1966 Ford Thunderbird Base Convertible 2-door 6.4l on 2040-cars

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Ford going bonkers at SEMA with 57 showcars

Ford always shows up in force at the SEMA Show, but this year's tally of 57 custom-tuned cars, trucks and vans is more than we can ever recall the Blue Oval bringing. Ford will introduce 28 of its project vehicles in its "Dreamcase" ahead of next month's show. The first batch of eight you'll find here with the remaining vehicles trickling into public view over the next couple of weeks.
This first group of cars includes a Fiesta, four Fiesta ST hatchbacks and a trio of Mustang show cars styled and tuned to varying degrees all by different aftermarket companies. Tanner Foust, Nitto Tire, 3dCarbon and Ice Nine Group are some of the more familiar names affixed to these cars. Our favorite so far is the Hollywood Hot Rods Mustang convertible (shown above) with its removable aluminum top and methanol-injected, 750-horsepower 5.0-liter V8.
Scroll down for all the details on these Fiestas and Mustangs, and stay tuned for more info on Ford's SEMA line, which will include custom versions of the Focus ST, Fusion, Transit Connect, F-150 and Super Duty.

Ford car-camo artist works his craft on Australia's new Falcon XR8

Ford is among the kings of concealment when it comes to test cars. On one recent Mustang SVT mule, the automaker went to the extreme of putting baffles over the exhausts to hide how many there were. Sounds like a lot of work, right? In a new video, the Blue Oval has decided to take fans behind the scenes to show them what it takes to camouflage a prototype. In this case the subject was the recently unveiled 2014 Falcon XR8 for Australia.
Ford's prototype build coordinator Down Under has the very appropriate name of Neil Trickey, and it's his job to obfuscate the important bits of test cars to keep them out of spy shooters' camera lenses. Trickey calls his job a "dark art," and he shows off some of the tricks of his trade in the video. It turns out that the fabric we often see on mules is a type of lycra, but his team isn't above getting out a can of spray paint to conceal parts, too.
Scroll down to watch a video about a man who you probably wish could be a little worse at his job.

How Ford secretly used customers to test its aluminum F-150 [w/video]

Automakers getting clever about disguising development vehicles isn't anything new. Between mules wearing the sheetmetal of other cars and prototypes decked out in as much camouflage as is practical, automakers know how to make it very difficult for the general public to get an exact idea of what kind of vehicle is in development. Ford, though, is rapidly becoming the master.
We knew that the Blue Oval originally tested the durability of the aluminum construction being used for the 2015 F-150 by building an all-aluminum 2014 truck and entering it in the Baja 1000 off-road race. That's no longer a secret. What we didn't know, though, is that the aluminum development dates back to before even that, and that some of the people in question had no idea what it was they were working with.
Ford says this is the first time prototypes have ever been handed over to the public.