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Showing content with the highest reputation on 11/23/2019 in all areas

  1. Autoextremist has extreme opinions and positions, by definition. All of his writings bash some aspect of the automotive industry. Or some well known industry executive. Sometimes the bashing is fully justified, sometimes not (as with this week's column about Mustang Mach-E). Either way Autoextremist columns are fun to read.
    2 points
  2. 2 points
  3. Hi. I'm back. Got married between my last appearance & now. Me and Mrs. Jensen went to see the movie last night. And you know what? I never thought I'd find myself defending Lee Iacocca, but that movie just did *not* do him justice. Or Leo Beebe. I mean, criminy, one of the advantages all the Ford factory teams had at Le Mans was that all of them had Holman-Moody trained pit crews. And that was a Ford corporate (i.e. Leo Beebe) decision. But I have to say, the main reason why I went to see it was Christian Bale as Ken Miles. That was an absolutely inspired bit of casting. Little details were great. They nailed Enzo Ferrari--honestly, I think he was more spot on than Hank the Deuce. Sets were fantastic. Loved the lit up Esso "Oil Drop Man" south of the main grandstands. Because of all that attention to detail, it was a bit jarring when they used doctored up GT-40s for the J-Car and Mark IV, because I'd have to think that, as cheap as a fiberglass mockup would be for cars that didn't have to do much actual driving, they could've gone the extra mile. But you're talking what? One out of a thousand movie viewers that are going to catch that? It was also weird that they recreated Miles' Daytona GT-40 with an absolutely impressive attention to detail, yet Hansgen's car was way off. I mean, I can kind of understand why they'd do that. The whole point of the scene seems to be suggesting that Leo Beebe got Holman-Moody involved because he didn't trust Shelby, so it helps 'tell' that story if the GT-40s look very different. But during the actual race, Hansgen's GT-40 looked just like Miles'. In fact, I'm about 99.99% positive that the red stripes on Miles' car, the green stripes on Hansgen's, and Gurney's blue stripes (as well as the large circles applied to other cars) were done before the race because the cars were numbered sequentially in the 90s, were otherwise identical, and the bright colored patches would make them easier to identify. The colors were only applied on the infield sides of the cars. Of course, showing mostly identical cars would make it harder to believe that HM & Shelby were at odds with each other. It would almost look like HM & Shelby were part of a coordinated factory effort..... ? I was not expecting much from Matt Damon as Shelby--I figured he was too much of a real-life character for Hollywood, that they would've turned him into a caricature, but Damon's actually pretty restrained. And that scene where Carroll sells the same Cobra three times---I mean that, in a nutshell, was ol' Shel. He bit off more than he could chew with the Le Mans efforts, but there's no way on Earth Ford would have won at Le Mans without him. Ken Miles' death hit him hard too. Robert Lane met Shelby once, with a friend of his. Robert told his friend not to make a fool out of himself, and they had barely started talking when his friend said, 'What happened to Ken Miles?' and Shelby said, "The goddamn car just broke up on him" and turned around and walked away. Thoroughly enjoyed most of the movie. They went to such lengths to get certain things right, so I found the deliberate mischaracterizations (and outright bungling of facts, like Ken Miles being kept back from Le Mans in '65) jarring--kind of takes you out of the moment.
    2 points
  4. If the $40k Cybertruck version can be ordered via the tesla.com site without signing up additional products and services, it should be a winner. I'm going to wait until Rivian and Ford unveil their BEV pickup models before I consider placing a reservation for a Cybertruck.
    2 points
  5. First, if anybody like Bob R and 7Mary want to give a Ford truck bigwig a piece of their mind, then write to Len Deluca, Director, Ford Commercial Vehicles, 16800 Executive Plaza Drive, Regent Court Building 6N464, Dearborn MI, 48126. Found this address on a Ford truck magazine sent to current truck customers. Also, Work Truck magazine had a 4 page ad for Roush propane conversions showing all the Ford vehicles in which its offered, including stripped chassis, van, F-series and Bluebird Vision school buses usin the V10. It soon will be available in the F650 and Transit. It was an impressive ad. Also, a 5 page ad for Ram Commercial truck appeared. I read a few months ago that Marchione form Fiat was ramping up repair facilities at dealerships to accomodate the commercial truck customer. He offically announced the creation of Ram Commercial Truck this week I believe.
    1 point
  6. Sorry but you missed the point. Ford and its dealers function completely as sales operations but if Ford was hitting its reservations targets for the Mach-E they wouldn't have their Zone Managers out on the road at dealerships. Dealers can't do anything other than use Ford's reservation process for the Mach-E as there is no Mach-E Order Guide, Price List or WBDO (Web Based Dealer Order) availability for the vehicle.
    1 point
  7. Here is to hoping Elon names the Cybertruck as Model AF so this way, the entire Tesla line can be S 3 X Y AF......
    1 point
  8. I will be the first to admit that I think Ford interior design is lackluster across the board, and the Escape for me grows the gap wider. I don't really understand what is happening at Ford, but the Mach E and 2021 F-150 are promising turns IMO. I think allot of this is just waiting to get out of the Fields era. Ford is pretty good at the switchgear and tech bolt-ons which I think is where they prioritize their interior investment. The highway economy isn't so good on the Escape at 32 vs 37. I don't know, Ford has different priorities that don't always look good on the specs.
    1 point
  9. Mr. Prewitt's commentary is the most logical and sensible yet from a hardcore traditional Mustang enthusiast. I don't think anybody got to him. But rather Ford really did an "astounding job" (as Mr. Prewitt said) with Mustang Mach-E, including the decision to make it part of the growing Mustang family. It's great that Mr. Prewitt is thinking ahead about Mustang's future, not just on its past. Keeping the Mustang name alive and active in an automotive industry defined by electrification, autonomous vehicles, and mobility services is important not just for Ford, but for MCA too.
    1 point
  10. Was at the dealer recently getting an Aviator for my niece. Dealer saw my 18 Nav and asked if I’d be willing to trade it in for a 20. We did some preliminary numbers and it looks like my payment would drop a little if I do the deal (36 month lease on both vehicles, 20 has same feature set as I would be ordering it). Any thoughts? I’m perfectly happy with my 18. 14 months left on the lease. 20 seems largely the same as 18 and doesn’t have all the tech that the Aviator has, so maybe the 21 will. Doesn’t seem worth the hassle, but I’m thinking about it.
    1 point
  11. Sure, if you are driving it downhill for 600 miles with a tailwind
    1 point
  12. Pre-sales are kind of irrelevant when you’re limited in production by battery availability...
    1 point
  13. I'm going to see it Sunday morning
    1 point
  14. Never considered the fact that might be world wide pre-sales? I wouldn't get too caught up in the numbers game till December 2021 when its on the market for a year.
    1 point
  15. FINALLY!!! - Status: Sent to Plant; Primary Status: In Production PLUS!!! - The window sticker with EPA Ratings has also been released.
    1 point
  16. The Tesla Pickup will be recognized as the American vehicle that finally knocked the Pontiac Aztek and AMC Pacer out of their long standing 1st and 2nd place positions... that's my first impression. I just looked at it again and it's also my 2nd impression.
    1 point
  17. Ford is actually requiring dealers to put one in service specifically for that purpose.
    1 point
  18. I was optimistic when I saw the electric-crossover within the link. Then when I got to the Autoblog page, the subtitle read "It'll hit Europe and China next year." Looks like Toyota is giving U.S. BEV consumers and prospects the cold shoulder.
    1 point
  19. Meh, another converted ICE, barely counts.
    1 point
  20. Well... https://www.autoblog.com/2019/11/21/lexus-ux-300e-electric-crossover/
    1 point
  21. 1 point
  22. Please hang around, you're missed and arguing here might keep you out of arguments at home!
    1 point
  23. You're missing the point as usual. If he's undercutting the competition by $10K because he can afford to keep losing money, it's going to take sales and profit from all the other companies actually trying to stay in business. They'll either close up shop (Rivian) or stop selling BEVs. And that should concern any BEV fan.
    1 point
  24. You like how that thing looks? I'd have no problem reserving or ordering a product I haven't driven. But I'm not signing the dotted line without driving it first.
    1 point
  25. Not surprising. #hollywood Pulling into Guam today after 4.5 month deployment so hitting the theatre with the squad. Lot's of Ford fans here!
    1 point
  26. @RichardJensen is back?!??! It's a Festivus miracle!!!
    1 point
  27. I liken Elon with Tony Robins.....complete with cult like following...
    1 point
  28. I generally give Tesla credit for pushing the design envelope. Some good ideas, some not so good. But this looks like he took his kids drawing and said, "Yep, I'll design that". First thought when I saw this was: Second thought was: I don't think Ford can muck up the BEV F150 this bad. Even while being coked out after an all night bender.
    1 point
  29. A $500 commitment should hopefully mean fewer cancellations.
    1 point
  30. I hate the look in general, but GM seems to have one of if not the best implementation of the split headlight look.
    1 point
  31. Especially if you consider there are no cult followers involved. I'm guessing most prospective buyers want to drive one first.
    1 point
  32. Remember the year that Ford decided to kill its formerly top-selling car, the Taurus, with a redesign they were proud to say was all ovals and lacked a single straight line? This is ten times worse than that.
    1 point
  33. I forgot he actually said that but he meant pulling not towing, He really doesn’t know pickups.
    1 point
  34. That presentation was horrible, BTW. He made Jim Hackett look like an Oscar winner and the Mach E reveal look like a blockbuster.
    1 point
  35. I actually have a 2018 Raptor (late 2017 build) with 26k miles and a 2018 Navigator (late 2018 build) with 9k miles. No engine issues yet with either (knock on wood) but glad I sprung for a Ford PermiumCare extended warranty on both. I hope they get yours sorted quickly.
    1 point
  36. PDL is just pissed off that no one invites him to anything anymore, he's just not that influential anymore.... Mustang Mach E is mostly on Jim Farley so yeah, you can see Pete is really boiling mad...
    1 point
  37. Thanks, I was wondering about that. The Chassis Cab load capacity numbers seem to be considerably higher than the "pick up" version, even if you subtract 1000# for the box. HRG
    1 point
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