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Ford builds USAF Thunderbirds Edition Mustang for charity

Each year since 2008, Ford has created a one-off Mustang to celebrate military aviation, and the cars have been auctioned off at the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Gathering of Eagles charity event to raise money to inspire the next generation of aviators. This year's charity car is the 2014 Ford Mustang GT US Air Force Thunderbirds Edition, which also helps celebrate 60 years of Thunderbirds air show excellence.
Of all the EAA charity cars, this Thunderbirds Edition is the most in depth. Painted to match the F-16 Tomcat fighter jets used by Thunderbirds, this Mustang also gets a widebody kit and 22-inch Forgiato wheels to go with the cockpit's Recaro bucket seats, rear-seat delete and modified navigation screen and gauge cluster. Even the Mustang's projector puddle lights have been changed to show an aircraft silhouette - rather than the Mustang's galloping horse logo - when the doors are open.
Themes for previous EAA charity cars include the Blue Angels, SR-71 Blackbird and the Red Tails as well as the F-22 Raptor-inspired AV8R and AV-X10 "Dearborn Doll" models. Scroll down for the press release for the 2014 Ford Mustang GT US Air Force Thunderbirds Edition, and be sure to check out our galleries for all six aviation-themed Mustangs.

Uber releases fleet of self-driving vehicles to select few in Pittsburgh

Starting today, a select group of Uber users in Pittsburgh, PA will have the ability to request a self-driving vehicle. If a self-driving vehicle is in the area, Uber will send it, as well as a safety driver, to drive loyal customers to their destination. The announcement to give customers the opportunity to get a ride in one of Uber's self-driving vehicles comes roughly a year and a half after the company set up its Advanced Technologies Center in the city. On Tuesday, the company offered a few members of the press the opportunity to ride in one of the company's self-driving cars. The fleet, despite Uber's collaboration with Volvo, was comprised of 14 Ford Fusions equipped with a host of self-driving technology, reports TechCrunch. Uber is giving away free rides as a way to obtain real-world testing, which is crucial for self-driving technology. Recently, nuTonomoy beat Uber to the punch by launching the world's first autonomous taxis in Singapore. While the choice to release its self-driving cars in Pittsburgh mainly comes down to the fact that its ATC is located there, the city faces four seasons and its difficult streets that are comprised of bridges, railroad lines, and an irregular grid layout will prove to be a challenge for the autonomous cars. Since the self-driving vehicles are still being tested, the cars will come with two full-time Uber employees. One employee will loosely grasp the car's steering wheel, ready to take over if something goes awry, while the other will monitor the computer's software. As TechCrunch points out, Uber's autonomous vehicles drove in a similar manner to a regular driver. It obeyed traffic laws, mimicked a driver by coming to stops gently and at other times abruptly, as well as driving slightly into another lane to dodge a poorly-parked vehicle, reports TechCrunch. There's no word on whether regular Uber customers will get a ride in one of the company's Fusions or one of the Volvo's that its working on. Automakers and companies alike have been in a race to put autonomous vehicles on the road. Tesla recently updated its Autopilot system, Apple laid off dozens of employees to reboot its self-driving car project, and Google is working giving its autonomous vehicle the ability to detect emergency vehicles. While this is a large step for Uber, vehicles with autonomous capabilities still have a long way to go.

Ford issues four recalls covering 163k vehicles

Recalls! 2014 will be forever remembered as the year that automakers went recall crazy, with millions and millions of vehicles adding up to crush previous recall records well before the end of the year. Adding to that tally is Ford, which announced a call-back for 163,000 vehicles.
Leading that charge are the 2.0-liter, EcoBoost four-cylinder engines of the Ford Focus ST and Ford Escape. 160,000 of the 2013 and 2014 models have bad wiring harnesses that can disrupt the signals traveling to the powertrain control module. That, in turn, could lead to a check engine light, reduced power and stalling. Notably, Ford hasn't recalled any other vehicles that feature the 2.0 EcoBoost, such as the Fusion, Taurus or Explorer.
While the Focus ST and Escape constitute the vast majority of recalled vehicles, they aren't the only problem children in the Ford family. 1,300 Transit passenger vans from model year 2015 were recalled due to brake fluid leaks, while another 600 Transit cargo variants were recalled after Ford discovered the windowless sliding doors could come open in the event of a side-impact crash. Dealers will replace the sealing washers on the passenger variants and add a reinforcement plate on the cargo models, The Detroit News reports.