozzle, my partner in the enterprise was busy Googling for other occurrences of the issue. Although some of the issues are due to sheer stupidity, it would appear that sticking Easy-Fills aren’t that uncommon, with the cure usually being a vigorous hammering at the dealership.

After admitting defeat, we sent the Edge to the dealership, where the Easy-Fill promptly worked as designed and advertised. We have it on a two-year lease which is almost up, so we aren’t going to worry about it too much, but I’d think twice about buying a Ford with the feature unless I knew a good solid way to get the thing open in a pinch. It’s a complicated mechanism that might not be 100% ready for prime time in all circumstances. Ironically, the same thing’s been said about SYNC more than once.

It’s easy to admire Ford for relentlessly pushing technology into the marketplace, but it’s also natural to wonder if a little more caution wouldn’t be warranted at times. Not necessarily a Honda’s worth of caution; who wants five-speed automatic transmissions and Eighties-era in-dash displays? But a little more might not go amiss, eh?

Ford is “seeking to challenge Toyota Motor Corp.’s dominance in gasoline-electric vehicles,” says Bloomberg.

According to the report, Ford “has rolled out the new C-Max hybrids and electric versions of its redesigned Fusion sedan in the past year to take on Toyota, which has dominated with its Prius hybrids since the early 2000s.” Some say, Ford already subjugated Toyota.

Ford left Toyota in the dust, says Seekingalpha, which reports that in April, Ford delivered “35,034 Fusion hybrids compared to the 3,257 Camry and 19,889 Prius hybrids Toyota moved. “ That of course is complete baloney.

Nobody keeps better track of hybrid sales than our sister publication Hybridcars, which runs a monthly report. According to Hybridcar’s tally, Ford is far away from taking on Toyota. However, sales of Ford’s Fusion hybrid are up, whereas Toyota’s hybrid sales are mostly down.

Toyota’s Americas chief Jim Lentz blamed falling U.S. gasoline prices and said last month that Toyota may not reach its U.S. sales target for Prius hybrids of about 250,000 this year.

Lower gas prices and a turn-around in the housing market rekindled America’s love for the pickup, resulting in 2,000 new jobs at Ford’s Kansas City Assembly Plant.

The near doubling of the plant’s staffing is in response to surging demand for the Ford F-150 and the 2014 production start of the new Ford Transit. Suppliers are expected to grow their business accordingly. “According to the job multiplier effect of nine jobs to every one – more than 18,000 jobs will be created to support the plant,” Ford says in a statement.

Ford is investing $1.1 billion to retool and expand the facility for production of both the F-150 and Transit, including a 437,000 sq.-ft. stamping facility and a 78,000 sq.-ft. paint shop.

Ford says the expansion brings it “three-quarters of the way to its plan to create 12,000 hourly jobs in the U.S. by 2015.” That target was set in a deal Ford had cut with the UAW in 2011.

According to Reuters, “about 1,000 of the workers will be hired at the entry-level wage. Entry-level workers start at $15.78 an hour or nearly half the pay of traditional unskilled blue-collar Ford workers.

NHTSA is looking into a possible defect in 2005-2008 Ford Police Interceptors, and I’m willing to bet somebody reading this site drives that exact vehicle. As per Automotive News (via Reuters)

NHTSA said it is conducting an engineering analysis into model year 2005-2008 Ford Motor Co. Crown Victoria police models for a potential steering issue. A connection between the upper and lower shafts of the steering column may have failed, causing separation of the shafts, NHTSA said.

TTAC has learned that the Ford has delayed the new full-size Transit van until Model Year 2015. This leaves Ford without a next generation full-size van to compete against the updated Sprinter and the Fiat-based Ram Promaster.

Supplier issues were blamed for the delay, according to our source. Also affected is the upcoming Transit Connect Wagon, though the timeline for the launch is unclear. The big Transit was originally slated for a late 2013 launch, but the revised schedule dictates that production will start in March, 2014 at the earliest. Our source suggested it may be launched within a few months of the big Transit. The timing for the delay will leave Ford with a number of launches in the 2015 model year, among them the next generation F-150, Mustang, Edge and possibly the Lincoln version of the Ford Escape.

Update: Ford’s Mike Levine now says that Transit Connect will go on sale later this year while the big Transit will go on sale in Summer of 2014, while the model year hasn’t been finalized. In addition, the E-Series vans will remain on sale through 2014.

Jac Nasser, the former head of Ford, is warning that Australia’s car industry has passed the point of no return, and expects to see it die within the next few years.

Nasser placed the blame at the politicians doorstep, citing a dearth of state subsidies for the auto industry and a lack of clear vision on the part of politicians for the decline of Australia’s domestic car industry, which employs some 224,000 people. While Holden, Ford and Toyota are the big name vehicle assemblers, the vast majority of jobs come from parts suppliers rather than the manufacturers themselves. The Australian quotes Nasser as outlining the challenges ahead for Australia

“The signs aren’t good,” he said yesterday. “You’ve got an exchange rate at a 30-year high, you’ve got higher costs in Australia, you’ve got excess capacity in the motor industry worldwide, you’ve got a very weak currency in Japan and you’ve got a weak euro. When you put that mix together, it’s very difficult to expect a relatively small but talented Australian auto industry to work its way.

As soon as you have a reduction in the scale of domestic manufacturing – let’s assume one of the three decide to exit Australia in terms of manufacturing – then you end up potentially with sub-scale supplier infrastructure…Once that happens, I think it’s a domino effect. It would be a very sad day for Australia but unfortunately it looks like it could be inevitable.”

One of the major issues cited by many observers (as well as the B&B) is that of tariffs. A report in the Australian business publication BRW states

Australian tariffs on imported motor vehicles fell to 5 per cent by 2010 from 10 per cent in 2005. Where Australia has a free trade agreement, there is a zero tariff. Industry bodies such as the Federation of Automotive Products Manufacturers (FAPM) say the hurdles on entry of foreign vehicles are much lower than those imposed by other car manufacturing jurisdictions and the country should demand reciprocity on tariffs with other producing countries.

The reduction in tariffs is often cited as a reason for the freefall of traditional Australian-made vehicles like the Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore. The big Australian iron has been replaced at the top of the sales charts by vehicles like the Mazda3 and Toyota Corolla and Hyundai i30, as well as the Toyota Hilux and Nissan Navarre pickups, all of which are made offshore. At the end of the quarter, the Commodore was just barely hanging on in 9th place, while its perennial rival the Falcon ranked a dismal 37th in the sales standings.

As the nation’s peacekeepers are learning to live without the venerable Ford Crown Victoria it is also a time to reflect on what police cars were like in the time before the Panther platform debuted in 1978 for the 1979 model year. In 1972, the cruiser of choice for the City of Lexington was the Ford Galaxie 500.

This particular car wears the blue and gold livery of the now defunct City of Lexington Police Department. In 1974 the government of the City of Lexington was merged with the government of Fayette County to create the Lexington- Fayette Urban County Government. All city and county services and departments were merged as well. This car was given as a retirement present to Chief E.C. Hale when he retired on June 1, 1972, which makes for a significantly better retirement present than the cheap gold watch I expect to get.

Chief Hale had served 40 years with the city department and passed away in 1974. The car sat on the street near his home, exposed to both vandals and the elements, for many years before his family returned it to the city. Originally a white unmarked unit, it was restored to patrol duty specifications and is now used for parade duties, although it still retains an official government property number (P# 0462) and its trunk is equipped with the fire extinguisher, first aid kit, and other equipment required by policy.

