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How Ford hid the 2015 Mustang from spy photographers

Now that we've finally seen the 2015 Ford Mustang, it's fun to go back and look at the spy shots we spent months pouring over, trying to dissect what was under all the camouflage. For the most part, Ford did a good job of concealing the car from spy photographers, and it released a video showing how much work went into doing so.
As crude as the Mustang's camo looked, all of the hard plastic, foam, vinyl and ratchet straps were actually created and put in place by a specific design team. The whole idea was to hide the car's identity, but it certainly ended up acting as a magnet for attention, too. According to Ford's press release, it took less than an hour for spy shots to appear online after the car was taken on public roads for the very first time - this is likely in reference to our first official spy shots of the Mustang from June, shown in the gallery below.
Scroll down for a press release and video, which shows footage of the 2015 Ford Mustang testing with minimal camouflage. This is probably the same track session where we got our first look at the Mustang's face back in August.

Mazda Turnpike in Japan shut down for racing

The people behind Motorhead Magazine in Japan clearly have some friends in high places. Not only did they manage to shutdown eight kilometers of the Mazda Turnpike up the Hakone mountain, but they invited some of the country's premiere racers to take a drive up the hill. This wasn't just a Sunday cruise either. Featuring a BMW Z4 from the Super GT series, a classic Ford GT40, two flavors of Nissan GT-R and two takes on the Subaru Impreza WRX STI, these guys came ready to run. When an opportunity to let racecars challenge a curvy mountain road presents itself, you don't squander it. Thankfully, the folks at Motorhead knew that and outfitted the course with a plethora of cameras and high-quality sound equipment to capture the action. The result is nothing short of sublime. Take the video's urging to turn up your speakers for this one, and watch as these racers hit ludicrous speeds in a beautiful place never meant for them. News Source: japanmotorhead via YouTube, Jalopnik Aftermarket Motorsports BMW Ford Nissan Subaru Racing Vehicles Performance Videos ford gt40 super gt

Ford to build Explorer in Russia to meet demand [w/video]

The current Ford Explorer is sold in more than 64 countries, and this three-row vehicle continues to grow in popularity worldwide. To keep up with demand, Ford began producing the Explorer at Ford Sollers Elabuga Assembly Plant in Tatarstan, Russia, a joint venture facility. This partnership will build Russian-market Explorers only, and production of export vehicles not destined for Russian buyers will continue to be built at Ford's assembly plant in Chicago.
Before this plant went online, Ford would ship Explorers to Russia (and other regions around the world) as partially assembled knock-down units where final assembly would eventually take place. While there is no indication as to how many Explorers Ford Sollers will build for Russia, Ford did add that exports of the SUV were up 65 percent last year (from 2011) accounting for more than 24,000 units.
Scroll down for a press release about the Russian Explorer as well as a video (bad music and all) showing the SUV being produced in Tatarstan.