1966 Ford Fairlane 500 Convertible on 2040-cars

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Focus STs for SEMA include Lotus and Gulf liveries, rally-fied police car

Ford, as we mentioned on Saturday, is pulling out all the stops for November's SEMA show, bringing 57 vehicles to the Las Vegas event. Ford will be staggering the release of its SEMA flotilla, though, so expect to hear a lot about the new additions to the fleet in the weeks to come. We already showed you the Fiesta, Fiesta ST and Mustang models that made up the first batch of SEMA cars. Next up, we have a quartet of modded Focus STs joining Ford's SEMA roster.
Our first Focus ST (pictured above) sports the legendary livery of Gulf Racing. The orange-on-blue scheme, which Ford helped make famous at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, has been updated for 2013, with a more vibrant blue. This ST was built by Universal Technical Institute, while the exterior was done by Neil Tjin of Tjin Edition. Side exhausts, a Vortech supercharger and a Motiv Concepts high-flow cat allow the ST to breathe a bit easier, while Forgestar wheels contrast well with the iconic paint scheme.
Focus ST number two has been done-up by PM Lifestyle and is inspired by "Southern California car culture." Sporting a sleek, pale blue paint job, there's also no shortage of carbon fiber on the car's exterior. The 2.0-liter, turbocharged, four-cylinder engine has been massaged by the likes of Banks Power, COBB Tuning and Ford Racing, while the suspension is wearing a shiny, new set of coilovers and sway bars. The meaty brakes, tucked behind 19-inch, Rotiform wheels, come from Wilwood, while the cabin has been fitted with a pair of Sparco Chrono seats and five-point, Schroth harnesses.

Ford's first PHEV in Europe could be C-Max

Ford could start selling a plug-in hybrid in Europe pretty soon, according to at least one of its executives. Whether it's willing to do so is another story. But if the market perks up, so will the company. The automaker can "quickly" develop a plug-in hybrid version of its Mondeo, the sister car to the Ford Fusion, Automotive News Europe says, citing Ford executive Uli Koesters. The subject of Ford selling plug-in hybrids in Europe is more vital than ever since Volkswagen recently started selling its first PHEV (a Golf) there. VW will also debut a Passat PHEV next year. Koesters was less certain about whether there was sufficient European demand to warrant a production PHEV from Ford. Europe's biggest-selling plug-in hybrid through the first half of the year was the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. That model, according to JATO Dynamics, moved almost 9,000 units through June. Toyota sold almost 4,300 Prius Plug-in Hybrids in Europe during that time period. And we can't be sure Ford's first European PHEV will be the Modeo/Fusion, either. In fact, Ford's first plug-in hybrid for Europe is more likely to be the C-Max, John Gardiner, a Ford spokesman in Europe, told AutoblogGreen. He would only say that it would be sold "in selected markets soon," without being more specific. Ford's two PHEVs in the US have been selling well this year. Through September, sales of the Fusion Energi PHEV almost tripled to 9,323 units, while Ford C-Max Energi PHEV sales were up 51 percent to 6,486 units.

Jay Leno and Lee Iacocca reflect on 50 years of Ford Mustang

Lee Iacocca oversaw the birth of the Ford Mustang back in the 1960s, rocketing the new pony car nameplate into million-unit sales territory in its initial go-round and cementing its place in the history books. Thus, we were immediately drawn to this latest episode of Jay Leno's Garage, in which the funnyman hosts Iacocca for a look at the origins of Ford's most iconic sports car. The legendary auto exec is looking notably more frail than when we last saw him, but if we're being asked around as a video guest when we're 89 years old, we'll consider that evidence of a life well lived.
Serial No. 0001 is on hand for the occasion for Jay's romp through history, as is the historic Mustang 1 showcar from 1962. Of course, the all-new 2015 Ford Mustang GT (in prototype form) makes an appearance at the end of the episode with chief engineer Dave Pericak, as well. Get some, below.