1919 Model T Police Truck

Cruiser news

Ford Motor Company let it be known today that it was developing plans for an all-new Ford Police Interceptor while reaffirming its commitment to the “police and municipal vehicles businesses.”

Earlier this month, on October 5th, we at LotPro.com had reported that General Motors, in anticipation of the demise of the Ford Crown Vic (the current segment leader with 45,000 sold out of the 60,000 units sold per year or 75% of the market), announced that they would be bringing to market an all-new Chevy Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle (PPV).

Current Crown Victoria Police Cruiser

Ford Police Interceptor

Working in conjunction with the company’s Police Advisory Board, which has provided input, during the past 14 months, on many key target areas, the new Police Interceptor will begin production just as the last Crown Victoria rolls off the assembly line.

“We have heard the repeated requests from the law enforcement community to continue uninterrupted support of the law enforcement community,” said Mark Fields, Ford’s president of The Americas.  “Ford is answering the call with the new Police Interceptor – engineered and built in America.”

“Ford’s commitment to the law enforcement community produced the Crown Victoria, the benchmark police vehicle,” said Lt. Brian Moran, fleet manager, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and a member of Ford’s Police Advisory Board.  “This commitment has continued, and Ford has been working closely with the Police Advisory Board on developing the new Police Interceptor. I am confident that the next-generation Ford police vehicle will meet the future needs of the law enforcement community and will set the new standard.”

Ford Interceptor Concept

No details

Although the Glass House does not plan on revealing details of its latest crime fighter until sometime in the first quarter of 2010 (just in time for law enforcement agencies, aftermarket manufacturers and upfitters to develop transition plans from the Crown Vic), the announcement is clearly timed to encourage those same agencies to put off making the decision to switch to the Chevy PPV until they’ve had a chance to check out Ford’s latest and greatest.

“Ford long has supported our public servants with vehicles that work as hard as they do,” said Ken Czubay, Ford vice president, Marketing, Sales and Service.  “We intend to build on this legacy with a new generation of municipal and police vehicles that set even higher standards.”

With very little information to go on, we at LotPro.com can only hope that the new Police Interceptor more closely resembles the 2006 Ford Interceptor Concept than that of the Focus-based Interceptor used in Italy.

Italian Focus Interceptor

Airbags to the right of them, airbags to the left of them, airbags in the back seat! Last week Ford Motor Company announced that it would be bringing to market the auto industry’s first inflatable seat belts that bring together the attributes of a traditional seat belt and an air bag to provide a new level of safety protection to rear seat passengers.

Designed to reduce head, neck and chest injuries for rear seat passengers, the belts will first find their way to the next-generation Ford Explorer, which will go into production next year for the North American market.

“Ford’s rear inflatable seat belt technology will enhance safety for rear-seat passengers of all ages, especially for young children who are more vulnerable in crashes,” said Sue Cischke, Ford group vice president of Sustainability, Environmental and Safety Engineering.  “This is another unique family technology that builds on our safety leadership, including the most top safety ratings of any automaker.”

According to Ford, more than 90 percent of those who tested the belts found them either similar to, or more comfortable than, traditional seat belts and Ford is hoping that this comfort factor will improve the current 61 percent usage in the U.S.

Sue Cischke

Not just for dummies

Here’s how the new belts will work: In the event of a frontal or side crash, vehicle sensors will determine the severity of the collision and deploy each individual belt’s air bag using a cold compressed gas (as opposed to a heat-generating chemical reaction used by traditional air bags) which reaches the bag via a specially-designed buckle from a cylinder that is housed below the rear seat.

As it fills with air, the accordion-folded bag breaks through the belt fabric and expands sideways across the bodies of rear-seat passengers in, according to Ford, the amount of time it takes a vehicle traveling at highway speeds to cover a yard of distance.

Once inflated, the belt will distribute and dissipate the energy associated with a crash across five times more of the occupant’s upper body, reducing the risk of injury while providing additional support to both the head and neck.

