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MotorWeek remembers pre-EcoBoost Ford with the Thunderbird TurboCoupe

Sometimes it feels great to embrace nostalgia for a trip down memory lane, and MotorWeek indulges that occasional desire with its regular Retro Review series. This time, the long-lived show goes back to the '80s to check out two of the top performance vehicles in the Ford lineup at the time – the 1987 Thunderbird TurboCoupe and Mustang GT. Both models had just received thorough refreshes after several years on the market. Long before an EcoBoost badge ever met its models, Ford made early forays into experimenting with turbocharging on vehicles like the T-Bird TurboCoupe. Based on MotorWeek's assessment, the company was on the right track. The boosted 2.3-liter four-cylinder was apparently a bit coarse but offered 190 horsepower with little turbo lag, compared to 155 hp the year before. The Mustang GT is likely the more-fondly remembered of these performance Fords today and provides an interesting point of comparison against the TurboCoupe. MotorWeek found some faults with the 'Stang, though. While it was quick for the time with a sprint to 60 mph in 6.5 seconds, the 'car was described as "a nose-heavy beast" for its handling. And for a look at Ford's future in turbocharging – the GT will have an EcoBoost powerplant – check out our Related Video:

Ex-GM VP LaNeve takes over Lincoln ad agency

Those of you that caught yesterday's op-ed about Lincoln will have heard already, but Mark LaNeve has taken the helm at Team Detroit. Once the North American vice president of sales, service and marketing for General Motors, LaNeve will now head up the agency that handles all of Ford advertising. LaNeve will also run the account for Lincoln. While at GM from 2001 to 2009, the exec oversaw ad campaigns like Cadillac's Breakthrough and sales initiatives like "Employee Pricing for Everyone."
He left in 2009 to join Allstate as chief marketing officer, oversaw the creation of the Mayhem ad spots and was moved into the role of VP of agency operations overseeing Allstate's 10,000 agents. He resigned from the insurer in February 2012 for personal reasons and joined Team Detroit in August 2012 as chief operating officer, in charge of satellite offices in New York and internationally. He replaces ex-CEO Cameron McNaughton, and will continue to hold the title of COO.
Lincoln is trying to get its 2013 back to rights after putting big dollar commercials for the 2013 MKZ on television then having production glitches preventing cars from getting to dealerships. With rumors of a relaunch in the works, it's no surprise LaNeve has been given the reins - and from here it looks like the brand is desperate for the kind of magic he's proved he can marshal. Perhaps he can start by calling a mulligan on the renaming exercise that gave us the hoary "Lincoln Motor Company" and go back to oh, say, "Lincoln." Then he can ask the product folks to get to work on the MKC concept...

2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E, Volvo XC40 Recharge score high in IIHS tests

New electric cars continue their streak of impressive crash test results. The two latest to go through Insurance Institute for Highway Safety testing are the 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E and the 2021 Volvo XC40 Recharge. The former earned a Top Safety Pick award, and the latter picked up the Top Safety Pick+ commendation. Both vehicles got the top "Good" rating in every crash test, as well as the "Superior" rating for vehicle-to-vehicle collision prevention. They deviate when it comes to headlights and vehicle-to-pedestrian collision prevention. Because the Volvo has headlights rated "Good" on all trims, it got that extra "+" on its Top Safety Pick award. The Ford also has high-rated headlights available, but the standard units got the second lowest rating of "Marginal." As for the vehicle-to-pedestrian collision prevention, the Volvo received the second-highest "Advanced" rating, while the Ford was rated "Superior." Among the electric cars IIHS has tested, the Ford and Volvo continue a streak of high scores. The organization has evaluated the Audi E-Tron in both its body styles, as well as the Tesla Model 3, both of which get the Top Safety Pick+ rating. As a result of the XC40 Recharge's test score, Volvo pointed out that it is the only automaker whose entire lineup has received a Top Safety Pick+ rating. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.