1972 Ford Econoline Hi Top Iowa Hawkeye Tail Gater Camper Van !!!!!! on 2040-cars

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Bonhams to auction Carroll Shelby's prototypes and personal cars

Fans of Carroll Shelby will want to make their way to Greenwich, Conn., this June, because Bonhams will be selling a great many cars from the man's personal collection. And many of them are the first of their kind, marking important milestones in Shelby's career. One of those important cars is a 1982 Dodge Charger prototype, which might not look as impressive as a Cobra, but it was important in that it was the first car on which Shelby collaborated with Chrysler. That car led to the first Shelby Charger, as well as other special small Chryslers including the GLH Omnis and Chargers (GLH standing for "Goes Like Hell"). In fact, the first Charger GLH-S (Goes Like Hell S'more) is also part of this collection. There are even some prototypes up for auction that never resulted in a production car, such as a Shelby modified Dodge Ram. That one is probably our favorite: the gold ram hood ornament, the huge pentastar in the grille, the double-barrel truck horn on the roof. It's wonderful nonsense. Of course it isn't just Chryslers going up for sale. There are a couple of GT500 and GT350 Mustangs in the mix from a variety of years. Perhaps most interesting is the very first Shelby Series I, Shelby's ill-fated roadster designed from the ground-up by the Texan's company. Unlike the other early Series I models, Shelby's had a supercharger, which led to a supercharger option being offered later. You can check out the full list of cars below, and pictures of each one in the gallery at the top. The auction will happen on June 3, and every vehicle offered has no reserve, so they'll all be sold for whatever price is shown at the drop of the gavel. 1927 Ford Model T 1931 Ford Model A 1935 Chrysler Airflow Sedan 1955 DeSoto Hard Top 1966 Shelby GT350 Convertible 1967 Lincoln Continental Convertible 1968 Shelby GT350 1969 Shelby GT 500 previously owned by Jackie Cooper Jr. 1969 Shelby GT 500 1982 Shelby Charger Prototype 1983 De Tomaso Pantera 1983 Dodge/Shelby Pickup Concept 1987 DeTomaso GT5-S 1987 Dodge CSX Serial #1 1987 Shelby Charger GLH-S Serial #1 1987 Dodge Shelby Lancer Serial #1 1988 Dodge Shelby Dakota Prototype 1989 Dodge CSX VNT Serial #1 1965 Shelby Cobra 427 Continuation 1999 Shelby Series 1 Serial #1 2008 Shelby GT 500 KR 2011 Shelby GT 500 Super Snake Aurora Race Car Related Video: Featured Gallery Shelby Collection View 72 Photos Image Credit: Bonhams Chrysler Dodge Ford Auctions Performance Classics shelby

Ford UK exec says EVs are a good way to lose a fortune

Stateside, Ford execs are quick to point out the automaker's expansion in the plug-in sector. And despite a minimal presence in the pure EV space, the Blue Oval has been promoting its plug-in vehicles as part of an overall effort to boost fleetwide fuel economy. Too bad the company's UK chief didn't get the memo. There's "no point in us getting behind [EVs] and losing a fortune" - Ford's Mark Ovenden Mark Ovenden, speaking rather frankly at the Geneva Motor Show recently, said he didn't have real high hopes for substantial electric-vehicle adoption and said the company's money was better spent on smaller gas- and diesel-powered engines, the UK's Daily Mail says. Ovenden said of EV development that there was "no point in us getting behind it and losing a fortune," adding that his goal was to have variants of Ford's EcoBoost engine in 40 percent of the company's vehicles. Ford has about a 15-percent market share in the UK. The UK doesn't appear to be as kind to the EV as the US. Nissan last year cut the price of its all-electric Leaf there last year by about $4,000, while the company rolled out a promotion for the Leaf late last year, including allowing Leaf drivers to borrow a gas- or diesel-powered Nissan for free for as long as two weeks a year during the first three years of Leaf ownership. In the US, Ford sold just 229 Ford Focus Electrics during the first two months of the year after moving 1,738 units in 2013.

Which of these high-powered pickup classics would you choose?

High-performance pickups would appear to be having a moment on the auction site Bring a Trailer, with two tempting examples up for auction right now: a 1971 Ford Ranchero GT and a 1991 GMC Syclone. These trucks are a generation apart, but they each represent the peak muscle truck of their time. The Ranchero, of course, was Ford's car-based pickup, and Ford took advantage of its Torino roots by offering the same ultra-high-performance 429 Cobra Jet V8 in the Ranchero as it did in the Torino-branded coupes and convertibles. The 429 V8 in this truck is said to be numbers-matching, and it looks the business topped with an air scoop poking through the hood. It's paired with a three-speed automatic and a limited slip differential, reportedly one of only 82 1971-model Rancheros with this powertrain combo. As a Ranchero GT, this example sports hidden headlights, and the dual sport mirrors and vinyl top further establish its kinship with its passenger-car siblings. A set of factory Magnum 500 wheels and a respray in the original red add to the muscle-truck vibe. Two decades later, car-based pickups were dead, so when GMC decided to revive the muscle-truck genre it did so with the mid-size Sonoma. The resulting Syclone put a more modern spin on the fast-pickup idea (and on the spelling of "cyclone"). This hi-po hauler uses a 4.3-liter V6 topped with a Mitsubishi turbocharger that helped it make 280 horsepower. It's mated to a floor-shifted four-speed automatic and a Borg-Warner all-wheel-drive system with a 35/65 torque split. The Syclone was a one-year-only model, of which just under 3,000 were built. All were black with matching cloth seats with red accents. The only other '71 Ranchero to appear on BaT was a non-original GT with a 351ci V8 that was a no-sale at $7,900. This Ranchero is already nearly double that figure. Of the four previously Syclones that have crossed BaT's virtual auction block, two have sold, for $36,000 and $50,000, but both had lower miles than this truck. At this writing, these two trucks are neck-and-neck, both in the mid teens with both auctions set to end April 23. Which powerhouse pickup makes you want to put your money down? Featured Gallery Ford Ranchero and GMC Syclone Ford GMC Truck Classics