So what’s it like to drive a police car that’s older than you are? Kind of boring, actually. There’s a myth that runs through our popular culture that police cars, particularly the police cars of yesterday, were fire- breathing muscle cars equipped with “cop tires, cop suspension, cop shocks, made before catalytic converters” that could run down the Mustangs, Barracudas, and GTOs stalking the nation’s streets with ease and sound like Death himself was chasing you while they did it.

1968 Ford Galaxie 500

Like all good myths, the myth of the invincible old police car is rooted in truth. I was once told by a veteran beat cop that back in the old days when you were alone at night in an alley, trying to avoid taking a beating yourself while handing out “wood shampoos” to unruly drunks and screaming for help on one of the original 10- lb Motorola portables that could be counted on to work 25- 30% of the time, you didn’t listen for approaching sirens coming to your aid because the sirens weren’t worth a damn and you couldn’t hear them half of the time anyway. Instead you listened for the roar of the secondaries opening up as your backup thundered down the final straight leading to your last known location. That’s how you knew the cavalry had arrived.

But P#0462 is not one of those mythical cars. 1972 was a rough year, automotively speaking. Newly introduced smog controls were strangling all of the power out of our engines. Of course, power was already down across the board, at least on paper, since the manufacturers had been forced to abandon their wildly optimistic gross horsepower ratings for somewhat more realistic net ratings. Police service vehicles were no exception.

And then, as now, the vast majority of cop cars weren’t sold with the biggest, most aggressive motor. This car left the factory powered by a measly 177 hp 351 Cleveland 2 barrel. 335 lb- ft of torque help offset that number when taking off, but acceleration is still best described as “leisurely.”

You don’t really want much more than leisurely acceleration, however, given the overly assisted power steering. When you read an article about a new car in which the author complains about the steering being “numb,” you have to understand that the author has either forgotten or has never driven a car from the days when power steering was an option on most cars. The goal was to make the steering so effortless as to enable the driver to steer with just a finger, a mission which was accomplished (and then some) in this particular car. The steering wheel feels completely disconnected from the front wheels and spins as freely as the plastic Fisher- Price steering wheel attached to a toddler’s car seat. I couldn’t imagine driving this car in an emergency situation with so little feedback from the road. The modern tires added during the car’s restoration would help, but not enough to overcome the soft suspension and drum brakes.

For non- emergency duties, particularly the parade details it serves in these days, the Galaxie works just fine. Visibility is great, as it is in most old cars, even though a passenger side wing mirror was an option not selected when the car was ordered. Every couple of years during our annual in-service training we go out to the skid pad and practice our low speed precision driving skills. Much of the course is done in reverse, backing down “alleys” and reversing into “driveways” built with orange traffic cones. I would rather perform those backing exercises in this car with only one external mirror than in a new Taurus with a video camera.

There’s plenty of room inside, especially with the bench seat. The car was equipped with air conditioning, which still works. I had assumed that the A/C was ordered on the car because of it’s intended use by the Chief and that the rank and file would have made do without it. I checked with a couple of old guys and was surprised to learn that by the early 70′s we were ordering A/C on all our cars. The optional AM radio in this car was a special feature reserved for commanders and it wasn’t until the end the decade before stereos became common in all of our patrol cars.

As far as emergency equipment goes the Galaxie seems almost naked with only the two rotating blues on the roof compared to the low flying alien spacecraft theme you get from a modern patrol car at night. Since P#0462 was originally an unmarked admin unit, it even lacks a spot light. The old mechanical siren with it’s long, drawn out fade when you turn it off as compared to the instantly silent electric models of today is a hoot to play with in the parking lot of Comm Tech until you start to get dirty looks from the people who are actually at work inside the building.

So what’s the final verdict on this piece of history? I left my drive in P#0462 with a greater appreciation of how difficult street work was back in the day, when your radio only worked half the time and your car handled like a yacht. Just getting to your call was an adventure. We tend to forget just how much basic automotive technology has advanced and what each of those improvements meant. How many accidents, for example, have been avoided by the simple recognition that maybe dialing back in a little resistance into our power steering systems was a good thing because it provides the driver with vital information during emergency maneuvers?

Like most historical artifacts P#0462 is best appreciated through the soft focus haze of nostalgia heavily saturated by myth. It’s most impressive when viewed from behind the cordon as it rolls slowly past you in a parade with blue lights slowly spinning and the low rumble of a V-8 punctuated by whoops and yelps from a siren that slowly fades away. Any modern police car, including the lowliest V-6 powered FWD Taurus, would run rings around this car and any of it’s four- barrel equipped brothers. But the crowds watching from behind the barricades don’t know that and I doubt any of them will look at a 2013 Taurus, Charger, or Caprice forty years from now and speak approvingly and with a touch of envy about how special those cars are with their “cop tires, cop suspension, and cop motor.”

The pendulum swings to the U.S.: As expected, Ford turned in higher-than-expected first-quarter profits today, while in Germany, Daimler’s formerly pornographic profits were slashed in half, and Volkswagen stubbornly maintained its outlook despite declining profits.

Ford’s North American unit posted its best quarter in more than a decade on the strength of new models, Reuters says. Revenue in North America shot up by one-fifth during the quarter. Ford reported a pretax profit of $2.1 billion, or 41 cents per share for the quarter, down from about $2.3 billion a year earlier, but better than analysts expected. Ford says it expects to lose $2 billion in Europe this year.

Meanwhile in Germany, Daimler ditched its earnings forecast after its first-quarter profit plunged more than half, brought on by a protracted slump Europe and problems in China, Reuters says.

In Wolfsburg, Volkswagen’s first quarter earnings declined to 2.34 billion euros ($3.05 billion) from 3.16 billion a year ago. VW is bracing for “increasingly stiff competition in a challenging market environment,” Reuters reports. Nevertheless, Volkswagen sees no reason to change its goals to match last year’s record operating profit of 11.5 billion euros and to push global deliveries to new record levels.

One of the biggest changes implemented by Ford in the post-bailout area is the “One Ford” policy, which calls for an end to regional specialty products. While this has led to Ford’s mainstream lineup moving towards the European Fords that enthusiasts previously longed for, it also means that vehicles like the rear-drive Falcon will get the axe.

In this context, its curious that Ford appears to be launching a C-segment car made just for China. The need to establish a foothold in China presents enough of a case for Ford to deviate from their global product mission, but it still raises our interest given that iconic products like the Mustang are being adapted – some may even say watered down – for global consumption.

In any case, it turns out there’s a bit of a spat between Ford Australia and Ford’s Asia-Pacific divisions, with some claiming that the Escort is in fact a “global” car. The Escort was ostensibly designed with the Chinese market in mind. The rear seat is spacious (as Chinese consumers prefer) and the car is a sedan, rather than a hatchback, but is positioned below the Focus despite also being a C-segment car.

GM and Ford will be working together to bring 9 and 10 speed transmissions to market. Reuters reports that the two companies will jointly develop the gearboxes for both front and rear-drive applications, and expect to use them in cars, trucks and SUVs.

Automotive News reports that GM will take responsibility for a transverse 9-speed gearbox, while Ford will handle the longitudinal 10-speed unit. Production is expected to begin in 2016, and that volumes for each transmission could exceed one million units annually by 2018.

TTAC’s own Alex Dykes outlined the way that OEMs share gearboxes from various parts suppliers. GM and Ford already source many transmissions from third party suppliers. Their new 9-speed design will face competition from ZF’s upcoming 9-speed unit (above), which is expected to be used in Honda products as well as Chrysler’s full line of transverse vehicles.

1954 Chrysler La Comtesse

Part One, Acura to Chevrolet, is here

Yesterday, we started are look through concept and show cars from major car companies that may have slipped your attention by being rather obscure. I delight in the obscure and the unusual, figuring that not everyone needs more pics of ’69 Camaros or ’58 Isettas. We continue with barely known Chrysler, Dodge and Ford concepts.