“It’s a very simple and logical system, but it required extensive trial and error and testing over several years to prove out the technology and ensure precise reliable performance in a crash situation,” said Srini Sundararajan, safety technical leader for Ford research and advance engineering.

More than cars

At LotPro.com we recognize the fact that, while they’re fun, there are many more important things in life than just cars. And, having had a grandmother die from it, a mother suffer from it and a sister-in-law become a survivor of it, right at the top of that list for me would be finding a cure for breast cancer.

Last week, Ford Motor Company closed out October, which is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, by reaffirming its support of Susan G. Komen for the Cure® , to which, over the past 15 years, it has dedicated more than $100 million, by illuminating its “Glass House” world headquarters in pink on Monday, October 26th  and Tuesday, October 27th.

Warriors in Pink

Ford created its Warriors in Pink campaign to, according to the company, “recognize the strength and courage it takes to deal with the everyday challenges of fighting breast cancer 365 days a year.”

Mark Fields, President of the Americas, Ford Motor Company, spoke about the program just before Monday’s lighting ceremony in Dearborn.  “With the Ford Warriors in Pink program, we continually strive to encourage women and men everywhere to join the fight and be a part of the cure for breast cancer. For 15 years, Ford has been committed to fighting breast cancer, standing up for the cause no matter the month. Tonight’s ceremony is designed to show our support for all those affected by the disease.”

How you can help

In addition to raising awareness of breast cancer, Ford is offering 2 ways that customers can support the Warriors in Pink campaign:

•    Limited edition Ford Warriors in Pink apparel is sold exclusively at www.fordcares.com, and 100 percent of the net proceeds directly benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

•    When you test-drive a Ford vehicle from now until December 31, 2009, Ford will donate $20 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure® on your behalf – to the Komen Affiliate in the city of your choice.

At LotPro.com we see where Ford Motor Company will be celebrating this year’s SEMA show, scheduled to run from November 3rd until November 6th in Viva Las Vegas, Nevada, by introducing the first rear-wheel-drive application of the 3.5-liter twin-turbo EcoBoost V-6.

Delivering an estimated 400 horsepower and 400 lb.-ft. of torque, the company’s latest application of its EcoBoost technology sets out to disprove the long-held belief that “There’s no replacement for displacement.”

“EcoBoost technology shows that there is a viable replacement for displacement,” said Dan Kapp, director of Ford Powertrain Research and Advanced Engineering, who will be part of a SEMA “Driving Green” technology briefing panel discussion during the show. “As consumers’ demand for fuel efficiency continues to grow, and our commitment to delivering best-in-class fuel economy remains steadfast, it’s important to show that performance does not need to suffer as a result.”

“Hot rod builds provide blank canvases for SEMA member companies and SEMA is uniquely positioned to demonstrate that horsepower and green power can coexist without sacrificing performance or the cool factor,” said John Waraniak, SEMA vice president of Vehicle Technology. “This ‘34 EcoBoost hot rod is a fantastic example of modern green technology being applied in a manner that any performance enthusiast would love.”

Australian Ford Falcon

The next application

Sometime next year, the first production rear-wheel-drive application of EcoBoost technology will appear on a more mundane but hardly less important platform, the Ford F-150. Further down the timeline, the next application of rear-wheel-drive EcoBoost technology will be in the guise of a 2.0-liter I-4, which will be offered in the company’s Australian-market Falcon sedan sometime in 2011.

’34 Ford

Built in collaboration with Detroit Street Rods, the rear-wheel-drive configuration that will displayed at SEMA includes the aforementioned 3.5-liter V-6 coupled with a Tremec five-speed manual tranny. The stock Honeywell turbochargers were repackaged to fit in the engine bay of the all-steel replica body, while the entire system dyno tested by Ford Powertrain. In addition to the production engine, the fuel pump, ECM, fuel pump module and processor as well as drive-by-wire throttle were all production units.

