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A 1985 Ford Escort for $915,000? If it was owned by Princess Diana

What makes a used car worth more than the car itself? If it was owned by John Lennon. Or Muhammad Ali. Michael Schumacher, perhaps, or Stirling Moss. This year’s edition from the Hagerty organization of its “Power List” makes for amusing reading even if youÂ’re not on it. But you can make believe that you are. Essentially, the list, which was launched only last year, tracks the impact of celebrity ownership of a vehicle on its value, as measured by its worth at auction. Nearly 400 sales of celebrity cars and bikes have been analyzed from around the world by Hagerty using market data and “expert” analytics. Hagerty is aware, certainly, that famous folks — from royalty, sports, movies and music — grab gobs of attention from ordinary people. ThatÂ’s why the 2023 Power List comprises these categories: Art Cars, Racing Drivers, Movies and TV, Musicians, Royalty, Screen Stars, Sporting Icons. But you don't have to be a rock star or a F1 pilot to get listed: Princess Diana, besides an Escort Turbo RS that she owned between 1985 and 1988, numbered a convertible 1994 Audi 80 Cabriolet and a Jaguar XJS Cabriolet among her rides. HereÂ’s a look at some of the more notable entries: Racing driver category: In pole position was an unlikely titleholder, a 1976 Ford Bronco. This was the car bought new by legendary Canadian Formula 1 driver Gilles Villeneuve and untouched since his death; it sold at the Aguttes auction in Paris last December for $148,000, a huge 210% increase over the $47,800 that Hagerty would value a regular example in the same condition. Just a note: The list doesnÂ’t include race cars, only vehicles kept privately by the drivers. Musicians: A 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow had been Freddie MercuryÂ’s personal chauffeur-driven transport from 1979 until his death in 1991. Without celebrity ownership, Hagerty would value the Silver Shadow at a lowly $9,500, a car that would take a lot of time, effort and money to restore properly. But add in MercuryÂ’s aura and bids ended at $362,500. “ItÂ’s no surprise that MercuryÂ’s car dominated our Musicians list on the 2023 Hagerty Power List,” the company said. Movies and TV: For those readers now emerging from hibernation since 1968, the news is that the historic Highland Green Mustang from “Bullitt” remains at the top of the Power List for the second year running.

Ford to cease Australian automaking operations after 90 years

Ford began manufacturing cars in Australia in 1925 with the Model T. In 2016, Ford will stop manufacturing cars Down Under, including the Falcon and the Territory SUV. Ford Australia CEO Bob Graziano has reportedly confirmed the closure of the company's Broadmeadows assembly plant and the Geelong engine plant, both in the state of Victoria. There will be 650 jobs lost at Broadmeadows, 510 sacrificed at Geelong. Of the roughly 3,000 workers the Blue Oval has in Australia, it's said it will try to retain about 1,000 of them at its R&D and product development facilities.
The writing hasn't just been on the wall, it's been a regular item in all the papers and on Ford's bottom line for years. As recently as 2003, Ford sold nearly 75,000 Falcons, but over the next four years, annual sales dropped by something like 10,000 units, and over the last two years, it has sold less than 20,000 per year. It isn't only Ford that has suffered - sales of the other large, locally produced sedan, the Holden Commodore, have also gone over the precipice, triggering the same kind of angst about Holden's continued existence. Ford is the smallest of Australia's local automakers, Holden and Toyota the others, and has posted losses of $AUD141 million last year ($136M US) and $AUD600 million ($580M US) in the past five years. Graziano said the cost of manufacturing is simply too expensive in the country, twice as high as Europe and three times as high as Asia, and there no way to make a business case for staying in the country.
In January 2012, Ford Australia announced it would stay in the country until at least 2016, but by July of the same year, most outside observers were quietly declaring that 2016 would be the last year of Ford Down Under, and even the speculation was making other observers nervous. Ford received money from the Victorian government last year to aid its refresh of the Falcon and Territory, which will continue on schedule for the 2014 model year. A front- and all-wheel-drive sedan on a global platform is predicted to replace the Falcon, with some other SUV expected to replace the Territory. The company says it still intends to expand its lineup in the country.

How Chevy Silverado, GMC Sierra will take on the Ford F-150 profit machine

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — When General Motors engineers were developing the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks, some of them joined public tours of Ford's Dearborn, Mich., factory to watch aluminum-bodied F-Series trucks go down the assembly line. The redesign of the Ford F-Series trucks, launched in 2014, set a new standard for fuel economy and lightweight vehicle construction. But armed with stopwatches and trained eyes, the GM engineers believed they saw problems. "They had a real hard time getting those doors to fit," Tim Herrick, the executive chief engineer for GM truck programs, told Reuters. His team did more intelligence gathering. They bought and tore apart Ford F-Series doors sold as repair parts. Their conclusion: GM could cut weight in its trucks for a lower cost using doors made of a combination of aluminum and high-strength steel that could be thinner than standard steel, shaving off kilograms in the process. These pounds-and-pennies decisions will have major implications in the highest-stakes game going in Detroit: dominance in the world's most profitable vehicle market, the gasoline-fueled large pickup segment. What's more, GM is banking on strong sales of overhauled 2019 Silverados and GMC Sierras to fund its push into automated and electric vehicles — a business many investors see as the auto industry's long-term future. The risks are high given the hits automakers have taken from U.S. President Donald Trump's trade policies. Rising aluminum prices spurred by Trump's tariffs are driving up costs on the Ford's F-Series, while rising steel and aluminum prices likewise drag on GM results. GM also has a significant risk should the United States, Mexico and Canada fail to agree on a new NAFTA trade deal, given GM trucks built at its Silao, Mexico, factory could face a 25 percent tariff if NAFTA collapses. Major profit per truck Interviews with GM executives and a tour at its factory here in northwest Indiana provide a detailed look inside GM's plan for the most important vehicles in its global lineup. These big pickups are everything Tesla's Model 3 or Chevy's Bolt electric car is not. The mostly steel body is bolted to the truck's steel frame, rather than the one-piece body and frame electric vehicles. The majority of trucks will have a V-8 gasoline engine powering the rear wheels — like the classic GM cars of the 1950s. Some Silverados will have new four-cylinder engines, but there is no electric or hybrid offering as of now.