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Next Ford F-150 delayed for aluminum body panel issues?

The timetable for next-generation Ford F-150 may be in trouble if a report from The Truth About Cars is true. The next F-150 is slated to make extensive use of weight-saving aluminum in its body, but the aluminum alloy provided by suppliers hasn't met Ford's requirements in the earliest phases of pre-production, according to the report.
The F-150 represents a huge portion of Ford's profits and is the best-selling truck in the US, even in the face of increased pressure from cross-town rivals General Motors and Ram. While the current truck is treading water against its competition, we'd be lying if we said the F-150 weren't growing quite long in the tooth.
If production of the next-generation of the Ford cash cow, said to be based on the Atlas Concept from the 2013 Detroit Auto Show (pictured above), is delayed, it could be bad for Ford. Production at Ford's Dearborn Truck Plant is already set to be delayed six to ten weeks, missing an internal on-sale deadline of Memorial Day.

Ford 1.0L takes third-straight International Engine of the Year award

Ford's 1.0-liter EcoBoost is proving to be The Little Engine That Could, and it continues to acquit itself well, finding favor as one of the best powerplants in the world. To confirm it yet again, the tiny mill just won the International Engine of the Year award for the third year in a row, likewise also nabbing the title in the Sub 1.0-liter category.
Packing 123 horsepower and 148 pound-feet of torque with overboost (125 lb-ft normally), the tiny engine combines impressive power in a size small enough to be a carry-on item for a commercial flight. US buyers only got a taste of the award winner in the 2014 Fiesta, while the 1.0 EcoBoost has been available throughout the Ford lineup in Europe for a few years now. American sales have reportedly been strong, however, and next up in the US, the mill will find its way into the 2015 Focus.
The panel of 82 jury members from 34 countries also named the Mercedes-AMG 2.0-liter turbo found in the A45, CLA45 and GLA45 AMG models with 355 hp and 332 lb-ft as the best New Engine for 2014. The electric powertrain from Tesla won Green Engine prize, and the 4.5-liter V8 from the Ferrari 458 Italia took home the honor of top Performance Engine yet again. You can check out all the winners below, and scroll down further to read Ford's celebratory announcement of its award.

The 1965 Ford Mustang could have looked a lot different

The 1965 Ford Mustang is unquestionably an automotive design icon, and nearly every generation of Mustang has some connection to that original car. Because it's such a universally-known vehicle, we were amazed to see all the different designs that were being considered. Head of Ford's archives Ted Ryan recently shared photos of design proposals for the original Mustang on Twitter that he and Jamie Myler found, and we reached out to them to find out more. As Ryan initially noted, the photos were taken on August 19, 1962, and they are proposals for the Ford Mustang. Apparently Ford had committed to doing a Falcon-based youth-oriented car at this point, and it did have plans to launch the car in 1964 for the 1965 model year. But after having little success with early design proposals, the company asked all of its design studios — the Advanced Studio, Lincoln-Mercury Studio and Ford Studio — to submit proposals. With only about two years before the planned launch, Ford was understandably short on time, and it's believed that the studios only had a month to create and present these designs. Lincoln-Mercury design proposal View 8 Photos The majority of the designs, a total of five, came from the Advanced Studio, and part of this was because they already had a couple of concept designs in reserve it could present. Two other models representing three design possibilities came from Lincoln-Mercury, and just one model with two options came from Ford. The Advanced Studio proposals are shown in the gallery at the very top of this article, and the Lincoln-Mercury and Ford proposals are in the gallery directly above this paragraph. The Advanced Studio's most radical design is the one that was clearly related to the Mustang I concept that would be shown later that year with huge wraparound rear glass, turbine-inspired bumpers and enormous side scoops. The other proposals from the studio were more conservative, featuring simple lines, grilles reminiscent of the Falcon, and one even borrowing the jet-thruster-style taillights made famous on the Thunderbird. Lincoln-Mercury had some impressively bold designs, particularly its fastback that had buttresses to extend the shape all the way to the tail. This car had two different side trim possibilities. The other Lincoln-Mercury design was toned down a bit, but had two interesting possibilities for side detailing, as well as some crisp, low-profile tail fins.