The body is from Steve’s Auto Restoration and both the body and fenders are from brand-new tooling that was designed, stamped and manufactured by Experi-metal in Sterling Heights, Michigan. The all-steel replica also features full fenders, running boards, electronic power windows, air conditioning and custom bumpers.

Genesis. No, we’re not talking about the British rock group that made Phil Collins a household name. Here, we’re talking about the word’s meaning as in “beginning” or “roots”.

In this case, as many of us at LotPro.com will attest, the genesis for one of the most successful racing classes in motorsports history. Formula Ford, was created in the U.K. in 1967. Although many of the earliest races were contested using the 1500 cc Ford Cortina engine (from the GT), racers quickly gravitated to the 1600 cc ‘Kent’ engine, which enjoyed a long and storied career until it was replaced in 1993 by the 1800 cc 16-valve Zetec. Since that time, between 5,000 and 7,000 drivers competing in Kent-engined race cars around the world have been finding it increasingly difficult to obtain spare parts.

A new beginning

Now, according to Ford Motor Company, a re-engineered ‘Kent’ is to be reborn here in the states.

“Our parts division has many years of expertise in re-making blocks,” says Ford Racing Engineering Supervisor Andy Slankard, “and we are going to take our knowledge of modern techniques to remanufacture the ‘Kent’ block and improve its durability. Our aim is not to make performance gains but to strengthen it and to make the unit more reliable.

Race of Champions Brands Hatch 1969

“There are many thousands of ‘Kent’-engined Formula Ford cars still racing around the world – particularly in the USA, which never adopted the Ford Zetec engine which replaced it in Europe – and we believe that the majority of owners of these historic machines will want to retain the originality of their car by using a genuine Ford engine.”

1988 Michael Schumacher in his formula Ford

Drivers of note

Lest you think the Formula Ford series is reserved only for casual weekend drivers, it should be noted that this somewhat unassuming engine powered some of the greatest drivers in motorsports to their first successes – drivers such as Emerson Fittipaldi, Jody Scheckter, Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, Michael Schumacher, Mika Hakkinen, David Coulthard and Jenson Button.

Even Danica Patrick, early in her career, managed a second place finish in a British Formula Ford Festival.

Denis Hulme testing a 1967 Formula Ford

Images courtesy of Ford Motor Company

At LotPro.com we see the dawn of a new era for Ford Motor Company here in the states. With the upcoming Fiesta, FoMoCo is bringing one of its best-ever small vehicles over from Europe pretty much intact. And as much as we welcome the new Ford Fiesta, we also yearn for its bigger sibling, the Focus.

Unlike the current mash up of a design that roams the byways of America, the European Focus is blessed with style, handling and, dare we say it, gobs of performance, especially in RS guise. But aside from all those good qualities, it also appears that the RS can be, ahem, quite frugal if you want it to be.

Here is the latest from Ford in that regard:

BRENTWOOD, Essex, October 2009 – Ford’s fastest-ever European production car, the 163mph Focus RS, added a surprising new figure to its remarkable performance statistics – an average fuel consumption of (US) 32 mpg.

More than half of the UK’s Ford Focus RS allocation has already been sold, with each priced at $42,956 on-the-road.

Small cars and gas prices

It’s no secret that many of us here at LotPro.com are big fans of small cars. Especially after spending two weeks in Italy last summer, we were left with the question, “Why does Europe and Asia get all the great little cars while here in the U.S. they are just an afterthought?”

The answer, of course, is the price of gasoline. Last summer when gas prices spiked at over $4 per gallon, car buyers flocked to dealer showrooms to purchase Focuses, Civics and Priuses. This year, with gasoline selling at or near $2.50 a gallon for most of the summer, sales of small cars have, once again returned to normal levels (except for the brief blip caused by “Cash for Clunkers”).

But just as surely as the sun will rise tomorrow, once the current worldwide recession begins to fade in the rearview mirror, gas prices will once again rise and, this time, could easily top last summer’s high.

