2013 Ford Taurus Sel Sedan 4-door 3.5l on 2040-cars

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Ford Transit production fires up, American Pickers among first takers

Not long ago, the History Channel showed a seemingly unending stream of World War II documentaries, but it made a switch a few years ago to include an increasing mix of 'reality' programming. American Pickers was one of the early attempts at this new formula, with cameras following hosts Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz around the country in a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter as they tracked down collectibles and "rusty gold" for their Iowa shop, Antique Archeology. The show has since gone on to become one of the channel's most popular programs.
Starting in the new episode airing tonight, the affable hosts will swap their Benz for a 2015 Ford Transit, a nicely timed bit of marketing to coincide with the launch of the model's assembly at the Blue Oval's Kansas City Assembly Plant, which also kicks off this week. Ford is touting 2,000 new jobs created as part of its $1.1-billion investment in the plant.
No strangers to product placement, the guys from American Pickers say their switch away from the Sprinter is because they wanted to balance cargo capacity and fuel economy to make the most of their cross-country jaunts. They opted for the largest Transit available with a long wheelbase, extended body and high roof, giving them 487 cubic feet of cargo room. Hauling power comes from a 3.2-liter, five-cylinder diesel engine with 190 horsepower and 346 pound-feet of torque and a six-speed automatic transmission with rear-wheel drive. Fittingly, the van wears the same Antique Archaeology logo over white paint as their old Sprinter.

Jeep Moab Concepts, Rumors, And More | Autoblog Podcast #470

Episode #470 of the Autoblog Podcast is here. This week, Dan Roth, Chris Bruce, and Brandon Turkus talk about this year's concepts for the Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, rumors of a mid-engined Subaru sports car and the looming reveal of the next Impreza. We also cover more rumors of a simpler Acura NSX, and some other tidbits, including Ford's movie projector patent and the Opel Astra winning the European Car of the Year award. As always, we start with the Autoblog Garage and wrap up by answering your questions. Check out the rundown with times for topics, and thanks for listening! Autoblog Podcast #470 The video meant to be presented here is no longer available. Sorry for the inconvenience. Topics 2016 Easter Jeep Safari concepts Mid-Engine Subaru rumors Non-hybrid Acura NSX 2017 Subaru Impreza to be revealed at NYIAS Ford patents in-car movie projector Opel Astra is 2016 European Car of the Year In The Autoblog Garage 2016 Mercedes-Benz C450 AMG 2016 BMW X1 xDrive28i Hosts: Dan Roth, Chris Bruce, Brandon Turkus Rundown Intro and Garage – 00:00 Jeep Concepts - 21:57 Mid-Engine Subaru - 38:45 Acura NSX - 43:18 Subaru Impreza - 44:59 Ford Projector - 47:48 Astra ECOTY - 49:50 Q&A - 52:09 Total Duration: 58:11 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Feedback Email – Podcast at Autoblog dot com Review the show in iTunes Podcasts Acura Ford Jeep Subaru Opel easter jeep safari acura nsx type r

Ford hit by lawsuit over hybrid technology from, surprise, Paice

The name Paice will be familiar to anyone who's been deep in the weeds of hybrid history, but it will probably be new to anyone who simply drives one. The key part of the story is something called "HyperDrive," which is the name given to a gas-electric powertrain technology developed by Alex Severinsky and patented in 1994. HyperDrive is a way to get the energy from both the electric battery and the engine into the wheels, seamlessly. The patents are held by Paice, which is an unusual company (its HQ is a house in a retirement community, right by a golf course) that does nothing but litigate. You can read more on Paice here. The latest case targets Ford and the hybrid and plug-in versions of the C-Max and Fusion models as well as the Lincoln MKZ. Paice claims that it held "over 100 meetings and interactions with Ford" between 1999 and 2004, and gave the automaker, "detailed information about the hybrid technology that Paice had developed." The suit also alleges that: For more than five years, Paice answered inquiries from multiple departments within Ford, believing in good faith that a business relationship between Paice and Ford would be mutually beneficial and advance the acceptance of Paice's technology. ... After years of Ford learning the details of Paice's hybrid drivetrain technology, Ford elected not to enter into a business relationship with Paice. The suit is officially known as, "Paice LLC v. The Ford Motor Co., 14-492, U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland (Baltimore)" and you can read the PDF here. Ford told AutoblogGreen, "we do not comment on pending litigation." Toyota settled a similar patent-infringement case in 2010 and now pays Paice almost $100 for every hybrid it sells. Paice is still in court against Hyundai and Kia. In 2010, Ford also settled with Paice but they agreed to keep negotiating on other issues until at least January 1, 2014. With that date now in the past, it didn't take long for Paice to file papers to get the two sides back before a judge. That's where it appears to be most comfortable.