1962 Galaxie 500xl Hardtop, 1 Of 1, 406 Tri Power With Automatic Trans! Rare! on 2040-cars

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Next-gen Ford Taurus spotted in China

We're getting our first look at the next-generation Ford Taurus thanks to some spy shooters in China. While the camouflage and angle of the photo keep changes to the body a secret, there's no hiding the massive hexagonal, chrome grille up front. It lends a look very similar to the Fusion. Beyond the eye-grabbing grille, the headlights are reshaped, but are still quite squinty. There's also a new lower air dam that runs the width of the front with LEDs at the top corners. The hexagonal grille fits the design of the Fusion well, but this single image makes it look a little too big and disproportionate for the fullsize Ford sedan. Maybe the integration works better from a different angle, though. The next-gen Taurus is rumored debut for the 2016 model year and reportedly rides on a stretched and widened version of the Fusion's platform. Ford's big goal for the new model is allegedly to shed as many pounds from the scales as possible. The sedan also may get a nine-speed automatic to boost fuel economy. The engine range is still a mystery, but EcoBoost options are practically a sure thing, possibly even making up the whole model lineup.

Shelby American cleans house of 14 concept cars

Typically when an automaker rolls out a concept car or pre-production prototype, it does its tour and then disappears into the company's archives. Maybe it will be displayed for the public to see in the company's own museum or maybe it will spend most of its time under covers in a warehouse somewhere, but every once in a while, an automaker will open up its history and start selling off its concept cars. For Shelby American, "once in a while" has just rolled around.
The House that Carroll Built is moving from its previous headquarters at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to a new facility off of the Las Vegas strip, and in the process is liquidating fourteen of the rarest cars in its collection. That presents a tremendous opportunity for muscle car collectors to bring one or more of these snakes home.
As you might expect, the catalog is composed mostly of Mustangs, but not exclusively. There's a pair of 289 Cobras: the last of the 50th anniversary slab-sided continuation cars and an original development vehicle, offered at $200,000 apiece. At the other end of the spectrum you'll find the 2013 Shelby Raptor concept for $125k and Focus concept for $50k. And of course there are the Mustangs.

How and why Ford is rolling out Vignale in Europe

We know that Ford is positioning the new, upscale Vignale brand in Europe to fill a niche market of customers who want a bit more luxury, a lot more service and the same reliability and dependability that a non-Vignale Ford offers. But so far, we've been in the dark regarding how the Blue Oval will sell Vignale vehicles, how many of them will be created, and what the new sub-brand has in store for the future.
Gaetano Thorel, Ford's European marketing head, recently was interviewed by Automotive News and shared details about Ford Vignale. Thorel says, "The Vignale trim line will be priced like an ST model but attract a completely different type of customer." Specifically, he says it will attract customers in the upper 15 percent of the price band who don't want a performance-oriented ST model. He adds that Vignale cars will be about 10 percent more expensive than Titanium-trim cars. About 500 of Ford's European dealers will sell Vignale Fords, Thorel says, "in areas that make sense." The automaker expects 10 percent of its European sales to be Vignale cars, which equates to about 5 percent of its global sales. When asked if there are any other Vignale models planned beyond the Mondeo, Thorel said, "There is nothing written in stone yet."