I thought today with the impending snow storm it would be fun to share some fun Ford facts.

Which revered auto racing champion was tasked with test-driving the model year 1996 Taurus?

Jackie Stewart. As a three-time Formula One champion, Stewart’s feedback to Ford on the 1996 Taurus, the controversial oval-themed redesign of the type, provided valuable information to the designers. Taurus would underfo one more major redesign for model year 2000, in which many of those oval elements were softened. The model year 2005 Taurus was the last sold to the general public in the United States. Ford replaced the sedan variant with the Five Hundered and the Fusion, and the station wagon variant with the Freestyle.

Check back tomorrow for another fact!

Source: Funtrivia

Finally! First Ken Block switches to a Ford and now this!

We at your favorite Southern Maryland Ford Dealer, Waldorf Ford, think it is super sweet that we will be able to catch all the great World Rally Championship racing action from our comfy recliner. All in HD! Check out the article we found on Autoblog this morning and when your done with that check out Ken’s performance in the Ford Fiesta during some testing in the snow.

Assuming for a moment that you won’t be watching any stages live, what could possibly be better than strapping into the living room recliner and watching World Rally Championship coverage here in the United States? How about watching that very same coverage in glorious high definition? You’re in luck, as Discovery’s HD Theater plans to air the entire 2010 season, the start of which is coming up fast.

The action will begin on Thursday, February 25th at 10 PM Eastern with the Rally Sweden event. Racing will continue on Friday and a follow-up episode will be aired the following Sunday night from 10-11 PM ET. The second race, the Corona Rally Mexico, will follow the same schedule from Thursday, March 18th through Sunday, March 21st.

In case you’re wondering, Ken Block will indeed be taking part in the 2010 Rally Sweden behind the wheel of his brand new Ford Focus RS, giving American viewers a hometown hero to pull for. Air dates for the remainder of the 2010 WRC season will be announced later.

http://www.youtube.com/v/-K37p0vw9cU&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0
SOURCE [Autoblog]

We gound a pretty cool article and video about the the new 3.7L V-6 in the upcoming 2011 Ford Mustang. We at Waldorf Ford are plenty excited to start getting these refined hot rods in our hands. Stop by and see us at Waldorf Ford and ask us about it.

The 2010 Ford Mustang was by all accounts a pretty significant refresh compared to the 2009 model, with a vastly superior interior, better ride and handling and, some would say, improved outward aesthetics. But there was still something missing. The Blue Oval used carry-over powertrains, and in the case of the 210-horsepower V6 model, nothing changed.

For the 2011 model year, Ford is rectifying that mistake two-fold. The 5.0-liter V8 gets a great deal of press for its impressive 412 hp and 390 pound-feet of twist, but many members of the Autoblog team are just as excited to get their hands on the new 305 hp, 280 lb-ft 3.7-liter V6 offering. We’ll likely have to wait a bit longer to curb that urge, but the folks over at Motor Trend have already been given a taste.

MT‘s Arthur St. Antoine was invited to Ford’s Arizona proving grounds to spend some seat time behind the wheel in the passenger seat of the updated ponycar, and though he didn’t get to drive he liked what he experienced. St. Antoine calls the new V6 mill “plenty strong,” adding that the engine is smoother, stronger and sounds better than the outgoing 4.0-liter six ever could. After some gentle strolling around Arizona, St. Antoine meandered back over to the proving grounds for some laps in a Performance Package V6 model with vehicle dynamics engineer (and Top Gun-level driver) Jamie Cullen. From the perspective of the right seat, the 3.7-liter Stang reportedly was able to handle anything thrown its way with flat cornering, strong braking and near constant contact between the tires and the track. Head over to Motor Trend to read the report from the passenger seat.

SOURCE [AutoBlog]

Waldorf Ford and Ford Motor Company are excited to announce an additional $1,000 factory rebate if you are trading in a 1995 or newer Toyota, Honda, Lexus, Scion or Acura car, truck or SUV.  Even better is the news that Mustang Shelby GT500 and Escape and Fusion Hybrids are NOT Excluded!

As per our usual routine we like to start our day reading the various blogs as well as perusing several automotive websites to check out what’s happening in the automotive world. We have been loving the postive press about Ford lately and we love to tell everyone we see in Southern Maryland how great Ford’s product’s are. It was nice to see that the Ford engineers are sharing in our excitement. Take a look at this article we came across, nice to see our tax dollars hard at work.

When we look at Motor Trend magazine’s golden calipers, we think of a prestigious trophy awarded each year to the publication’s top car and truck of the year. Apparently, the Transportation Security Administration officials at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport see a weapon of mass destruction. Or something.

The proud engineers at Ford have been taking their well-deserved 2010 Ford Fusion Car of the Year award all over town, taking pictures and having a little fun, mimicking what athletes do when they win Lord Stanley’s Cup in hockey or the Lombardi Trophy in football. Ford Research & Advanced Engineering employee Tony Phillips went as far as Disney World with the award, but apparently not before coming to the attention of the TSA at Detroit Metro airport. Phillips had rightly brought the sizable trophy onto the plane as a carry-on – after all, who would want to tell Allan Mulally that they lost the trophy at baggage claim?

