2006 Ford F-150 Lariat Crewcab Pickup 4-door, Leather, Jensen Dvd, 20' Rims on 2040-cars

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USPS releases hot rod stamps to speed up your delivery

After one of the worst winters in recent memory for much of the country, summer is finally here. It's time to drop the top, open the sunroof or at least put down the windows and take a long drive. The United States Postal Service is celebrating the season's sun in automotive style with two new hot rod Forever stamps.
Both stamps depict classic '32 Ford hot rods. One shows the car from the front at a low angle in red (pictured above), while the other depicts the car from the back in black with flames running down the side.
To introduce the new stamps on their first day of availability, the USPS went straight to the source at the National Street Rod Association Street Rod Nationals in York, PA. They were unveiled by Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe, Car Crazy host Barry Meguiar and NSRA Special Events Director Jerry Kennedy.

The 1965 Ford Mustang could have looked a lot different

The 1965 Ford Mustang is unquestionably an automotive design icon, and nearly every generation of Mustang has some connection to that original car. Because it's such a universally-known vehicle, we were amazed to see all the different designs that were being considered. Head of Ford's archives Ted Ryan recently shared photos of design proposals for the original Mustang on Twitter that he and Jamie Myler found, and we reached out to them to find out more. As Ryan initially noted, the photos were taken on August 19, 1962, and they are proposals for the Ford Mustang. Apparently Ford had committed to doing a Falcon-based youth-oriented car at this point, and it did have plans to launch the car in 1964 for the 1965 model year. But after having little success with early design proposals, the company asked all of its design studios — the Advanced Studio, Lincoln-Mercury Studio and Ford Studio — to submit proposals. With only about two years before the planned launch, Ford was understandably short on time, and it's believed that the studios only had a month to create and present these designs. Lincoln-Mercury design proposal View 8 Photos The majority of the designs, a total of five, came from the Advanced Studio, and part of this was because they already had a couple of concept designs in reserve it could present. Two other models representing three design possibilities came from Lincoln-Mercury, and just one model with two options came from Ford. The Advanced Studio proposals are shown in the gallery at the very top of this article, and the Lincoln-Mercury and Ford proposals are in the gallery directly above this paragraph. The Advanced Studio's most radical design is the one that was clearly related to the Mustang I concept that would be shown later that year with huge wraparound rear glass, turbine-inspired bumpers and enormous side scoops. The other proposals from the studio were more conservative, featuring simple lines, grilles reminiscent of the Falcon, and one even borrowing the jet-thruster-style taillights made famous on the Thunderbird. Lincoln-Mercury had some impressively bold designs, particularly its fastback that had buttresses to extend the shape all the way to the tail. This car had two different side trim possibilities. The other Lincoln-Mercury design was toned down a bit, but had two interesting possibilities for side detailing, as well as some crisp, low-profile tail fins.

Car Club USA: Louisiana Mudfest

There's nothing quite like mudding. Big tires, huge power, and crazy-wild gearheads that like to throw down on a mud pit almost as much as a thirty rack of Coors. In the latest, and some might argue greatest yet episode of Car Club USA, we head to Louisiana to throw some dirt at Mudfest. As Louisiana's one and only Mouth of the South puts it, "If you don't mud ride... go to Texas I guess." Joining The Mouth and friendly rivals The Most Hated Mud Sluts, we dive in. Beyond the obvious V8 blasting and tractor-tire spinning, those who know best describe Mudfest as, "Good cooking, good friends, good fun, and a lot of partying." It's a motorsport spectacle unlike any you're likely to find up North or out West, though no less impressive to behold. Follow along with the fun, the impromptu drag racing, the trash talking, and the mechanical madness. And find out why, at Mudfest, "if we don't tear it up, we ain't done it right." Each Car Club USA episode features a different car club or event from across the US, where passionate owner communities gather to share automotive experiences and embark on incredible adventures. From Main Street cruises to off-road trails, catch all the latest car club activity on Autoblog. Chevrolet Ford Jeep RAM Truck Off-Road Vehicles Car Club USA Videos autoblog black