Moosetang

Not in the middle of a trade war they don't.

Yes the LMHs themselves are dedicated prototypes with a few "customer track cars" available. However the builder can offer a road-legal derivative if they want to put in the effort. So far only the Valkyrie range from Aston covers the whole spectrum from (limited) road car to track-only customer car to LMH, and it doesn't seem like anyone else is interested.

The Dakar truck's look would evolve to fit into road regs so I wouldn't get too hung up on its details. As a broad concept, a fun off-roader wrapped around a 5.0, I think it's exactly what's in store.

This will be a LMDh (LeMans Daytona hybrid) car not a LMH (LeMans Hypercar), so there would not be a road car equivalent. The former use some spec parts and chassis vendors while the latter are using mostly their own hardware and can have a road-going equivalent. It's possible there would be a GT road car in the same time frame, but it would have to be distinct from the LMDh car (unless Ford changes it mind and switches to LMH). Oddly I think we may see this used to launch the next Mustang. The Ford LMDh will be a Rear Wheel Drive V8 hybrid, maybe the 8th Gen 'stang will have something similar at the top of its lineup. Supposedly Red Bull Racing asked Ford if they wanted in on a Red Bull LMH based on their RB17, but there's not much synergy there since the V10 engine's got nothing to do with Ford and there's no hybrid system. Will be interesting to see if RB joins the Ford LMDh team as a sponsor, or if they still try for a LMH. If they modified RB17 to use a version of the hybrid drivetrain Ford is helping them develop for their F1 team, it would be pretty interesting.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Countries_driving_on_the_left_or_right.svg#/media/File:Countries_driving_on_the_left_or_right.svg

The gallery over on r6g shows that non-Wildtrack models have more vertical "fangs" than this. Looks like a conscious choice to emphasize the wide stance look of the Wildtrack.

Nice technical dive into the Hybrid's all-new Electric motor. https://www.motortrend.com/news/2022-ford-maverick-hybrid-motor-technology/

Better than I feared.

Ok fire the front designer and promote the rear designer, because that looks crisp.

Sadly, its not just the grills which bug me. The way the bumper/lower valence is high in the middle and droopy on the sides just irritates the hell out of me. The design puts the visual weight in all the wrong places, and fails to cohere with the rest of the front end. Last generation didn't have this problem, Ranger doesn't have this problem, Raptor and Bronco both look great, I don't know how the F-150 got cursed with it. Agreed on the interior, though, very nice.

I still really don't like the front clip on this generation F-150, but the Lightning definitely looks better than the non-Raptor gas trucks.

I really don't like the face. The rest looks pretty good, but man I'm just not getting there on the way the grille, headlights, and bar fit together. The old Ranger sketch that introduced this design direction I could take or leave, but the way these prototypes look actively bugs me. Hoping the final look has some of that "well it all works together" magic.

The folks from the Wheel Bearings podcast are pretty positive, and they have a special episode just on the Mach-E.

Amazing what a difference masks and contact tracing can make.

Autoextremist tomorrow will be 2,000 words worth of wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Clay model shot is interesting. I definitely prefer the finished product to this.

The styling definitely looks like it would fit in the Bronco family. But I guess we just have to wait and see.

Autoline interview with head of marketing for Bronco.

Looks bloody fantastic. I've had my disagreements with Ford design choices at times, but this one's already got a place in my heart.

Got no problem with Ford putting them in timeout for awhile. Not saying cut'em off forever, just make it plainly clear you expect better.

Overall, a good looking truck. But I just can't get there on the front. The pouty grill shape and huge headlight housings just don't work for me. Totally subjective, though, I'm sure plenty will love it. And I've been on the outside looking in since the 2-bar thing became the norm, so I clearly don't represent any large slice of the market.

Wall Street doesn't like the family control, the lack of aggressive union-bashing, and what they see as too much focus on the cars vs the profits. That likely never changes while Ford stays Ford (and modern Wall Street stays itself). So maybe it is time to do what once seemed like an oddball, fringe notion: have the family take the company private for a bit while it weathers this crisis and gets itself sorted so it can do so without needing to focus on dividends and beating quarterly profit forecasts.

I dearly love the Mach 2. Actually a bit surprised no kit car maker like Factory 5 ever made it a real thing.

Wasn't too long ago that certain fat radio hosts were screaming that the hole was a hoax and that it was our duty as Americans to use CFCs or some such. I swear, there would be pro-asbestos scarf and pro-lead fingerpaint websites today if there were any money in it.

Ford's wise to block Amarok in NA, the premium-trim truck models are a sorely-needed income stream and while VW's truck likely wouldn't be anywhere in the hunt for the segment sales crown it could absolutely take away a chunk of those premium sales. Ze Germans would have to put up quite an enticing deal to make that something Dearborn would agree to.