The 1954 Chrysler La Comtesse was was a companion car to the Le Comte. Spare me the lecture about how the La Comtesse and Dodge La Femme were sexist (see L.P. Hartley on the past). Because of three or more years of lead time in the production of a new car, it takes years for a chief stylist to make a personal imprint on a company’s styling. Virgil Exner’s “idea cars” for Chrysler, usually made by Ghia, gave consumers an idea of what future Chrysler products might look like but in the meantime, they still had to sell current production cars and by 1954, the full size Chryslers were six years old. They slapped two tone paint on the old stallion and mare and gave them clear Plexiglas roofs and put them on the show circuit to help move some metal. I’d say that it took well into the 1960s for car designers and customizers to realize that clear plastic roofs make for an uncomfortabley hot car on sunny days.

Before Chrysler made a Cordoba to suit Ricardo Montalban, the Cordoba de Oro concept in 1970 was a radical statement of the “fuselage” look then popular with cars wearing the Pentastar (and its name corrected the Dodge Deora’s bad Spanish). More than a decade after Virgil Exner’s Norseman concept went down with the Andrea Doria, Chrysler stylists working under Exner’s successor Elwood Engel reprised Exner’s cantilevered roof with minimal A pillars.

All the publicity photos of the  the Cordoba de Oro seem to have been in black and white, but this snapshot taken at the 1970 Chicago auto show explains the car’s surname. The interior featured novel adjustable pedestal bucket seats developed by Allied Chemical that had an integrated lap and shoulder belt system. The seats were trimmed in gold leather to match the car’s exterior. It’s not clear if it was of the soft Corinthian type. Another safety system tested on the Cordoba de Oro was an early airbag prototype. They even worked on a demonstration-purposes-only airbag that deployed much slower than normally, but for some reason that was never shown to the public.  The Cordoba de Oro did have a common concept car gizmo that’s become a common feature on today’s cars, a camera and tv monitor that replaced the Cordoba’s conventional rear view mirror.

The 1959 DeSoto Cella I is one of my favorite lesser known concept cars. Actually, it was more of a concept than a car since it never got past a 3/8ths scale model, but the model was on public display at the 1959 Chicago Auto Show and other shows that year. The personal project of DeSoto’s chief engineer, A.E. Kimberly, the Cella was supposed to be driven by an electric motor at each wheel, powered by a hydrogen/oxygen fuel cell, hence the name Cella. Yes, a fuel cell powered electric car conceived by a Detroit car company in 1959. Detroit was an innovative place in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

In addition to its advanced propulsion system, the Cella concept was to have had a padded dashboard, seat belts and collapsible steering column for safety, along with a built in refrigerator, television and stereo sound system. As you buckle up and access the songs on your cellphone through your hybrid car’s infotainment system while you reach for can of chilled soda pop from the console, ponder for a second that there is a reason why car companies build concept cars.

The 2003 Dodge Kahuna concept. A number of obscure show cars have had Hawaiian names or surfing themes. Mattel even added surfboards to the Alexander Brothers’ Dodge Deora show car (definitely not an obscure car) when they introduced the Hot Wheels line.

Chrysler never gave the spunky Neon the love that the little car deserved. It was a credible competitor in a competitive segment but Chrysler let it die on the vine. I bet you never heard of the 1994 Neon Aviat concept, with its own neon parrot.

Most car enthusiasts know about the Chrysler Turbine Car but how many of you know about the 1962 Turbo Power Giant Truck? That medium duty Dodge truck with the very Japanese domestic market sounding name was equipped with one of Chrysler’s famous turbines. Ford also experimented with turbine powered trucks.

Some of these vehicles have names that make you scratch your head and wonder, “just what were they thinking?” (see Machete, Lincoln below). In 1975 Ford owned Ghia and the Italian styling and coachbuilding company came up with the concept of a blinged out and luxurious little city car, replete with “classic” grille and faux leather straps over the bustle back trunk. Not only is the styling odd, the name “Flashback” is both a reference to drug use and LSD as well as a curious word choice considering that in 1975 Ford was right in the middle of an exploding controversy about supposedly exploding Pintos.

Speaking of Pintos, here are the rest of the publicity shots of the Pinto Sportiva. A jpeg of the press release can be seen here.

And speaking of leather straps on a faux classic bustle back rear end, here’s the 1971 Ford Maverick Estate Coupe concept.

It’s so incongruous that I tracked down another photo just so you could avert your eyes twice.

To cleanse  your visual palette, here’s a better looking Ford show car, the 1966 Black Pearl, based on an LTD. The Chicago Auto Show site says that it’s a factory custom, but it might have been done by the Alexander Brothers or another of the era’s leading customizers, who prepared a lot of Ford’s show cars in the mid 1960s. The name comes from the black metallic paint and the pearl white satin, leather, and mouton carpeted interior.  It looks almost stock because of how subtle the custom touches are: shaved door handles and keyholes, and deeply recessed lights in the back. I think Jack Sparrow would like it.

What’s that you say? A Tuareg is a VW, not a Ford? Well Ford used that name for this Euro Fiesta based rallyish concept in 1979.

B’wana wanna a 1970 Econoline Kilimanjaro for your next safari? Leopard print was still in style 20 years after Cadillac’s Debutante.

The 1996 Ford Indigo concept may be obscure but as far as I can tell, it was the first public use of the V12 engine that is now the workhorse of the Aston Martin brand. The “Aston Martin 6.0 V12″ is basically two ‘Siamesed’ Ford Duratec 3.0 L V6 engines with a common block cast by Cosworth, which developed the engine. At the time the engine was developed, Ford owned Aston Martin, though I believe it hadn’t yet owned Cosworth, though that’s kind of moot in light of the close relationship of Cosworth to Ford. It was Colin Chapman who convinced FoMoCo to invest $100,000 into what became one of the most successful racing engines ever, the Cosworth Ford DFV.

Ferrari just introduced La Ferrari, but Ford predated them with the 1958 La Galaxie (and Cadillac and Chrysler before Ford with the La Espada, La Comtesse and La Femme), one of the less extreme Ford space age show cars of the 1950s.

You’ve heard of the Ford Mach 1. What about the Ford Mach 2? Looking a little like the love child of a Mustang and a GT40, it was built by Kar Kraft, which built many of Ford’s racing cars and other special projects. It was midengine two seater with a 289 V8 and a ZF transaxle and apparently at least one functioning example was made, since Motor Trend published test results. It’s not known if the Mach 2 still exists. It may still be in a warehouse in Dearborn, but Ford isn’t telling.

Starting in 1976, Ford had Ghia, which it owned at the time, do a series of concepts based on the Fiesta, starting with the Corrida. In case you’ve forgotten what the Corrida looks like, it’s the angular coupe with the turned up butt behind the white Pinto. Behind the Granada based Thunderbird, on the turntable beneath the Chicago Auto Show 78 sign,  is the white  Megastar II concept, also by Ghia, but based on the Ford Taunus.

Another of the Fiesta-based concepts, the Ghia Prima predated the Nissan Pulsar with its changable roof by a decade or so. The Prima had station wagon, hatchback coupe and notchback roofs that could be swapped out or left off for a pickup truck. I was able to find publicity shots of the hatchback,  notchback and pickup, but no luck for you longroof fans.

Continued in part 3 tomorrow, Honda to Mercury.

Ronnie Schreiber edits Cars In Depth, a realistic perspective on cars & car culture and the original 3D car site. If you found this post worthwhile, you can dig deeper at Cars In Depth. If the 3D thing freaks you out, don’t worry, all the photo and video players in use at the site have mono options. Thanks – RJS

Ford has big plans for the Chinese market. It wants to double its share to 6 percent of the Chinese passenger vehicle market over the next three years, Asia chief Dave Schoch told Reuters reporter Bernie Woodall in Shanghai.

If the goals are reached, Ford would sell around a million units in the world’s largest auto market. Ford is a latecomer to China, but racked up an impressive 3 percent share last year, mostly driven by the best-selling Ford Focus.

Schoch promised a “turbocharged” 2013 for China, which will see launches of the Kuga SUV, the EcoSport compact SUV, the Explorer large SUV, and the Mondeo mid-size sedan.

The Reuters story gives Volkswagen a 19.5 percent share of the Chinese market, followed by GM at 10 percent. This is something GM doesn’t want to hear. Counting more than a million Wuling delivery vans as theirs, GM claims to be the top dog in China – in total auto sales, commercial included.

By the end of the decade, Ford wants to generate 40 percent of its annual sales in China, which is likely pass the United States as Ford’s largest market by 2020, CNBC says.  China already is the largest market both of Gm and Volkswagen.

Developing cars and pieces thereof is getting increasingly costly, and that’s why even the fiercest rivals band together to share the mounting financial burden. GM and cross-town rival Ford agreed to jointly develop a new line of nine- and ten-speed automatic transmissions, Reuters says.  

GM and Ford will build both FWD and RWD variants. The gaggle of gears is one way to cope with the U.S. government mandate that by 2025, automakers should sport a corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) of 54.5 miles per gallon (23.2 km per liter). According to Reuters, “that translates to about 39 mpg in real world driving, or nearly two thirds higher than the average fuel economy for the 2012 model year vehicles.”

The new transmissions are expected to reach the market beginning in 2016. According to the New York Times, the joint effort can save “hundreds of millions of dollars and considerable development time.” What’s more, “it also saves the cost of licensing the design and production rights from a specialist transmission supplier like ZF of Germany or Aisin of Japan, which can cost up to $100 per unit.” When bought in not insignificant quantities, of course.

The 420,000 mile Ford truck. The 420,000 mile Chevy truck. The 420,000 mile Camry. The 420,000 mile Accord.

I have covered all of these brands and models to the point now where I just hope, wish and dream of a different vehicle to highlight.

A few months ago I finally had a pair of Saturns make it to the top. A little before that there was a 90′s Altima that handily beat nearly 7000 other cars and trucks.  This week…

No such luck. Although there was one surprise.

This is how the Top 5 looked this time around out of 6863 trade-in contestants for the week.

1. 2003 Ford E-350 XLT:  426,776 miles

2. 2000 Honda Civic EX:  387,915 miles

3. 2001 Nissan Xterra SE: 377,966 miles

4. 2000 Ford Crown Vic:   353,951 miles (TAXI!)

5. 1999 Toyota Sienna LE: 341,630 miles

The Xterra was a welcome surprise from the usual Toyota, Honda, Ford, and Chevy domination.

A Manual. 4WD. The engine needed service but that won’t matter given that it will be fixed up and exported in short time. Almost every older, high mileage, Japanese SUV with four-wheel-drive and a handshaker winds up on the export side of the ledger.

Like many of the exported vehicles with gonzo mileage, I’m sure this one will also be given an ‘exempt’ recording of the mileage on the title and a nice healthy 200k mile rollback. They sell better that way.

So the big five here are more than likely highway oriented vehicles. Livery and transport companies usually favor domestics for their continuous travels, and we can argue the reasons why until Ford finally builds a suitable Panther replacement.

High mileage is fun to categorize, but let’s face it. There is bias. The fleet world is Ford and Chevy happy. So let’s look at the high mileage list from a more aged perspective.

What about vehicles that are at least 20 year old? What brands and models registered the highest mileage this time around?

