Filed under: Concept Vehicles, Sedan, Government/Legal, Work, Ford, Specialty

Hold on to your sap gloves and night sticks - it’s that time of the decade! An Autoblog source reveals that Ford is about to release a brand spankin’ new Police Interceptor. Not only is this humongous news for our pals in the law enforcement community, but this is 120-point headline font for taxi companies around the country, as they typically purchase old Police Interceptors with 90,000 miles on ‘em and repurpose them as the cabs we all know and love passing out in. Why? Because Police Interceptors are the toughest passenger automobiles money can purchase.

Few of us have the need to drive over curbs at 50+ mph, but if that need arises, you’re going to want to do so in an Interceptor. Aside from the “severe duty” shocks, you get a beefed up frame and body mounts. Yes, that’s correct. The Crown Victoria-based Police Interceptor is body-on-frame. Listen, when you’re PIT maneuvering a perp during a high speed chase, the last thing you want to worry about is bending the chassis. Plus you got them heavy duty brakes, suspension components and oil coolers. A sweet package, no doubt.

Here’s the thing though. If this new Police Interceptor is more than a package, what platform will it ride on? Ford has stated publicly that it’s ending the geriatric Panther Platform Crown Victoria’s life in 2011. We’ll go ahead and interpret that to mean that this new Police Interceptor won’t be Crown Victoria-based. Do we know that for sure? No, but it’s a logical bit of speculation. Could the new Interceptor be Taurus-based, maybe something with a SHO motor and stouter brakes? Again, yes, but for all we know the upcoming car’s a Fiesta with the Mustang GT’s new 5.0-liter V8 crammed in the rear seat. Or one of them apocryphal Australia-only rear-drive Falcons. All we know for sure is that Ford’s introducing a new Police Interceptor to a choose group of folks in Las Vegas this Friday. Production? Concept? We’re not entirely sure yet. More details when we get them.

[Image: davidsonscott15 | CC2.0]

Source: Next-gen Ford Police Interceptor will debut this Friday in Las Vegas originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

Share This

Share This

NASCAR handed down its ruling yesterday on Carl Edwards’ retaliatory wreck of Brad Keselowski during the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway last Sunday. The Roush Fenway Racing team driver will be subjected to a three-race probation that covers the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on March 21, the Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway on March 28 and the Subway Fresh Fit 600 at Phoenix International Raceway on April 10. What does probation mean… Continue reading

Share This

Historically, America’s commercial car marketplace has been dominated by domestic automakers. Besides a small percentage of Sprinter sales from Dodge while under Daimler ownership, the fullsize van market has really only been occupied by Ford, General Motors and Chrysler. Nissan is ready to change all that, and its… Continue reading

Share This

We’re here in St. Louis attending the National Truck Equipment Association show, and we just watched Nissan officially pull the covers off its NV commercial van for the first time in front of a live audience. Our initial impression: They aren’t kidding when they state there’s an optional High Roof… at 105.5 inches (76.5 of which… Continue reading

Share This

Filed under: Concept Cars, Coupe, Hybrid, Geneva Motor Show, Technology, Videos, Lotus

Two years ago, we wrote about Lotus‘ Safe and Sound hybrid technology which added a V8 soundtrack over the quietude of a hybrid’s electric motor. That demonstrator was a Toyota Prius, but at the Geneva Motor Show Lotus had an Evora 414E Hybrid equipped with several versions of aural enjoyment: a V6, a V12 and a non-ICE audio stab at what an electric automobile could maybe possibly sound like. Think Buck Rogers. Vehicle and Driver magazine’s technical editor Michael Austin sat with a Lotus engineer and tried it out. Follow the jump for the first strains of the future.

[Source: Car and Driver]

Continue reading Video: C/D takes the Lotus Evora Hybrid for a virtual spin

Video: C/D takes the Lotus Evora Hybrid for a virtual spin originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Motorsports, Videos

If you were following the news coming out of Infineon this weekend during the Sears Pointless 24 Hours of LeMons race, you might’ve heard about a nasty crash involving the ONSET Cavalier.

