Ford and Detroit-Based Luxury Goods Manufacturer Shinola Celebrate 50 Years of Mustang with a Limited-Edition Watch

Only 50 companies will be licensed to create products bearing the Mustang 50 Years logo, which was designed to celebrate the sports car leading up to its 50th birthday on April 17, 2014. Shinola is one of the first manufacturers to help mark this milestone.

 

“Mustang is one of the greatest icons in American manufacturing history,” said Jacques Panis, Shinola’s director of strategic partnerships. “We reached out to Ford because we thought it makes perfect sense, as we share the same passion for craftsmanship and domestic manufacturing.”

 

Bedrock Manufacturing Company purchased the Shinola trademark, first used in 1929 on a wax-based shoe polish, in 2011.

 

A year ago Shinola moved into a 30,000-square-foot space in the historic Argonaut building in Midtown Detroit. Handmade watches and bicycles are now being crafted there. Shinola also offers other American-made products, including an artisanal leather collection, and journals created with paper from Michigan’s sustainable forests. In June Shinola will open a retail space.

 

Shinola opened its online shop in March 2013 debuting a limited-edition watch – the Runwell. It was an instant hit – much like the Mustang, which exceeded expectations and was an immediate success in 1964, its first year of production. To date, Ford has produced and sold more than 8.5 million Mustangs.

 

“Like the Mustang itself, we want our licensed products to convey an attitude of strength, passion and quality,” said John Nens, Ford lead for global brand licensing. “Shinola embodies all of these things and is a perfect fit to celebrate this special moment in automotive history.”

 

The 50-year commemorative wristwatch exemplifies Shinola’s passion for quality products and uses the finest materials. The quartz timepiece features Swiss movements, a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal face and premium black leather for the band with a screw-down crown. Waterproof to five atmospheres, the materials and design details are brought to life by highly skilled craftspeople who bring a special expertise to executing this premium watch.

 

The face of the watch features the unique Mustang 50 Years logo.

 

Ford is unveiling several Mustang products over the next few months that feature the Mustang 50 Years logo.  

Courtesy of corporate.ford.com

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Saleen 351 Mustang Makes A Return In Prototype Form

Saleen is out to prove that it’s still a formidable force when it comes to Ford tuning, especially now that it has founder Steve Saleen back at the helm.

So what does Saleen do to make fans forget its turbulent years? Bring back one of the most iconic products from the past, of course.

That iconic product is the Saleen 351 Mustang, a new generation of which was recently previewed in prototype form and is set to go on sale later this year.

The prototype was shown at the Fabulous Fords event at Knott’s Berry Farm in Southern California, where these photos were taken and supplied to us by Mustangs Daily.

Saleen’s last 351 Mustang, sold in 1999, produced an impressive 495 horsepower. But with even today’s stock Mustang GT producing in excess of 400 horses, Saleen decided it needed something much more substantial for the new model.

As previously confirmed, Saleen decided to keep with tradition and build the car with a 5.75-liter (351 cubic inch) V-8 equipped with a supercharger, in this case Saleen’s 296 setup. This has boosted output to a heady 700 horsepower and 655 pound-feet of torque.

Saleen previously announced that its new 351 Mustang would also come with a six-speed manual transmission and custom clutch, though this prototype version appears to be packing an automatic. Perhaps both options will be available on the final version.

The rest of the Saleen 351 Mustang is sporting similar upgrades to the tuner’s current offerings, including the including the body kit, wheels and interior appointments. That paint scheme is unique, however. It’s an Orange County Orange, picked specially by Saleen himself.

Courtesy of Motor Authority

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Ford, GM working together on 9- and 10-speed transmissions

Ford and General Motors are working together to develop advanced nine- and ten-speed automatic transmissions for use in cars, trucks and SUVs. Initial design and engineering work has already started and the companies hope to produce transmissions that can significantly improve fuel economy and performance.

Although the continuously variable transmission (CVT) has taken over in some market segments as the efficient auto-trans of choice, the CVT has limitations and is not the best option for all vehicles. Manufacturers have also been working on higher-gear transmissions with better ratios to improve output. Chrysler has been rolling out the eight-speed transmission in much of its truck and SUV lines while six-speed transmissions have become the norm in many mid-sized and full-sized vehicles today.

The new transmissions being jointly developed by GM and Ford will be in both front- and rear-wheel drive variants. The companies project that the transmissions could improve fuel economy by as much as 25 percent in some vehicles.
“Engineering teams from GM and Ford have already started initial design work on these new transmissions,” said Jim Lanzon, GM vice president of global transmission engineering. “We expect these new transmissions to raise the standard of technology, performance and quality for our customers while helping drive fuel economy improvements into both companies’ future product portfolios.”

