Handicap Wheelchair Van 2007 Ford E-250 Quadriplegic Driver Equipment on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Ex-PR chief Vines accuses Ford of bugging cars, phones

Jason Vines, former head of communications at Ford among other automakers, is accusing the Blue Oval of bugging his company phone and his car during the Firestone tire recall for the Explorer in 2001. The allegations have come to light in Vines' upcoming book What Did Jesus Drive? Crisis PR in Cars, Computers and Christianity.
According to The Detroit News, which has an advance copy of the book, Vines (pictured above) claims that after leaving the company, someone with security within Ford advised him that he had been bugged around the time of the recall. The allegations don't stop there, though. Vines further contends that he might not have been the only one to get this treatment, noting that then-general counsel John Rintamaki also believed he was being listened to.
According to The Detroit News, even if it had been a company phone, recording Vines without his knowledge still would have been a felony under Michigan law.

Ford is building this sweet back-to-basics SUV in Brazil

We're use to forbidden fruit teasing us in Europe. Hatchbacks and diesels from Renault, Citroën, Peugeot, Skoda, SEAT and Alfa Romeo have been a regular torment that we've grown accustomed to over the years. This vehicle, though, is one piece of forbidden fruit we aren't entirely sure we can get over. We need it.
It's called the Ford Troller T4, and if you accidentally read that as either "reborn Ford Bronco" or "Americanized Land Rover Defender," we wouldn't be rushing to correct you. It's a basic, badass SUV, and is the first new vehicle to come from Troller since Ford gobbled it up in 2007. For those with longer memories, you'll recognize this vehicle from the concept that preceded it, the Ford T-R Concept. The production model remains remarkably true to the T-R, as well as past Trollers, but it's a slightly more modern look overall, with LED taillights, contrasting colors
You'll have to bear with us on the details, as we've been forced to rely on the notoriously literal Google Translate to convert the original Portuguese into English, which means some of the details were lost along the way.

Lincoln recycling tree fibers into new MKX armrest

Want to hug a tree, or at least a really small part of one. Then set your arm down on one of those armrests in the 2014 Lincoln MKX crossover. The US automaker is working with Weyerhaeuser and Johnson Controls on a tree-based, cellulose-reinforced polypropylene material used in the component that connects the armrest to the floor console, Wards Auto says. With properties similar to plastic, the tree-based material replaces fiberglass and is about six percent lighter. No big deal for now, but if the material starts getting used for things like battery trays and interior storage covers, that loss in weight may eventually start adding up enough to boost fuel economy a bit, providing a green double bonus. Lincoln parent Ford, which isn't saying how much more (or less?) it costs to use the new material, established its Biomaterials and Plastics Research team in 2001. In 2007, the company began using soy-based foam in car seats used for models such as the Lincoln Navigator and Ford Mustang and has since broadened biomaterials use to components like floormats and cupholder inserts. Ford also used recycled plastic bottles from the 2012 North America International Auto Show for seats in the Focus Electric.