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NHTSA closes rollaway investigation into 1.56M Ford SUVs

It's taken four years of study, but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has finally closed the books on its investigation into rollaway accusations surrounding 1.56-million Ford SUV models.
The probe, which centered on the 2002-2005 Ford Explorer, 2002-2005 Mercury Mountaineer and 2003-2005 Lincoln Aviator, ends without the federal agency calling for a recall. According to The Detroit News, the investigation was closed due to a "low number of complaints" - NHTSA documented 180 such complaints that resulted in 14 crashes and six minor injuries, but the number of incidents have been slowing. The suspected defect rate for the trucks' automatic transmissions was found to be 4.4 per 100,000 units, and the brake-shift interlock mechanism failure rate was judged to be even lower at 3.4 per 100k.

Weekly Recap: Auto execs face life in prison for recall delays under proposed legislation

The stiff punishments are part of broader transportation legislation, but clearly McCaskill has automakers in her sights.
Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill threw down the gauntlet this week, proposing a bill that could send auto executives to prison for life if they were found to have delayed a recall. She also wants to eliminate the limit for fines for auto safety violations, which are currently capped at $35 million.

An in-depth look at the Ford GT with Xcar

Ford made big waves when it unveiled the new GT at the Detroit Auto Show this past January. But as far as details go, it's been rather quiet. Though Dearborn has revealed what engine will sit between those buttresses, it hasn't told us exactly how many horses or torques it will produce, or precisely how fast we should expect it to propel the new all-American supercar. Fortunately, the automaker let the crew at Xcar into the studio to give us a quick, four-minute rundown of all the information that is out there at the moment, along with all the most intriguing angles of the vehicle's design. The historically savvy among us will already know that the new 2016 Ford GT traces its roots back to the GT40 that conquered Le Mans half a century ago, and through the previous Ford GT that debuted a decade ago. Both of those featured V8 engines (supercharged in the latter case) while their modern successor goes with a twin-turbo V6. But as Xcar points out, six cylinders aren't without their precedence in the history of the GT-series Ford supercar: the GT70 rally car of 1970 originally packed a 2.6-liter V6. That engine was later replaced by a 1.6-liter inline-four, which puts another crack in the theory of the eight's hegemony over the history of the series – as does, we'll point out, the Bugatti-like quad-turbo V12 that featured in the GT90 concept of 1995 that sadly never made production. The point is that divergence from V8 tradition shouldn't dissuade anyone from getting excited over the arrival of the new GT, and we're looking forward to seeing what she can do – on and off the track. Related Video: