2006 Ford Ranger Xl Standard Cab Pickup 2-door 3.0l on 2040-cars

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Next-gen Ford Taurus spotted in China

We're getting our first look at the next-generation Ford Taurus thanks to some spy shooters in China. While the camouflage and angle of the photo keep changes to the body a secret, there's no hiding the massive hexagonal, chrome grille up front. It lends a look very similar to the Fusion. Beyond the eye-grabbing grille, the headlights are reshaped, but are still quite squinty. There's also a new lower air dam that runs the width of the front with LEDs at the top corners. The hexagonal grille fits the design of the Fusion well, but this single image makes it look a little too big and disproportionate for the fullsize Ford sedan. Maybe the integration works better from a different angle, though. The next-gen Taurus is rumored debut for the 2016 model year and reportedly rides on a stretched and widened version of the Fusion's platform. Ford's big goal for the new model is allegedly to shed as many pounds from the scales as possible. The sedan also may get a nine-speed automatic to boost fuel economy. The engine range is still a mystery, but EcoBoost options are practically a sure thing, possibly even making up the whole model lineup.

Ford cleans up painting process with cameras

Knowing how the bacon gets made rarely entices us and, in the same vein, the same usually goes for knowing about how new cars get painted. But in both instances, however, quality - or a lack thereof - is instantly obvious. In terms of the latter, Ford is showing off its new paint quality process with 3D Dirt Detection Technology to find imperfections in vehicle paint more easily and more quickly.
This process - being performed on the F-150 SVT Raptor above - uses 16 computer-controlled cameras to create a three-dimensional model (inset) of the vehicle to detect flaws in the paint including dirt particles, which can then be buffed out manually. Ford says this new technology cuts down on time spent looking for paint flaws and gives workers more time to correct those that are discovered.
Currently, Ford only uses its 3D Dirt Detection Technology system at three factories (the Dearborn, MI facility, along with those in Louisville, Kentucky and Valencia, Spain), but it will soon spread to five more plants in North America. Ford has released a video and press release for this innovative and unexpectedly interesting process, both of which are posted below.

Ford to rebrand SVT as 999?

Ford operates a number of performance divisions around the world. There's SVT in the US, Team RS in Europe and Ford Performance Vehicles (FPV) in Australia. But the Blue Oval has been steadily integrating its performance operations into one unit, and here we might have our first indication of what it will be called.
A reader at Jalopnik sent in a survey in which respondents were asked to gauge the name for a new performance brand from a "major automotive manufacturer," and while the identity of that automaker was not disclosed, according to the survey, the automaker is considering the name 999 for its new go-fast unit.
As our compatriots point out, the 999 was Ford's first racecar, a rudimentary chassis with a 19-liter inline-four campaigned by Henry Ford around the turn of the 20th century. (Ford also used the number to designate a Fusion fuel-cell racer a few years back.) That could prove the tie-in Dearborn is looking for in rebranding its performance operations worldwide, replacing the letters SVT, RS and FPV globally under one name.