MT’s shiny hardware was eventually let on the plane after “some interesting discussion, and it made its way to Orlando to ride some rides and hang with Mickey. Surprisingly, the Orlando TSA agents were more familiar with Ford’s award than were the security agents in the Motor City, and congratulations were given to them on the accomplishment. Just as an FYI for Ford, you can bring by your trophy to Autoblog headquarters any time you wish. We won’t even frisk you at the door.

SOURCE [Autoblog]

This is a must watch for everyone, Ford, Lincoln and Mercury loyalists or loyal to another manufacturer.  Its a very well done documentary on the automotive industry.

It is 50 minutes long, just a heads up.

You can see many of the new models here at Waldorf Ford.

You know, all of us at Waldorf FordLOVE a great Mustang. When we found this one, we just had to share pictures with you. This is one that we wish Ford would put into production.

From concept sketch to reality, we bring you the ROUSH Reactor Mustang. We knew this would be a killer car, but honestly it’s even better than we thought in person. The olive drab paint color that covers the car’s carbon fiber body panels is a nice detour away from the Highlighter Yellow and Orange colors that so many cars are wearing at SEMA this year. The Ringbrothers who built the car removed the drip rails and door handles so that those expanses of colored carbon fiber could be better viewed. The matte six-spoke wheels continue the muted color scheme and the lip on those rear rims is too wide to believe. The engine is Roush’s new show-n-go 427 R crate motor that produces 552 horsepower and 535 ft-lbs. of torque, but still looks good enough to win awards under that vented hood. While there are Mustangs in attendance at the SEMA show that have more powerful engines and more sensational modifications (the Obsidian comes to mind), we’d be hard pressed to find one as well done as the Reactor. Good luck to its owner in winning the Good Guys Street Machine of the Year Award.
Follow the jump for more pics of the ROUSH Reactor Mustang.
Source: Autoblog

Ford appears to be using any advantage it can, from any industry, to make better cars and make them more quickly. Last month we got word of the motion-capping tech The Blue Oval borrowed from video games and movies. This month the news is that it’s putting all of that mo-cap work into its immersive Virtual Evaluation lab (iVE) with the help of United Space Alliance. Alliance is a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin that aids in virtual modeling for space missions.

The benefit for you is that Ford can design safer, more comfortable and more ergonomic car interiors. The benefit for Ford – in addition to happier customers – is that these technologies reduce development time by up to 14 months, which equates to all kinds of savings. Stay tuned next month when Ford announces that all of its engineers have been replaced by Wall E.

We at your favorite Maryland Ford Dealer think anything that will save you money in the end is pretty darn cool. Too bad they didn’t get with George Lucas’s ILM studios as well, we could imagine our own R2D2 riding shotgun in the new 2011 Ford Fiesta. May the Force be with you!

  [Source: Ford]

Here’s a bit of fun info we found while scouring the web. It’s your chance to own a piece of history, while we admit that a coupe complete with bullet holes would have been a cool piece of history to own the repaired and restored version might go over easier at the local drive in. Still, we would rather have the holes!

If you saw Michael Mann’s Public Enemies, the car above may look familiar. It isn’t just the same model that the notorious John Dillinger used to escape The Law in one of the most daring shootouts in American history – it’s the actual car. And the same one used in the movie.

After robbing banks across the country, Dillinger and his gang took refuge in the Little Bohemia Lodge in Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin, on April 22, 1934. When the proprietors alerted law enforcement to their presence, the FBI – led by the legendary Melvin Purvis – arrived on the scene and shot the place up. Dillinger, along with two of his cronies, escaped out the windows into the woods nearby before stumbling upon Robert Johnson driving the Ford Model A coupe you see here. They commandeered the car and the driver along with it, and escaped to Minnesota as Dillinger smashed the rear window and opened fire with his tommy-gun at pursuing law enforcement.

The bullet-ridden car remained in the possession of the Dillinger family for decades until it was carefully and faithfully restored by the producers of Public Enemies for use in the scene depicting the historic chase. Now the coupe will be up for auction in Scottsdale, Arizona, by Barrett-Jackson.

If you can’t snag this sweet piece of history when it goes up for auction on Saturday at Barrett-Jackson come by and see us and we can hook you up with your own piece of Ford history. Maybe an all new 2010 Ford Mustang, just promise us you won’t be robbing any banks with it.

Source [AutoBlog]

by Jeremy Korzeniewski (RSS feed) on Jan 18th 2010 at 7:01AM

According to the pony car lovers over at Mustang Heaven, a Ford will pace the Daytona 500 for the first time since the Torino GT convertible did the deed way back in 1970. As you may have surmised, the actual pace car will be a 2011 Ford Mustang GT, equipped with the long-awaited 5.0-liter V8 engine with 412 horsepower. Last year, the honor went to the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS.

As befitting such a car, the Mustang will get a special Daytona Red paint scheme with blue and white LeMans stripes – classic American racing colors. Ford Racing suspension upgrades including a strut tower brace, upgraded mufflers, unique painted wheels and an interior featuring lighted sill plates round out the pace car-specific details.

Want one? Well, that might be a bit tough. Ford plans to build just one example, which will be offered up for auction at Barrett-Jackson in Scottsdale, Arizona on Saturday, January 23rd. We don’t imagine it will be cheap, and all proceeds above MSRP will be donated to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. The new owner will see his or her actual car pacing the Daytona 500 on February 14th.

Source: Autoblog, Mustang Heaven