Ford and India

To that end, we would like to introduce Ford Motor Company’s latest small car that will not make it over to the U.S. Dubbed the Figo (Italian slang for “cool”), the company’s latest entry in the subcompact B-segment is based on the same architecture that underpins the Fiesta. According to Ford, it will be built at the company’s Chennali plant in India (located on the country’s southeast coast).

Underscoring the importance of the new model that includes a $500 million investment in assembly plant renovations and upgrades, Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally was in Delhi, India, as the exterior was unveiled earlier today.

“Our exciting new Ford Figo shows how serious we are about India,” Mulally said. “It reflects our commitment to compete with great products in all segments of this car market. We are confident the Ford Figo will be a product that Indian consumers really want and value.”

Commitment, indeed. Just like many other emerging vehicle markets, the small car segment in India represents nearly 70% of the market. Tapping into this vast pool of consumers is vital to Ford’s long-term viability.

Is it really cool?

Comparing the Figo to other Indian vehicles in its segment, it is, indeed, cool. Basing its design on the company’s “Kinetic” language that spawned such vehicles as the Mondeo, the Focus and the new Fiesta, Ford chose to tone down some of the curves found on those vehicles in order to make the Figo a more efficient people mover.

Although its snout still displays the signature oversize lower air intake found on the Fiesta, the Figo’s greenhouse is more upright with larger windows. At the rear, the rounded curves of the Fiesta have been supplanted with C-pillars that are closer to the vertical, more like the previous-generation Fiesta. With the Figo, style needs to take a bit of a back seat to utility.

“We’re confident that the new Ford Figo will be extremely attractive to Indian car buyers,” said Michael Boneham, president and managing director, Ford India. “It’s going to be very competitive with the current market leaders and offer a tremendous value story for our consumers. We believe Ford Figo is a big game-changer for Ford that will help transform our brand into a volume player in India.”

Not that long ago

To younger drivers it may seem like they’ve always been around, but for many of us here at LotPro.com, the year 1959 is well within our lifetimes and it marks the year when the world’s first car with standard-fit three-point safety belts was delivered to a dealer in Sweden. Car safety would never be the same.

In this galaxy

Back in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s, American physicians began demanding the use of seat belts in cars. The most common solution was the two-point belt which had been invented in the late 1800’s and some of these same doctors even outfitted their own vehicles with these safety belts.

Despite this early interest, it wasn’t until the 1950’s that seatbelts were introduced on passenger cars. On March 31, 1955, Glenn Sheren applied for a patent for an automotive seat belt, while Americans Roger Griswold and Hugh DeHaven had had their own three-point design patented in 1951.

In 1955, Ford Motor Company offered lap belts as an option, while Saab became the first manufacturer to offer lap belts as standard equipment in 1958.

Volvo was the first

While other inventors had been issued earlier patents and other manufacturers may have offered safety belts in vehicles in prior years, the modern era of vehicle seatbelts began on Thursday August 13, 1959, when the world’s first car with standard-fit three-point safety belts (U.S. Patent 3,043,625), a Volvo PV544, was delivered to the Volvo dealer in the Swedish town of Kristianstad.

Credit for today’s standard in safety belt design goes to Nils Bohlin, a Swedish engineer who started his career as an aircraft engineer in 1942. Although eventually responsible for developing catapult seats in 1955, Bohlin became interested in an opposite phenomenon – keeping the body safe during extreme deceleration.

In 1958, he was recruited by the president of Volvo to be a safety engineer and given the opportunity to develop his ideas and in 1958 this work resulted in a patent application for a three-point belt that, according to Volvo, was based on four golden rules:

“The belt consisted of both a hip or lap belt and also a diagonal belt across the upper body, which was positioned correctly from the physiological viewpoint. That is to say across the pelvis and the ribcage, and attached at a low anchorage point beside the seat. The belt geometry formed a “V” with the peak pointing down towards the floor. In addition, the belt stayed in position and did not move when it was under load.”

