2004 Ford Excursion Hearse Truck 4 X 4 White Mint on 2040-cars

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Riding along in Ford's bonkers Fiesta ST Global RallyCross car [w/video]

The Mountune-worked Fiesta ST GRC does 0-to-60 mph in 1.9 seconds.
On any given day, and every single weekend, there's at least one parking in the country invaded by manufacturer and team trucks. The be-chromed beasts and their 53-foot trailers are slotted into rows, men and women decorate the lot with orange cones to mark the invisible tracery of a temporary track, cars get unloaded, crews fret over them. The ritual can be as beautiful as the sunrise to those with enthusiast hearts, but it's just as common.

Weekly Recap: Matthew McConaughey's star shines brightly for Lincoln

The commercials were a little strange at first, but the ensuing spoofs were hilarious. And all jokes aside, Matthew McConaughey has made a difference for Lincoln. Advertisements starring the Oscar winner launched in September, and the results have been impressive. The number of customers clicking on Lincoln.com to check out the MKC – the crossover McConaughey pitched – has tripled since the ads began airing, a spokesman told Autoblog. They also generated 4.4 million views on YouTube and spawned parodies by Ellen DeGeneres, Conan O'Brien, South Park and Jim Carrey on Saturday Night Live, which racked up another 15 million views. Most importantly, Lincoln's sales have increased 15 percent through November, helped significantly by the strong launch of the MKC. Without the addition of the MKC, Lincoln's sales would have been essentially flat last year. The MKC has received solid reviews from consumers and the press, though it has had several recalls. "The overwhelming response to the MKC campaign sparked truly great awareness for Lincoln," Andrew Frick, Lincoln group marketing manager, said in a statement. Now Lincoln has launched another round of spots, which kicked off New Year's Day during college football bowl games. This time, McConaughey is hawking the MKZ sedan and its hybrid sibling. The spots, called Diner and Balance, use the same artistic formula as the earlier ads, with McConaughey intoning seriously about the cars in dramatic settings. They were shot over two days in Los Angeles and were directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, a Danish filmmaker who directed the 2011 move, Drive. The ads continue Lincoln's multiyear deal with McConaughey, who has said he's been long been interested in the brand. He starred in the 2011 thriller, The Lincoln Lawyer, as a defense attorney who worked out of a Town Car, though that was before his deal with Lincoln. In one of the earlier ads, McConaughey claims: "I've been driving a Lincoln since long before anybody paid me to drive one. I didn't do it to be cool. I didn't to it to make a statement. I just liked it." That sentiment appears to have worked for the MKC's launch, and with this new advertising blitz, Lincoln hopes it carries over to the MKZ. Other News And Notes Infiniti Q30 spied in winter testing Infiniti is continuing development work on the Q30 small crossover, and we've recently captured it during winter testing.

2014 Ford Fiesta ST

I'm not overly inclined to professional jealousy, as a rule. Sure, I go a bit green around the eyes when Ramsey draws the 911 GT3 trip to Weissach, Harley is tapped-in to drive a completely stunning Porsche 911 by Singer, or, you know, Drew Phillips gets to shoot a Lamborghini Veneno in the middle of a desert like some sort of sheik. I hate you guys...
Honestly though, one of the new car events that dug me the most, was when our Steven J. Ewing got to fling the Ford Fiesta ST around some hot corner of Europe. What goes around comes around, I suppose, as Mr. Ewing himself espoused an envious nature of the Focus ST trip that came before.
The good news in all this covetous intra-office behavior? All the cars mentioned, and specifically the Fiesta ST, are just wonderful to drive. I can say that with more confidence than ever now, having joined Ford for a good bit of Fiesta-flinging myself. In my case, the locale was slightly more pedestrian (Michigan not Portugal), and the car in question was the five-door version of the Fiesta ST that we get here in The States, as opposed to the three-door number they get across the pond.