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eBay Find Of The Day: 1988 Saleen Ford Mustang General Tire 21R race car

Saleen may be making headlines these days for working on the Tesla Model S, but its history and bread-and-butter is all about the Ford Mustang. The rear-wheel-drive Dearborn pony cars singlehandedly put the company on the map in the '80s. Founder Steve Saleen was already a talented American racing driver when he started the venture, and like many auto industry businesses before him, Saleen went to the track to prove his vehicles' worth. Now, there's a chance to buy one of those early racers on eBay Motors.
Saleen Mustangs raced in the Sports Car Club of America Escort Endurance Championship - a series of multi-hour races meant to challenge man and machine. Ostensibly a showroom stock class, the cars had larger wheels, tuned suspensions and other upgrades that stretched the concept slightly. Saleen found major success though, taking the championship for its class in 1987 and winning the 24 Hours of Mosport consecutively from 1986 through 1988.
According to the seller, Saleen only built eight of these cars, and this one carries the #21R serial number. They all started life as new Mustangs from Ford dealers but were immediately stripped and prepped to go racing. Beyond obvious mods like a roll cage, they featured eight-inch wide wheels in front, an inch of additional track width, stiffer suspension bushings and much more.

2015 F-150 launch to curb Ford profits?

Ford is making a big bet on aluminum with its new 2015 F-150, and it's possible that the decision will hurt the company financially, at least in the short term. After earning a record $8.6 billion in 2013, the Blue Oval does not expect to set another record in 2014. According to Automotive News, that's "largely attributable to F Series," says Bob Shanks, Ford's Chief Financial Officer.
To retool for the new F-150, Ford will idle its Dearborn Truck Plant in Michigan for 11 weeks and the Ford Kansas City Assembly Plant in Missouri for 2 weeks. "3 of the 13 overall weeks occur during what normally is our summer shutdown timeframe," said Mike Levine, Ford Trucks Communication Manager, in an email to Autoblog. The extra 10 weeks will be preparing for the more aluminum-intensive construction for the trucks and will mean over 2 months of no F-150s being made. For comparison's sake, Chrysler boss Sergio Marchionne just confirmed that the 200 plant in Sterling Heights, MI will be down for 30 days to retool for the new model, but obviously there are many more F-150 production variables than for the midsize sedan.
Levine notes that Ford is already running three shifts at both plants, and says the automaker has plans to ensure that there is adequate supply of the full-size pickups during the retooling process. The company does not want to suffer a shortage of the vehicle that accounted for 31-percent of its 2013 US sales and an even bigger percentage of its profits.

3dCarbon now offering body kit for Ford Fusion

A factory-backed body kit by 3dCarbon is now available to Ford Fusion owners who want their car to stand out from the crowd while not being too flashy. The body kit adds a more aggressive front spoiler, side skirts, rear body trim and spoiler that are, in fact, integrated quite nicely into the Fusion's already-comely styling, just as 3dCarbon claims. All Fusions with the kit also receive dual exhaust ports with the stainless-steel exhaust surrounds usually reserved for the Titanium package Fusion EcoBoost models.
A nice detail of 3dCarbon's injection-molded urethane body kit is that it has undergone crash testing to certify that it can withstand crashes up to five miles per hour. Because of this, the kit is warrantied by 3dCarbon for five years or 50,000 miles, much like Ford's warranty on its own parts. In fact, the kit is available through participating Ford dealers and can be financed through Ford Motor Credit. Buyers can purchase the kit - pre-painted or unpainted - and install it themselves, or it can be purchased with a new Ford Fusion and installed at the dealer, pre-painted to factory specifications. Of course, it can also be ordered directly from the source. Take a look at the press release below for more detailed information on the body kit, and let us know what you think of it in Comments.