1962 Ford Thunderbird 2 Dr. Hardtop on 2040-cars

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249 reasons you want to go to Goodwood Revival

At its most basic, Goodwood Revival is a long weekend worth of car races featuring cars made before 1970. There are lots of those, though, including some pretty great ones all over the world. But nothing is like Goodwood Revival because it's so much more than "just" vintage car racing.  First, you have to look the part. Attendees are strongly encouraged to dress in period clothing from the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, with a strict dress code enforced should you want to enter the paddock. The goal is to create a more authentic atmosphere to match the cars and the meticulously restored and recreated paddocks, grandstands and other facilities of the reborn Goodwood circuit. Now, the dress code was relaxed this year since the Saturday was literally the hottest Sept. 9 on record in that part of England, and the organizers didn't want people dropping dead because they needed to wear an ascot. Some people definitely took the "relaxed" bit too far, but there was still plenty of atmosphere maintained. It really does make a big difference, as those "relaxed" individuals were often akin to seeing a Starbucks cup in a scene from "Game of Thrones."  You can see what I came up with below along with former Autoblog editor Reese Counts and various other Goodwood attendees. Second, there's the parking lot. But I'll let this entire separate post detail that. Third, there's the enormous carnival-like area featuring vintage-looking rides and various boutiques. Both of those are on the outside portion of the track, and honestly, you could easily just spend your entire day in the parking lot and carnival/shopping area without even crossing over into the circuit area. There you'll find more shops, food and drink opportunities, plus obviously, race car paddocks and the track itself.  Fourth, there are airplanes! I heard there are fewer than in the past, but they're there and they're cool. The Goodwood circuit started out life as the perimeter road around the World War II airfield RAF Westhampnett.  Fifth, with all of the above, Goodwood Revival really is fun for the whole family. It isn't just a bunch of old guys sitting around in lawn chairs. There are plenty of women and adorably dressed children, including babies in vintage prams. It's also not an event that's exclusively for the uber rich, even if they are certainly in full force given who has the sort of money needed to go vintage racing.

Ford wants smart cruise that's speed and grade sensitive

Ford is working to make adaptive cruise control even smarter and more economical for future vehicles. The automaker now has a patent (pdf link) on a system to use information on the grade of the road, traffic data, and a driver's preferences to eke out better fuel mileage over a journey. This solution would essentially put a little hypermiling right into a model's software. The Blue Oval's patent refers to this tech as "route navigation with optimal speed profile," and the system starts by splitting the way to the driver's ultimate destination into many smaller pieces. Each one is analyzed based on GPS data, and traffic info is also constantly updated. Based on the occupants' preferred travel time, all this info is combined to figure out the most efficient speed for each leg of the journey. All of these calculations are actually more than the car's computers can handle, so some of the math is offloaded to a cloud-based network. According to Ford, some of the benefits come when tackling hills while diving. Maintaining a single speed when going up and down steep grades isn't the most efficient method, but current technology can't easily make the necessary adjustments. This system uses the GPS data to adapt the vehicle's speed and leave the situation with better fuel economy. Ford is currently making major investments into autonomous driving technology and has some prestigious partners. While the patent documents don't specifically mention the optimal speed profiles for driverless vehicles, they seem like a natural fit. Over the course of an entire trip, the fuel economy gains would likely be even greater than over a few miles on a relatively flat interstate.

RWD Lincolns are coming, fate depends partly on MKZ success

The product portfolio at Lincoln may seem a bit sparse at the moment, but if a report is to be believed, new products are on the way. TheDetroitBureau.com spoke with sources at Lincoln and Ford, who claimed the American premium brand is working on, perhaps more than one, rear-wheel-drive vehicle.
Lincoln would likely platform-share with the next-generation Ford Mustang to develop those RWD offerings in the early going. Moving forward, the report indicates that Lincoln could take the lead on other rear-drive projects in the future. As the RWD architecture continues to take shape, "most or all" of the front-wheel-drive portfolio will also be offered with all-wheel drive as an option, ala Audi.
But wait, there's more! The report also suggests that a replacement for the full-size MKS is on the way, as well as a new Navigator and a luxury crossover based on the current Ford Escape.