Going into turn 11 at about 1 PM on Saturday, the wagon - an simple top ten contender - squeezed through an opening on the back straight before being tapped on the left rear, sent into a wall and then flipped. The Cavalier slid well over 100 feet before coming to a rest mid-track and just as the driver was extracting himself from the vehicle, the red wagon burst into flames.

Although he was able to remove his harnesses and wiggle his way out the window, the driver did suffer from a back injury resulting in two vertebrae surgeries carried out on Saturday and Sunday. We’ve gotten word from a close friend of Tyler that he’s recovering and doing well, and we wouldn’t be surprised to hear that LeMons could begin requiring HANS devices for future races.

After the jump we’ve got two videos of the wreck: One from inside the ONSET car and another from a automobile traveling further back in the pack. Both are very telling and further proof that LeMons’ strict safety requirements work, even in $500 crap can racers.

Continue reading Video: Sears Pointless LeMons crash puts another rollcage to the test

Video: Sears Pointless LeMons crash puts another rollcage to the test originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Motorsports, Europe, Audi, Racing

2009 proved to be a very successful opening campaign for Audi’s new customer race automobile, the R8 LMS. Eight vehicles were sold to a variety of teams and between them, the cars won 23 races and three national and international GT championships. For 2010, Audi has produced a new evolution version of the R8 LMS, and by mid-April, the German automaker anticipates to have delivered a total of 20 cars.

The alterations to the 2010 evolution R8 are apparently targeted at improving service life and making the automobile easier for crews to work on, with plans calling for changes including a new six-speed gearbox. An upgraded cooling system is designed to help the R8 perform superior in high temperature conditions and new openings in the body work will grant crews to inspect wear parts without pulling everything apart. The first two 2010 vehicles were have been delivered to UK-based United Autosport, and another 10 are slated to go out over the next several weeks. Teams running 2009 vehicles will also have an upgrade kit available to bring their cars up to the new spec.

[Source: Audi]

Continue reading Audi begins deliveries of R8 LMS evolution to Euro race teams

Audi begins deliveries of R8 LMS evolution to Euro race teams originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Motorsports, Performance, Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford

Last week in The Wall Street Journal, writer Ben Austen publised an article in which he ruminates on why no one appears to be racing the Detroit Three’s neo-muscle offerings - the Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger. That the piece succeeds overwhelmingly at, however, is highlighting the myopia of America’s mainstream press when it comes to motorsports. Many people in media seem to be absolutely unaware that there are forms of automotive competition other than NASCAR, because the vehicles the WSJ article focuses on most assuredly are involved in active competition.

NASCAR may be the huge dog in terms of the number of races, sponsor participation, and even people at the track. But by no means is anything about modern stock vehicle racing in any way relevant. A more important question might be why automakers continue pour hundreds of millions of dollars into NASCAR every year, but we’ll leave that for another day.

All three of the current crop of pony cars compete in a wide variety of racing, from drags to ovals and road courses. Ford in particular has offered turnkey Mustang race automobiles for several years, and they’ve been very successful in a number of classes, including the NASCAR-owned Grand-Am series. In fact, fans watching the 2010 Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Automobile Challenge will see Mustangs, Camaros, and at least one Dodge Challenger slugging it out on a regular basis.

Pratt & Miller racing currently runs a program in which it converts Grand-Am Pontiac GXP.Rs to Camaro bodies. Dodge Challengers can be found at many drag strips (along with innumerable Mustangs and Camaros). And let’s not forget that NASCAR is running Challenger- and Mustang-branded stockers in a few Nationwide Series races this year as part of its own “Car of Tomorrow” program.

Admittedly, it would be nice to see a revival on the level of the old Trans Am series, with all three of these machines running in force, but journalists like Mr. Austen would do well to remove the NASCAR blinders before summarily dismissing the modern pony vehicles as being absent from today’s racing scene. It’s just not so.

[Source: The Wall Street Journal]

Who says Mustangs, Camaros and Challengers don’t race each other? originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 07 Mar 2010 18:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

Share This

Share This