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Mustang-themed pinball game debuting in Chicago [w/video]

Believe it or not, but new pinball machines are still being made. Chicago-based Stern Pinball still makes them and has found a niche selling modern machines to individual buyers and arcade distributors. For its latest cabinet, Stern partnered with Ford to create a pinball game that pays homage to the 50th anniversary of the Mustang, including the next generation. The new machine is being unveiled at the Chicago Auto Show on February 6 and goes on sale in March.
Stern is offering the machine in three variants. The pro-level machine is meant for arcades and public spaces and retails for $4,995. All of them come with background and cabinet art by Camilo Pardo, who designed the Ford GT, and Top Gear USA host Tanner Foust is the game's announcer. Depending on where players shoot the ball, they activate events that simulate drag racing, rallying, drifting and racing the Mustang, and hitting targets lets players shift the gears up and down.
An upgraded, premium table with added art will be added later for pinball machine collectors. The third model is a signed, special edition with art of the 1965 Mustang and 2015 Mustang on the machine and chrome and Mustang badges on the speaker grilles. Prices for these editions will be announced later.

Mustang, Camaro, Challenger gallop onto USPS pony car postage stamp set

Some of America's most iconic cars are about to be immortalized on postage stamps. A new set by the U.S. Postal Service will celebrate the the golden era of pony cars, featuring five classic examples of Detroit iron. Each one is beautifully illustrated in oil-on-canvas style, with subjects in motion and sunlight glinting off the chrome, and would add a nice touch to any first-class letter. The pony car segment was all about (relatively) small, sporty alternatives to the full-size land yachts of the 1960s. They typically came equipped with 6-cylinder engines or small-block V8s. The category was named after the Ford Mustang, hence  the name. Some, though, argue that the Plymouth Barracuda, which was launched a couple of weeks before the Mustang, is the first. Luckily, the Falcon-based Mustang's distinct styling generated a sales sensation, or we might be calling them fish cars. Appropriately, one of the featured cars is a Mustang. But it's not just any Mustang. The 1969 Boss 302, seen here resplendent in Bright Yellow, was created for the hotly-contested SCCA Trans-Am racing series. One of its main rivals would have been the 1969 Chevy Camaro Z/28, also created specifically for the series, and is included in the set in Fathom Green. Representing Auburn Hills in the set is a 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T in Plum Crazy, while Southfield's American Motors gets a nod with an AMC Javelin in Big Bad Orange. The Mustang's platform cousin, a 1967 Mercury Cougar XR-7, is portrayed in a gorgeous Burgundy Poly that almost looks incomplete without Neko Case on the hood. It's not the first time the USPS has honored America's rich car culture on its stamps. In 2013, it issues a series of muscle car stamps with the help of Richard Petty. That set featured a 1966 Pontiac GTO, 1967 Shelby GT-500, 1970 Chevelle SS, 1970 Plymouth Hemi ’Cuda and, of course, a 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona. Another set in 2016 featured classic pickup trucks. Going further back, a 2008 release had chroed and finned automobiles of the 1950s and a 2005 release featured sporty American cars of the same era. The pony car stamps will debut on August 25 at the Great American Stamp Show in Sacramento, California in partnership with the American Philatelic Society. The public is free to attend the dedication ceremony, but you must RSVP first. After that, they will be available at local post offices and on line at the USPS store.

Ford C-Max Solar Energi takes a recharging station wherever it goes

Companies ranging in size from small startups to major automakers have been experimenting with solar-powered charging stations for EVs and plug-in hybrids. And, of course, people have been powering vehicles with onboard solar panels for quite some time, too. Still, Ford's new C-Max Solar Energi Concept shows the promise of a truly practical implementation of solar on a production vehicle, and it may not be as far off in the future as we had thought.
As we reported a few days ago, the Solar concept makes use of a "concentrator lens" that focuses sunlight onto the Ford's roof-mounted solar panels. The special lens follows the rays of the sun to maximize the amount of charge being fed to the batteries of the car, taking about a day to fully charge the 21-mile, all-electric range of the C-Max Energi. Ford data suggests that combination might be enough to power 75 percent of all trips made by a statistically average driver. In turn, using the sun to power a vehicle could reduce yearly C02 emissions by up to four metric tons when compared with the driver of an average gasoline-powered sedan.
We've got live images of the C-Max Solar Energi Concept, jauntily tilted on its display to best present it's signature solar panels, straight from the CES floor.