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Shelby American cleans house of 14 concept cars

Typically when an automaker rolls out a concept car or pre-production prototype, it does its tour and then disappears into the company's archives. Maybe it will be displayed for the public to see in the company's own museum or maybe it will spend most of its time under covers in a warehouse somewhere, but every once in a while, an automaker will open up its history and start selling off its concept cars. For Shelby American, "once in a while" has just rolled around.
The House that Carroll Built is moving from its previous headquarters at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to a new facility off of the Las Vegas strip, and in the process is liquidating fourteen of the rarest cars in its collection. That presents a tremendous opportunity for muscle car collectors to bring one or more of these snakes home.
As you might expect, the catalog is composed mostly of Mustangs, but not exclusively. There's a pair of 289 Cobras: the last of the 50th anniversary slab-sided continuation cars and an original development vehicle, offered at $200,000 apiece. At the other end of the spectrum you'll find the 2013 Shelby Raptor concept for $125k and Focus concept for $50k. And of course there are the Mustangs.

Ford Mustang GT350 drops some camo

Now that we've poured over the 2015 Ford Mustang in its standard form, it's time to look ahead. We already knew (and heard - literally) that Ford was working on a higher-performance version of its 'Stang to replace the Shelby GT500, and earlier reports have stated that it will simply be called the GT350.
We don't have a ton of detail to go on, but this latest set of spy photos clearly shows a hood-mounted air scoop, which suggests a forced-induction powerplant is under the hood. However, this disagrees with earlier reports that the GT350 will be all motor, using a naturally aspirated engine to send massive horsepower to the rear wheels. Our spies also point out the functional vent aft of the front wheels to allow for better airflow, and the massive quad exhaust pipes can be seen, clear as day.
Expect to see the Mustang GT350 in April, when it debuts at the New York Auto Show in conjunction with the Pony's 50th anniversary. In the meantime, have a look at our gallery above to see the latest shots of the hot Mustang out testing.

New car market raining on convertibles' parade

Whether fitted with soft or hard folding lids, today's droptops are better than ever for year-round motoring. Advancements in power top mechanisms, sealing, aerodynamics, structural rigidity, rollover safety and creature comforts like heated and cooled seats mean that modern convertibles are more versatile and better to drive than ever before. Yet the segment's sales took a dive during the recession and haven't come back, Automotive News reports.
Part of that is because automakers are looking at today's more sensible buyers and simply not developing as many new models, and that lack of fresh iron is curbing sales. AN cites R.L. Polk data which notes that only about one percent of new vehicles registered in the US last year had tops that folded. Back in 2009, it was 1.4 percent, and it was 2 percent in 2006. All-in, some 151,636 convertibles were registered in 2012. That's more units more than were registered in each of the past three years, but the market has also grown as the economy has picked up speed, and as a percentage of new vehicles purchased, convertible sales are lagging.
Thus far in 2013, the Ford Mustang is America's top-selling convertible, with 6,421 units registered through the end of April, followed by its rival, the Chevrolet Camaro, at 4,751 units. The Volkswagen Beetle isn't far behind, with 4,305, but from that point, it's a steep drop off to the fourth-place Mercedes-Benz SL-Class and its 2,380 sales.