1955 Ford Thunderbird on 2040-cars

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Ford jumps back in the water with marinized 6.2L V8

Nameplates like the Mercury Mariner and Lincoln Navigator aside, Ford hasn't offered a marine engine in over two decades. But through a new partnership with one of the biggest names in the business, the Dearborn-based automaker is dipping its proverbial toes back in the water.
Announced yesterday at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, the new partnership between Ford Component Sales and Indmar Marine Engines will see the 6.2-liter V8 from the F-150 SVT Raptor and F-Series Super Duty marinized for use in boats.
The largest privately owned inboard gasoline marine engine manufacturer in the world, Indmar has been in the business for 43 years, and figures the Ford V8 will be just what watersport enthusiasts are looking for to tow waterskiers and wakeboarders to their hearts' content.

Ford's Explorer-based Police Interceptor to get 365-hp EcoBoost option

Speeders beware, the police are going to be getting quite a bit faster. Ford has just announced that it will be offering its 3.5-liter, twin-turbocharged, EcoBoost V6 in the Explorer Police Interceptor. The new engine will be joining the existing 3.7-liter V6. The 365-horsepower, 350-pound-foot mill should be familiar to consumers as the powerplant that's found in the Ford Taurus SHO (and its LEO equivalent, the Taurus Police Interceptor) and the Ford Explorer Sport. It should also provide quite a kick in the pants to officers used to the naturally aspirated 3.7 and its 304 ponies and 279 pound-feet of torque.
The move to the more potent powerplant was born out of all the equipment officers need to carry on a day-to-day basis. These days, there's so much stuff that police need on a regular basis, that there's a genuine market for a faster Police Interceptor Utility, as it's known officially. The Explorer-based cruiser has already accounted for 68 percent of Ford's LEO sales in 2013, and that's with just the 3.7, and we'd only expect that number to increase once the twin-turbo, 3.5-liter V6 is available. Ford won't offer up any indication of what the take rate will be on the new engine, but we're guessing it'll be fairly high.
The success of the Explorer PI couldn't have come at a better time for Ford. The decision to end Crown Victoria production was not a popular one with police, and combined with Chevrolet and Dodge diving into the LEO market feet first, Ford hasn't been performing as well as it's wanted to. The Explorer has been helping it turn around, though. And with the inclusion of the EcoBoost, Ford also has a legit competitor for the Chevrolet Tahoe on the big utility side of the police market.

Ford evaluating new Fiesta RS?

Word coming in from across the pond has it that Ford is working on developing the business case to create a new Fiesta RS. The development is encouraged by the extremely positive reception the existing Fiesta ST has garnered to date, and the emergence of the above-pictured Fiesta RS WRC rally car, but it'll take more than goodwill to make a more extreme version a reality.
According to Auto Express, a new roadgoing Fiesta RS would almost certainly be based closely on the ST version, albeit with some vital differences. Its 1.6-liter turbo four would be increased from 180 horsepower to somewhere around 230 hp, and that powertrain would be accompanied by lightweight alloys inside blistered wheel arches, a stripped-out interior and possibly lightweight bodywork.
The vehicle's approval would reportedly require a strong business case in Europe, and not just in the UK where Ford hot hatches traditionally enjoy a strong following. It's unclear whether the Fiesta RS would potentially make the transatlantic voyage to American showrooms, but between it and the larger Focus RS, hopefully the Blue Oval wouldn't leave its home market out of the action altogether.