Classic 1930 Model A Ford on 2040-cars

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Ford and Chrysler reducing summer plant shutdowns

Most domestic automaker assembly plants traditionally take a couple of weeks off during the summer. The shutdowns give each plant time for much needed repairs and maintenance, and in some cases, help better align production with demand. Not this year, though, as demand for many models is outstripping what Ford, Chrysler and General Motors plants can produce.
Ford has announced that it will shorten its annual summer shutdown for most North American plants from two weeks to one. The shorter shutdown will increase the carmaker's annual North American production by 40,000 units on top of the 200,000 extra units that it was already planning to produce this year versus last. Automotive News reports that Ford produced 2.8 million vehicles on this continent in 2012, and that output this year has already increased 13 percent through April.
Chrysler, meanwhile, is also operating at full tilt and plans to run some plants through the summer with no shutdown at all. Those not getting a break include Jefferson North where the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango are assembled, Toledo North that will assemble the new Cherokee, and Conner Avenue, home of SRT Viper production. Other assembly plants will be down for a single week, while all of Chrysler's engine and transmission plants except one in Indiana will continue operating with no shutdown this summer.

Transit Courier completes Ford's new commercial van line, will we get it?

This week Ford rolled out the 2014 Transit Courier, the fourth addition to its Transit range. Ford says its the first time for the nameplate in the compact van segment.
"Ford has now completely transformed its commercial vehicle line-up, with four all-new, class-leading Transits for European customers," said Barb Samardzich, vice president of product development for Ford Europe. "With the all-new Transit range, we expect sales to grow to 400,000 units per year by 2016, well over 50 percent more than we sell today."
When the Courier goes on sale in the Spring of 2014, it will offer more than 1,400 pounds of payload capacity, multiple mounting points for racks or other framework and a rear cargo area that can carry items 5.3 feet-long. An optional folding passenger seat boosts the cargo length to 8.5 feet.

Ford brings FPV Falcon production in house [w/video]

For the first time since 1976, Ford of Australia is bringing the assembly of its stonking Ford Performance Vehicle line back in-house to the company's Broadmeadows and Geelong facilities. That's a point of pride for FPV, which builds high-performance versions of the Australian Falcon model like the F6, GS and the heroic GT seen here.
In the video below, we hear FPV employees talking in hushed tones about the important legacy that cars like the GT have for Australian gearheads of all stripes, and how proud they are to say that hand-built machines like this GT R-Spec with its Boss 355 engine are now rolling out of their home base. For our part, we're just dying to drive this version of the Coyote V8; the engine is rocking a "Miami" supercharger from Harrop and makes some 450 horsepower.
Continue on below for the video, or you can check out some images of the new FPV at the facility, as well as a gallery of the GT R-Spec car.