Possible Design of Next Prius

At every major crossroads in the automotive industry, car manufacturers have stepped up to produce… garbage.  Ok, that’s not always true, but maybe that isn’t so bad either.  Even failures, often ESPECIALLY failures, have ultimately forced car companies out of a comfortable status quo mentality to produce better, faster and safer vehicles. 

Ford has announced a milestone as they have now built their 9 millionth Ford Mustang. It is a tremendous achievement for the once smaller pony car that was built to target a market that was eager for an some affordable sporty coupe. The record setting car was a GT Convertible that is on its way to a dealership in Iowa.

The Ford Mustang was introduced at the World’s Fair on April 17th, 1964. Just a week ago Ford quietly celebrated the Mustangs 44th Anniversary. In its first day of sales Ford sold 22,000 Mustangs nationwide; 419,000 in the first 12 months. By its second year of production there had been 2 million of the famous Pony car sold. After those record setting years things slowed down just a bit as it took another 42 years to make it to 9 million cars built.

The retro-influenced redesign that was released to showrooms in 2005 has also helped to revitalizes the Mustangs sales figures, as it has been the most popular selling model since those glory days in the 60’s. This years 2008 models will come with a couple firsts as far as features go for the Ford Mustang. An optional Glass Roof will be available for the first time ever in a Mustang, and the Warriors in Pink Package will be used to raise money for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure organizations search for a cure to breast cancer.

The Mustang is Ford’s longest running nameplate and in part due to strategic designs and market savvy pricing the only Pony car not to cease production is sure to continue for many years to come.

Source[Ford]

As the Knight Rider TV movie began on NBC at 9pm there was a certain level of nostalgia within me that made me want to watch. That nostalgia was reinforced upon the intro music that featured the classic music for the show that then gets digitized. By the end of the intro the nostalgia was replaced with a tiny shrug. As the movie progressed and the trademark villains maintained their vigilant pursuit and the trademark heroes were chauffeured around by a sometimes sweet Shelby Gt500 KR that uses the voice of Val Kilmer to whisper sweet nothings in your ear it felt as though they had stepped right back into the shoes of the 1980’s version.

When you break down the pieces there is really nothing new about the script style, the casting style, the film style, nor the acting style. As time has grown on I personally have stepped away from series television on the major networks because the formula that they have relied on for so long has worn quite thin. The Knight Rider Movie as it made its debut on NBC just may have ripped through the last fragment of stitching that was holding that formulaic material together. And having a last moment appearance by the Hoff himself at the tail end of the two-hour even may have been all that was necessary to shred the fantasy and bring us back to a modern day reality of I can’t believe they made this.

However, there were some interesting things… so follow the leap. 

Is it one thing to be Car Crazy and still another thing to just be Crazy? Is to be the first that significant?

When the news broke that pre-sales for the new Dodge Challenger SRT8 were reaching a premium of up to $20,000 over MSRP I was, not shocked so much, but outraged. Not at the dealership’s for “getting theirs” and not at Dodge for enjoying some much needed “love”, but at the general idea. How Crazy are we to need to be at the head of the line? How much are we really willing to spend?
Well, I believe I got my answer to that this weekend at the Barrett-Jackson Auction.

This year the right to be the first to own one of the three instant classic/collector cars was being auctioned off.

It seems the brain-trust at NBC has worked out the deal with Ford to use the 2008 Shelby GT500KR as the new car for the rebirth of the Knight Rider TV series in the coming year. The revival of the Knight Rider series has been in talks for a little while now, but the speculation on the car was always left lingering. So for all of those complaining that there are already too many Specialty Mustangs on the market you may have just received the empirical evidence you needed that Ford has gone too far and that NBC has just alienated a partial fanbase. But maybe we are being too negative here?

We will post the official NBC Press Release below for those interested in learning more about the stars and the plot for the 2-hour TV Premier movie that will set the show off. Most of us here though are more curious about the car choice and the adornments that have cluttered the skin of of the GT500KR.

For most movie fans the Ford Mustang Bullitt requires little introduction. Steven McQueen did all the talking when driving the badgeless beauty down the streets of San Francisco in the movie Bullitt. The latest version of the Bullitt Mustang comes closer to that classic movie car than the previous attempt, but we will let you judge for yourself with some video footage of the 2008 Ford Mustang Bullitt on those very same San Francisco streets from the movie.

While the question has been raised as to whether the plethora of designs for the new Ford Mustang by Ford and Foose and Roush and Saleen have been too numerous we now know that the world has one new Pony too many. Was the objective here to be the worlds most obnoxious Mustang? …Because honestly there is worse out there. But if this was a study in bad taste in design then mission accomplished. What we have here is either an entrant into what someone hopes is another Mel Gibson Mad Max movie or the “bad guy” car in the next Paul Walker Too Fast, Too Hideous movie.

Despite their going overboard with this poor Pony I am a fan of the paint job. And maybe I am wrong… is this the next great Pony Rendition? You tell me.

Source[AutoBlog]

Ford has announced their plans to unleash their latest Mustang design, the 2008 Bullitt Mustang, at the LA Auto Show in November. However, with so many Mustang variations to be available in 2008 will the Bullitt be just another fish in a sea of High Priced Ponies?

It is always nice to pay tribute to the moments and movements that helped get you to where you are now. And Steve McQueen’s use of the Mustang in the movie Bullitt was jaw dropping and awe inspiring, but is Ford really recreating that feeling in its new 2008 tribute? Not that we can tell anything from the sketch provide so If they are that is great, but now at what price? For 2008 a mere Ford Mustang GT Premium has soared above the $30,000 mark. Am I the only one that thinks that is an outrageous price for a Ford Mustang GT?

Following the Pony Run cruise of the Blue Ridge Parkway on Saturday in Asheville, NC the Blue Ridge Mustang Club held a car show at the Biltmore Square Mall. Good food, prizes and raffle drawings were held for all who attended but the cars themselves were the show. With over 300 cars participating in the cruise and a good many of them staying for the car show there were plenty of Ponies to wet your appetite.

One of the participants of the event put together a small video of their experience. To enjoy the cruise from the passenger seat of a Pony click here.

This past Saturday, September 29th,  the Blue Ridge Mustang Club of Asheville, NC held its 2nd Annual Pony Run for Hospice. Over 300 Mustangs met at the Biltmore Square Mall to ride for charity through the Blue Ridge Parkway. All variety of Mustangs from nearby states coming together for fellowship, fun and in the spirit of giving. Ofcourse as I stood ahead of the pack on the Parkway I could hear the real reason why Mustang owners can be such a spirited collective as the reverberations of all those throaty exhausts poured through the tunnel. Those 300+ Ponies rumbled on for miles through the Pisgah National Forest through which the Blue Ridge Parkway winds. For a view of some of those Ponies check out the Gallery at the end of this article.