The rest is history

Although the 1959 three-point seat belt looks much the same as those found in current vehicles, it has become part of a comprehensive vehicle safety system for all manufacturers, as evidenced by the following list of innovations from Volvo:

1959 Three -point safety belt in the front, a Volvo innovation
1967 Safety belts fitted as standard, rear
1969 Three -point inertia-reel safety belts, front
1971 Safety belt reminders, front
1972 Three -point safety belts, rear
1986 Three -point safety belts, rear middle seat
1987 Mechanical belt pre-tensioner
1991 Automatic height adjustment for safety belts, front
1992 Pyrotechnical belt pre-tensioners, front
1993 Three -point inertia-reel safety belts in all seats
1996 Force limiters in safety belts, front
1999 Pyrotechnical belt pre-tensioners in all seats
1999 Force limiters in hip belts, front
2003 Safety belt reminders in all seats
2003 Pyrotechnical belt pre-tensioners for hip belts, front
2003 Adaptive force limiters, front
2007 2-level force limiters for children and adults respectively, rear
2008 Adaptive force limiters for low-speed impacts (PRS), front

Bohlin’s invention

Although its effectiveness certainly needs no confirmation, other than the hundreds of thousands of lives it has saved and the millions of injuries it has either prevented or reduced, Bohlin’s invention has been identified by German patent registrars as one of the eight patents to have the greatest significance for humanity during the hundred years from 1885 to 1985.

What does the future hold for the seat belt? “At Volvo we are convinced that the belt will still be around in 2020 and way beyond that too. The belt may look somewhat different. It may have a four-point attachment instead of three. It will probably be designed so it is even easier to put on than it is today. Only when we have cars that automatically ensure that they are not involved in collisions can we do away with the belt. But that’s a long way off yet, even though there is a lot of research going on in that area too,” explains Lennart Johansson.

Thank you, Nils Bohlin.

All images courtesy of Volvo Car Corporation

The Best of Detroit on Friday and Saturday nights

This year’s Meadow Brook Concours d’Elegance promised show goers the “Best of Detroit” and it certainly was a promise fulfilled. Included in a very eclectic mix of vehicles were a few that had a great deal to do with the genesis of professional drag racing here in the United States.

For most followers of the sport of drag racing, the years 1955 to 1970 are looked upon as the golden years. This was the time before big sponsorships and most of the drivers who competed in the sport also had full-time jobs that helped support their passion for the sport.

So without further ado, here are the first six of thirteen from LotPro.com:

1937 Willys S&S Racing Team

S&S Parts Company in Falls Church, Virginia sponsored five Gas Coupe and Sedan Racers in the National Hot Rod Association in the 1960’s. This particular Willys was discovered in a field in Maryland in 1962 by Dave Hales who own, built, wrenched and drove it for 5 seasons, including 1963 when it was D/Gas runner-up at the NHRA Nationals that year.

1949 Packard “Flintstone Flyer”

Dave Koffel began his racing career driving a 1932 Ford, but needing something safer he traded it for a 1949 Packard. He campaigned the first series “Flintstone Flyer” at the 1963 NHRA Nationals. The current configuration of the Flyer is E/Gas and it is the most remembered of the five versions.

1937 Willys 2 Door Coupe

This particular 1937 Willys was owned, wrenched and driven by Barbara Hamilton, the first woman licensed to drive an NHRA Supercharged Car. Like many other drivers, she worked full time and drove on weekends. Barbara also won the 1966 Springnationals and was runner-up at the 1968 Nationals in the C/Gas Class.

The 1937 Willys was campaigned from 1964 to 1971.

