1999 Ford Windstar on 2040-cars

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2013 Shelby 1000 unleashes its 1,200 horsepower ahead of NY show reveal

True story: Last fall, I had the opportunity to spend a week with Ford's new 2013 Shelby GT500 - the Blue Oval's factory Mustang with 662 horsepower and 631 pound-feet of torque. It's an amazing beast, to be sure. I'm not sure if it was Michigan's damp streets strewn with potholes and wet leaves, but at no point did I ever say to myself, "You know, Ford is on to a really good thing here, but what it really needs is about twice the power." And yet, for people in warmer climes with infrastructure in better nick - or for those whose muscle cars live their lives out on the track, there's apparently sufficient demand to warrant just such a beast.
Quick studies will recall that Shelby American launched its 1000 last year to commemorate its 50th anniversary, but it is returning to the New York Auto Show with a fresh version based on the 2013 GT500 I drove. The 2013 Shelby 1000 whips up 1,200 horsepower on pump gas thanks to beefed-up forced induction, engine internals and cooling. Wisely, it also incorporates an adjustable suspension and big brake package to make sure those ponies have the best chance being safely deployed to the ground.
What price the world's most powerful "production" muscle car? $154,995 for starters - donor GT500 not included. What, no convertible variant?

Ford and GM link bonus checks to quality scores

The poor first quarter earnings of Ford and General Motors are having an effect all the way up the food chain. Both automakers struggled with recalls in the first three months of the year, and, according to The Detroit News, they have responded by increasing the percentage of bonuses tied to vehicle quality for salaried workers, including top executives.
GM announced that 25 percent of bonuses (up from 10 percent) for all salaried workers would be tied to its vehicle quality standards. The automaker revealed in its financial report that it spent $1.3 billion on recall-related repairs in the first quarter, and net income was down 86 percent.
Ford also increased the quality proportion of bonuses for about 26,000 salaried workers all the way up to CEO Alan Mulally from 10 percent to 20 percent. The company announced in its report that the amount paid out in warranty and recall claims was about $400 million higher than expected in the first quarter. Its net income fell 39 percent from the previous year. "The change reflects how critical quality is to our overall business," said spokesperson Todd Nissen speaking to Autoblog.

Ford bondage ads reportedly trigger firings at Indian ad agency

You will probably remember the ads for the Ford Figo hatchback in India, the ones that showcased the extra large boot of the little hatchback by joking that you can fit three of your enemies in the trunk. One of the ads had Michael Schumacher in the front seat, obviously pleased about having Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso tied up in the back. But the other two had Paris Hilton and ex-Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi up front and three bound and gagged women in the back - in Hilton's case (shown above), it was the Kardashians.
This did not go over well, and Reuters reports that certain employees at JWT India have been fired over the matter. It is also reported that the images weren't actual advertisements, nor were they part of an actual campaign; JWT said they "were never intended for paid publication, were never requested by our Ford client." A JWT rep said the employees who created the ads did so on their own, Ford commented to Automotive News that the ads were "part of a creative exercise intended to test concepts for an advertising competition."
The problem, if the story is to be believed, is that the employees skipped the regular review protocols and uploaded their work to an ad industry site - they were found on Ads of the World. That page, like the employees, has been removed.