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Fitting Retirement: Grand Marquis last Mercury off the line

The signs have come down and retail production ended back in October of 2010. Now, the very last Mercury model has rolled off the assembly line. This last Mercury somewhat fittingly takes the form of a Grand Marquis reporting for fleet duty. It was built at the St. Thomas plant in Ontario, Canada, which is the same facility that continues to produce the Ford Crown Victoria and Lincoln Town Car for fleet and livery duty.
St. Thomas' days are numbered, however, as the factory is slated to close on August 31. When it goes, the Panther platform is likely to follow. So long, and thanks for all the fish memories.
[Source: Autoweek]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Ford, Petty's Garage to build limited-edition Mustang GT from SEMA Show

The customized vehicles on display at the annual SEMA Show are often just there to exhibit a company's wares. They are more an illustration of what's possible by picking the right bits out of a catalog, rather than a model available in complete form. Ford and Petty's Garage are doing something a little different, though, by putting a very limited run of the tuner's supercharged Mustang GTs up for order through Blue Oval dealers. The Petty's Garage Mustang GT made its debut with a host of other modded 'Stangs at the 2014 SEMA Show. It featured a blue-and-black two-tone paint job and a supercharged version of the pony car's V8 under the hood. Just 143 of them are now being offered to customers – 100 in Stage 1 trim and 43 in Stage 2 form. At a starting price of $62,210, Stage 1 buyers get the aggressive body kit from the show car, including a center-exit exhaust at the rear, trunk lip spoiler and a set of 20-inch wheels. Although the real meat of the setup is a supercharger, cold air intake and retuned engine calibration also help take the output up to 627 horsepower. Inside, customers get "The King" Richard Petty's signature on the dashboard. Shelling out $92,210 for the Stage 2 version adds bigger brakes from Wilwood, HRE three-piece wheels and the two-tone paint job from the SEMA show car. The boosted Mustangs can be ordered from Ford dealers, but at least one of the Stage 2 versions is already sold. Rocker and car enthusiast Brian Johnson of AC/DC bought the first one. FORD AND PETTY'S GARAGE TEAM UP TO BUILD LIMITED-EDITION MUSTANG GT Ford dealerships to offer 143 limited-edition Petty's Garage-tuned Mustang GTs; a Stage 1 version and an even more exclusive Stage 2 version will be available All Petty's Garage Mustang GTs feature Ford Racing/Roush supercharger boosting output to 627 horsepower*, as well as unique exterior and interior treatments including Richard Petty's signature on the dashboard AC/DC's Brian Johnson ordered the first Petty's Garage Stage 2 Mustang GT – the rock 'n' roll legend's first-ever domestic vehicle purchase DEARBORN, Mich., Feb. 19, 2015 – Ford Motor Company and Petty's Garage are teaming up to build a new 627-horsepower* Mustang GT – a limited-edition fastback inspired by the popular Petty's Garage Mustang GT on display at last year's SEMA show in Las Vegas. "We received a tremendous amount of positive feedback about our Petty's Garage Mustang GT displayed at the SEMA show," said Jeff Whaley, Petty's Garage COO.

Fields 'required' to use private aircraft, could make $5.25M as Ford CEO this year

Mark Fields' travels on the friendly skies will soon be a relatively personal affair, as the new CEO at Ford will be required to resume air travel via the company's private planes. Fields caught plenty of flak in 2007 for flying on the company's dime to visit his family in Florida. He's since flown commercial.
According to Ford spokesperson Susan Krusel, who spoke to Bloomberg, Fields (pictured above right, with Bill Ford, Jr. at center and Alan Mulally at left) will switch to private travel "for safety and to maximize his availability for company business." In addition to his new travel arrangements, the 53-year-old exec's salary and bonuses have been revealed.
Regulatory filings by Ford revealed that Fields, whose first day in the big chair was July 1, will receive a base salary this year of $1.25 million and he'll be eligible for $3.5 million in bonuses, both of which are lower than Alan Mulally's $2 million salary and $5.88 million in bonuses received last year. That's also lower than General Motors CEO Mary Barra's alleged $1.6-million salary and considerably less than Sergio Marchionne's $3.19-million fixed salary from Fiat. Despite falling short of other CEOs, Fields' new pay still represents a 33-percent increase over his pay as Chief Operating Officer.