1933 Willys Prock and Howell “F Troop”

This 1933 Willys was built in the fall of 1968 by Jay Howell of Berkley, Michigan to compete in an “Outlaw Gasser Circuit.” The Willys ran in the low 8’s at over 180 mph and featured a ’67 Big Block 482 Chevy with Hilborn injection and blower. Although intended to race with the gassers, its tilt body was deemed illegal, thus creating the need for an “Outlaw Gasser” class that, unfortunately, only lasted for a short time.

Tom Prock was responsible for the mechanical work while Jay drove the car.

1933 Willys Cates Speed Shop NHRA World Champion 1965

Virgil Cates began his racing career at the age of 16 in 1954. He was among the early drag racing pioneers and he ran two different NHRA classes. In 1965, Virgil won the World Championship as a C/Altered in Comp Eliminator.

At the 40th U.S. Nationals at Indy, this car was presented with a “Preservation” award as it is the only unrestored NHRA World Champion Gasser left and, ten years later, in 2004, the car was chosen as one of the NHRA Golden 50.

1967 Ford Super Mustang

In 1966, Ford Motor Company began work on the ultimate top-fuel dragster. Once it was completed in December of that year, it was taken to Florida (without its bodywork) where it was tested by legendary drag racer Connie Kalitta. With testing completed, it was shipped to California to compete in the 1967 Pomona Winternationals where Tom “The Mongoose” McEwen recorded an ET of 8.60 seconds and 180 mph.

The Best of Detroit

In a previous article at LotPro.com, we mentioned that the theme for the 2009 Meadow Brook Concours d’Elegance would be “The Best of Detroit”. But in addition to that line-up of historically significant vehicles, Larry Moss, the director of the Car Selection Committee has also announced a number of additions to this year’s show:

1953 Fiat 8V Supersonic

One of only eight aluminum-bodied models equipped with a 115-horsepower 2.0-liter V8 Fiat engine, the 1953 Fiat 8V supersonic will be among the entries in the Sports Car class. This limited-production example of the Supersonic will vie for honors with other vehicles in its class including these entries:

1967 Ferrari P3/4 (chassis 0846)
1964 Cobra 427
1966 Ghia 450 SS
1967 Morgan Super Sports
1953 Nash Healey LeMans Coupe Pinin Farina
1966 Abarth 100sp
1967 Lancia Flaminia Zagato SS
1960 Ferrari 400 SuperAmerica
1953 Cisitalia Concept Car
1954 Jaguar XK 120SE

Stock cars and gassers from the ‘60’s

Among the eclectic mix at this year’s Concours d’Elegance, the Car Selection Committee has also given the go-ahead to a group of 12 significant cars from the early years of drag racing. These vehicles will include 4 early “Gassers” including one driven by Barbara Hamilton, the first woman licensed by the NHRA to drive a “supercharged” car and the 1967 “Super Mustang” special project car from Ford Motor Company and driven by Connie Kalitta of “Bounty Hunter” fame and Tom McEwen. A partial list of additional vehicles includes the following:

1965 Comet – Dyno Don Nicholson’s Car
1963 Ford – The Bob Ford Car
1969 Cuda – Ray Mancini’s Race Car
1965 Plymouth – Roger Lindamood’s “Color Me Gone”
1933 Willys – Prock and Howell – F Troupe
1933 Willys – Virgil Cates Car
1948 Packard -   “The Flintstone Flyer”
1951 Anglia – Kohler Bros – “King Kong”
1937 Willys – S&S Racing Team

photo courtesy Darin Schnabel

But wait, there’s more

The Meadow Brook Concours d’Elegance has also been chosen for the North American debut of the 1934 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300, serial no. 2311237. A one-off Boattail Speedster, it has never been shown outside the U.K. and was acquired by a noted American collector last year.

The Bottom Line

If you call yourself a car buff but you’ve never had the chance to pay a visit to this annual event, you owe it to yourself to make the trip this year. The Sunday Concours d’Elegance opens at 10:00 am and runs until 4:00 pm. The cost is $25.00 for adults with children under the age of 12 admitted for free. Groups of 10 or more can purchase tickets for $20 each.