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Shelby to auction 2012 GT350 No. 1 in Vegas

With Shelby preparing to wind down production of its brutal GT350, a 624-horsepower Mustang that's meant to go up against the Roush Stage 3 in the world of tuned Ford ponycars, the Las Vegas-based tuner is looking to give back to one lucky customer. It'll auction off the very first GT350 ever produced, at the 2013 Barrett-Jackson auction in Las Vegas, a three-day event that runs from September 26 through September 28.
The GT350 is a monster, with a 5.0-liter, supercharged V8 that's been tuned well past 600 horsepower in a time when Ford's own Shelby-branded GT500 barely reached 550 horsepower. The GT350 is much louder than Ford's effort, too, both visually and audibly. The wide body look isn't what we'd call conventional, but on a car that sounds and goes like this, something extreme is needed. According to Shelby American's vice president of production, Gary Davis, "Carroll was very excited about the new wide body option, so that was included on this car. It's the first 2012 GT350 serial number from our anniversary year. It is a very special car." Wilwood brakes, a massaged suspension, and some very fat, sticky tires add to the Shelby experience.
This particular GT350 will be lot number 750, and will cross the Barrett-Jackson stage on Sunday, September 28.

Ford drops Focus RS teaser ahead of Feb 3 reveal

Ford is trying to get us hyped for the unveiling of the latest Focus RS on February 3 with this new video teaser. The clip showcases the hot hatch doing some big slides in the wet and dry during testing in Europe and the US, and it definitely makes us even more curious about what the Blue Oval has in store with the RS. Even in this short teaser, Ford continues to dress the more aggressive nose of the Focus RS in camouflage, like the previous test cars. Unfortunately, what's going on under all of that concealment remains a bit of a mystery. Rumors suggest the RS likely uses a tuned version of the Blue Oval's 2.3-liter turbocharged four-cylinder estimated to make between 325 and 350 horsepower. A speculated torque-vectoring all-wheel-drive system should keep fears of torque steer at bay, and larger brakes on the test mules indicate that bringing it all to a halt shouldn't be a problem, either. We do know that the hotter Focus will be among the "more than 12" vehicles that the new Ford Performance division will develop through 2020, and the RS will come to the US for the first time. However, US-spec RS models will likely be imported from Europe, which will keep numbers here low and will mean prices estimated to be around $30,000 or more. Until the official specs become available, at least enjoy watching this hot hatch's ability to slide.

Ford builds Lightweight Concept with Fusion shell [w/video]

It's a fairly well known fact that removing weight from a car is essentially a panacea for many of the modern automobiles problems. Does it handle like crap? Remove weight. Underpowered? Don't add power; trim the fat. Need to improve fuel economy? It's diet time.
Actually executing a major weight reduction program, though, much like with human beings, is no easy task. Unlike you or I, where motivation is the issue, the prohibitive measure in trimming a car's waistline is money. Lightweight materials are expensive, with carbon fiber and carbon-fiber reinforced plastic still primarily in the domain of higher end vehicles. Even aluminum construction, pioneered on a mass-produced level by Audi and Jaguar, is only now starting to make its way into the mainstream, thanks to the upcoming Ford F-150.
With this concept, though, Ford is attempting to show that a mass-produced, lightweight vehicle isn't too far off. This is the Lightweight Concept, and while it may look like a Fusion, it weighs as much as a Fiesta. For reference, the lightest Fusion available to the public is the 3,323-pound, 2.5-liter model with a manual transmission. A manually equipped, 1.6-liter Fiesta, meanwhile, is just 2,537 pounds.