This is not the first time the two Detroit giants have collaborated. The aforementioned six-speed transmissions being used by the two companies were the product of a previous collaboration that culminated in the automatic transmissions we see today in the Ford Fusion, Edge, Escape, and others and in the Chevrolet Malibu, Traverse, Equinox and Cruze. Although the transmissions are built by each automaker in their own plants for their own use, their joint design meant they share many common parts and are thus cheaper to source from suppliers.

“The goal is to keep hardware identical in the Ford and GM transmissions. This will maximize parts commonality and give both companies economy of scale,” said Craig Renneker, Ford’s chief engineer for transmission and driveline component and pre-program engineering. “However, we will each use our own control softwareto ensure that each transmission is carefully matched to the individual brand-specific vehicle DNA for each company.”

Neither Ford nor GM gave an expected time table to launch for these new transmissions.

Courtesy of Torque News

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Ford Social Wants to Know How You Will Celebrate Earth Day 2013

Earth Day 2013 is fast approaching, and the team here at Ford Social wants to know how you plan on going green this year. Sustainability is a big deal for Ford, and we hope that you will take a few minutes this Earth Day to examine the way your actions impact the environment.
If you’re still searching for ideas, we’ve got some ideas inspired by actions that Ford has taken for you to think about.
Let’s start with a simple one: restore a green space by planting a tree. Early spring is one of the best times to plant trees, so now is the time to get outside and get planting. Not only does this help the environment, but a tree planted on the east or west side of a home may cut your electricity bills by providing shade during hot summer months.
Ford has taken the notion of restoring green space and brought it to a spot that most people would never imagine: the roof of a factory. The River Rouge Complex, where the best-selling F-150 is assembled, boasts the world’s largest green roof (pictured above), which uses grasses and small plants to keep the factory cool in summer and warm in winter while filtering rainwater and providing a natural habitat for wildlife. The facility also sports numerous trees and wetland areas that are being restored to their natural state.
Maybe you can focus more on recycling and reusing materials that would otherwise sit in a landfill. Do some research into local recycling programs, and take a minute to think about how you could reuse containers and boxes you might normally throw in the trash. You’d be surprised at the uses you can find: for example, the glass jar from an old candle can be used as a container.
With the 2013 Fusion, Ford is making a big effort to reuse and recycle materials for a more sustainable ride. This car features recycled cotton to provide noise dampening, recycled plastic battery car casings for underbody components and the equivalent of 31,250 soybeans in foam seat cushions, seat backs and head restraints.
Reducing the amount of water you use is another opportunity. Since 2000, Ford has reduced the amount of water it uses in everything from cooling towers to parts washing and paint operations by 10.6 billion gallons, or 62 percent. That’s equal to the amount of water used by nearly 99,000 U.S. residences annually, or enough to fill 16,000 Olympic-size pools.
These are just a few quick ideas to get you rolling. Grab a Green badge and show us how you’re going to make a difference this Earth Day in the comments below!

Courtesy of Ford Social

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Fusion, Escape Achieve All-Time Record Sales; Ford Motor Company U.S. Sales Up 6 Percent in March

Ford’s newest vehicles – Fusion and Escape – set all-time monthly sales records in March, driving Ford Motor Company’s best U.S. sales results since May 2007.

“Customers are buying our all-new Fusion and Escape in record numbers, and we are working harder than ever to keep pace with demand for these fuel-efficient vehicles,” said Ken Czubay, Ford vice president, U.S. Marketing, Sales and Service. “Full-size pickup demand continues gaining momentum, outperforming the industry for the third consecutive month.”

Ford Fusion posted an all-time record monthly and quarterly sales volume in March with 30,284 vehicles sold for the month and 80,558 during the first quarter – crossing the 30,000 monthly and 80,000 quarterly vehicle sale thresholds for the first time ever in Fusion sales history.  

Escape had its best sales month ever with 28,934 vehicles sold. This 28 percent increase versus year-ago results marks the best sales performance since Escape’s launch 13 years ago. Escape also posted record quarter sales of 72,983 vehicles, surpassing record third quarter 2012 sales of 72,908 vehicles.

Explorer’s March sales totaled 17,509, representing a 33 percent increase over last year and its best monthly sales performance since the current model was introduced in 2010. Explorer retail sales were up 42 percent over last year, providing it best March retail sales performance since 2005.

With the industry’s March full-size pickup segment estimated to be up 15 percent over last year, America’s best-selling pickup, the Ford F-Series sales increased 16 percent to 67,513 pickups in March. This was F-Series 20th straight month of monthly sales increases and represented F-Series’ best March and first quarter sales performance since 2007.  

The company’s overall sales in March were up 6 percent with 236,160 vehicles sold. Cars were even with a year ago, utilities up 14 percent and trucks up 6 percent.

Courtesy of media.ford.com