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Watch these videos of an NHRA racer's bodywork blowing off into a crowd

Just a few months ago, fan safety at racetracks was a hot topic following the last-lap NASCAR Nationwide Series crash at Daytona that sent large pieces of racecars into the grandstands injuring 33 fans. Now, a freak incident at a National Hot Rod Association event resulted in a drag racer's bodywork flying into the crowd at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte over the weekend. The carbon-fiber body of Robert Hight's Ford Mustang funny car blew off toward the end of a run when his engine exploded, but fortunately, the two fans evaluated after the incident were later released without serious injury.
As you can see in the image above, the body flew high into the air before landing on a walkway in front of the grandstands, a bit of happenstance that likely gave most fans enough time and space to move out of the way. Scroll down to watch a couple of videos showing what happened, including one from a fan's perspective that also reveals what appears to be part of the body's metal bracing landing dangerously close to the crowd.

Ford looks back on 50 years of the Mustang in Detroit

Ford has something special sitting in its booth here at the 2014 Detroit Auto Show. In fact, it brought two special somethings in the form of the Ford Mustang 1 Concept that first saw the light of day in 1962 and the very first production Mustang that rolled off the production line in 1964.
These classic creations are sharing floor space with the brand-new 2014 Mustang in honor of the pony car's 50th Anniversary. Since Ford's latest 'Stang already made its auto show debut (at a number of locations, including Los Angeles), we think it's pretty cool that the Blue Oval did something special for its home-town show.
Check out both the Mustang 1 Concept and first production 1964.5 Mustang above and below.

MotorWeek finds nice things to say about the 1993 Ford Probe

This latest in MotorWeek's series of Retro Reviews continues its recent trend of remembering the massive glut of sports coupes that hit the market in the '90s. While vehicles like the Mitsubishi 3000GT, Mazda RX-7, and Ford Mustang all enjoy solid reputations down to this day, the 1993 Ford Probe, well... doesn't. As you'll soon see, though, the show's opinion suggests the coupe's second generation isn't really all that bad. Turns out they just weren't particularly sporty. Ford and Mazda developed the Probe together, and the Japanese company supplied both the base 115-horsepower 2.0-liter four-cylinder and the 164-hp 2.5-liter V6 in the GT trim. The original's pseudo-angular look gave way to a much smoother shape for the second generation. Of course, pop-up headlights remained, which were a design hallmark for many of this era's sports coupes. After driving it, MotorWeek proclaims the Probe is "a winner" and considers the handling a "delight." That's not a big surprise, considering that in those days, a car had to be really bad not to get a decent review from Television's Original Automotive Magazine. However, the show hints at some of the reasons the coupe isn't so well remembered today. Even the GT reportedly suffers from soft springs and lots of understeer, which sounds like exactly the opposite anyone hoping to drive the coupe enthusiastically would want. To sum it all up, we're sure you're just as happy as we are that Ford went back on its initial plan to shelve the Mustang in favor of the front-drive Probe. Related Video: