1990 Ford Mustang Lx Convertible 2.3l Nice Car Runs/drives Very Good Power Top on 2040-cars

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Junkyard Gem: 1993 Mercury Topaz GS Sedan

As long as the Mercury brand existed — a period spanning the 1939 through 2011 model years — nearly every Mercury sold in the United States was more or less a redecorated Ford model. The Torino had its Montego sibling, the Crown Victoria had the Grand Marquis, the Cougar was based on everything from the Mustang to the Mondeo, and so on. Naturally, when the folks in Dearborn developed the Ford Tempo compact, a Mercury version had to be created. This was the Topaz, with the official launch of both cars taking place on the deck of the aircraft carrier often referred to as the USS Decrepit. You can't make this stuff up! The Tempo/Topaz, also known as the Tempaz, has largely faded from our collective automotive memory by now, since it broke no significant new engineering or styling ground (this story would be much different if Ford had only put the amazing straight-eight "T-Drive" Tempaz powertrain into production) and didn't have any endearing features other than being a cheap domestic competitor to the Toyota Corolla and Nissan Sentra. Still, close to 3 million Tempazes left North American Ford and Lincoln-Mercury showrooms during the 1984-1994 period. As you'd expect, most of these disposable cars disappeared from both the street and the car graveyard long ago. It takes a very special Tempaz for me to break out my camera while I'm patrolling my local wrecking yards; generally, this means an ultra-rare all-wheel-drive version or at least a very early model in super-clean condition. Today's Junkyard Gem is neither, but I took one look at this spectacular Bordello Red crypto-velour-and-slippery-plastic interior and recognized that this was no ordinary junkyard Mercury. It appears that Mercury had dropped the idea of clever names for base-grade seat fabrics by the time of the Topaz, referring to this stuff as just "cloth" in all the brochures I could find. That's too bad, because Mercurys had cool names for upholstery (e.g., Chromatex) in the old days. The interior is in very good condition but the steering wheel shows substantial wear, so I think this is a high-mile Topaz that got meticulous care from its owner or owners. Ford used five-digit odometers on these cars until the end of production, however, so we'll never know if this reading indicates 65,404 miles or 365,404 miles. The body is very straight, but there's some nasty corrosion behind the right front wheelwell.

2015 Fisker-Galpin Rocket Quick Spin [w/video]

There is no shortage of fast Mustangs these days. Roush and Saleen will tune your ordinary 'Stang into something really special. Ford itself offers hot coupes like the new Shelby GT350. Don't even get me started on the endless aftermarket catalogs full of bolt-on whats-its and performance upgrades. Standing out within the huge crowd of tuned Mustangs is hard to do. But you'll definitely notice this one. "I always wanted to do a Mustang," Henrik Fisker told me as we walked toward his latest creation, the Rocket, parked outside the Inn at Spanish Bay in Pebble Beach, CA. The man knows a thing or two about design, after all. He penned the BMW Z8, as well as the Aston Martin DB9 and V8 Vantage. But this Rocket is, well, ugly. The rear end isn't totally terrible, and those 21-inch wheels are sort of cool, but taken as a whole, it looks like it swallowed something it doesn't like the taste of. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder – or perhaps, the creator – so we'll let Mr. Fisker explain why the car looks the way it does. See the video below for his brief design walkaround. If you can get past the looks, there's a world of performance to unleash, thanks to the boys at Galpin Auto Sports – the same folks responsible for the GTR1 I drove last year. The Mustang's 5.0-liter V8 gets a 2.9-liter Whipple supercharger that improves output to 725 horsepower (the torque figure isn't available), and the car's suspension has been thoroughly reworked to help put all that grunt to the ground. It's very good, yet very familiar. Let me explain. Driving Notes Like the stock Mustang, it's really easy to drive. The car fires up with a growl, you move the shifter into first gear, and the action of engagement is as solid as it is in the normal 5.0-liter car. Both the clutch and throttle have a progressive action, so it's super easy to launch the Rocket (sorry). Once you get going, there's a ton of power to unleash. It doesn't smack you in the face right up front, though – the power delivery is smooth and linear. Easy to manage, too, thanks to that slick six-speed manual transmission. Credit Ford (and Getrag) for making a manual that's able to handle so much extra grunt. That said, the Rocket feels like your typical fast Mustang. It goes like hell in a straight line and there isn't a ton of steering feel. Galpin retuned the electronic power-assisted steering, but it's still too light considering the added power of the car.

Ford opens 88 new dealerships in China in a single day

"Ford opened 88 dealerships in China last year." "Ford opened 88 dealerships in China during the first half of 2014." "Ford opened 88 dealerships in China last month." None of those statements - even the last one - would seem unbelievable. Saying "Ford opened up 88 dealerships in China last Thursday," though, is a bit more dramatic.
Yes, on June 19 alone, Ford opened the doors on nearly 100 showrooms in the People's Republic, boosting the Blue Oval's total presence in the country to 750 dealerships. Of course, while an overabundance of dealers in the US proved troublesome for American manufacturers back in 2008 and 2009, there's no such concern in China. Considering the country's huge population and the breakneck pace of the local auto industry, you could be forgiven for being surprised Ford only has 750 outlets at this stage.
What's notable about this most recent push, besides the sheer volume of new stores, is their location. Over three-quarters of the new dealerships are in so-called Tier 4 cities, which are smaller towns that still contain millions of people. This fits with Ford's strategy in China of avoiding the bigger battlegrounds that are already dominated by competitors and focusing on setting up shop in newer markets that may have been overlooked, according to Automotive News.