Number one would be this 1992 Toyota Paseo with another handshaker and sun faded racing stripes on either side of the hood. Toyotas from the mid-80′s thru the mid-90′s have a notorious tendency to have their paint streaked and speckled at the points where the sun and debris hit em’ the most.

Still, even the worst Toyota paint jobs are far better than the wafer thin domestic paint-jobs of the time. But if I can offer one universal weakness to early-90′s Toyotas, it would be paint fade.

This 21 year old mileage champion was followed by a 1990 Lexus LS400 (290k), a 1990 Honda Accord (279k),  a 1993 Ford F150 (278k), and a 1992 Camry (277k).

So it seems like we’re stuck at the same point as before. Well, maybe not folks. I’ll throw in a few factoids given that today is tax day. .

After 64,049 vehicles tallied, the brands with the highest percentage of models with over 180k are…

1. Honda 

2. Toyota

3. Lexus

4. Acura

and a surprising 5th…

5. GMC

The first four have 20+% of their trade-ins with over 180k. GMC is at just over 17%.

Now for an even bigger shocker…

13% of Mitsubishis are now traded in with over 180k. I happen to finance an awful lot of them these days with a clear conscience. So this is no surprise from where I sit. 

Meanwhile, Mercedes tallies a mere 6.9%. BMW yields 5.9%. Audi barely hits the mileage pedal with only 4.5%, while VW does little better, even with dozens of TDI models, at 4.9%.

To further crown the European propensity for penurious plentitude when it comes to all things mileage related, the two absolute worst marques for mileage are Jaguar at 2.6% and Land Rover at 2.8%. Porsche is even worse at 0.52%. But since a Porsche daily driver is an exception rather than the rule, we gave it a bye.

On the homefront, we have one other surprise. Cadillac is barely beating the bad old Kias of the 90′s and early 2000′s. 3.8% for the former Northstar division vs. 3.7% for a company that brought us shitboxes such as the Sephia and the early Kia Rios.

Do you have free time today? Or happen to work for an OEM? Click here and have fun.

Well, we were wrong. Turns out the 1.5L Ecoboost engine is a four-cylinder engine, but the intent remains the same. According to Reuters, it offers a way for Chinese buyers of the Ford Mondeo to get a tax break due to displacement.

Meanwhile Automotive News reports that the 1.5L engine will be offered alongside the 1.6L engine in the 2014 Fusion, until the 1.6L is gradually phased out. Power numbers should be similar to the 1.6L, but the engine will be lighter, thanks to changes like an exhaust manifold integrated in the cylinder head. This should also result in better fuel economy compared to the 1.6L engine.

In Europe, there will still be a 1.0L 3-cylinder option, and Ford apparently still believes that more power and displacement can be wrung out of the three-cylinder engine. We’re just not going to get a taste of it – yet. In Europe, where CO2 levels still matter, the 1.0L and its 125 grams of CO2 per kilometer, are a welcome addition.

A U.S. House of Represenatives subcommittee meeting became a forum for Ford to advocate on behalf of harmonized vehicle standards, as the US and EU continue to discuss a possible free trade deal.

Joe Hinrichs, Ford’s President of the Americas, said that harmonized standards would allow Ford to cut costs in areas like design, manufacturing and engineering. Ford is aiming to homogenize its lineup across the globe under its “One Ford” plan, eliminating regional models where necessary. Vehicles like the Edge and Mustang will be engineered for world markets in their next generation, while regional models like the rear-drive Falcon, sold in Australia and select world markets, will be killed off.

Automotive News reports bi-partisan support for the measure. Rep. John Dingell, whose Michigan congressional district encompasses Dearborn, where Ford is based, offered support for the measure, while Rep. Terry Lee, who chairs the subcommittee on commerce, manufacturing and trade noted “positive effects that pursuing a regulatory mutual recognition standard could have on the domestic automotive industry.” Translation: if this goes through, we may just get the Focus RS.