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Car and Driver shows off awesome 1960s ads

Someone must have recently rediscovered the keys to the archives at Car and Driver, and the access has been put to good use. Following last month's fantastic look at automotive ads from the '50s, there's now a new gallery running from March 1960 through December 1969. This collection provides a great overview of a decade full of iconic cars. If you're a fan of Carroll Shelby, particularly his Mustangs, then there's a lot to love among this group. One ad from July 1965 aimed to sell the GT350, but with an ocean of text and a tiny picture, it probably could've used a once-over by Don Draper's team. By December '65, the copywriters ironed out the problems with a spot proclaiming boldly "Shelby GT350 is 'Son of Cobra.'" The company offered some great accessories, too. For those into European motoring, there's a humorous attempt to sell the Alfa Romeo Giulia as both a racecar and family hauler. Toyota also boasts about the winning record for the 2000GT. Among the best text comes from BMW for lines like: "What's BMW got? The most advanced high-performance engine in any production car, for a cruising speed of 100 mph." Of course, Volkswagen's famous "Lemon" ad for the Beetle also gets its due here. Separately, each of these ads is fascinating, but taken together they tell the story of a great decade of motoring. Go give them all a read at Car and Driver. Related Video: News Source: Car and DriverImage Credit: GM Heritage Center Marketing/Advertising Read This Alfa Romeo BMW Ford Toyota Volkswagen shelby alfa romeo giulia shelby gt350 toyota 2000gt

Chrysler called out over lackluster Ram Runner by racer who helped develop it

Fans of off-roading and desert blasting might recall that Chrysler offers an aftermarket conversion that can turn a Ram 1500 into a road-legal desert racer, called the Ram Runner. The kit, sold through Mopar, includes some significant suspension upgrades, body tweaks and a brawnier cat-back exhaust for the truck's 5.7-liter V8.
Considering all of this, comparisons with the almighty Ford F-150 SVT Raptor are common. Among the off-road community, that makes these two a sort of Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang for people that prefer driving on dirt. In the Race-Dezert forum, the discussion as to which truck was better was proceeding as normal - Ram fans said their piece and Ford fans said theirs. Then, a man named Kent Kroeker offered up his two cents.
See, Kroeker is a Baja racer, and the man that helped develop the Ram Runner. Despite his association with the truck, though, he had some less than kind words for Chrysler and the Ram Runner.

Ford CEO Mark Fields takes home $18.6 million

Sitting atop the throne at Ford Motor Company is, as it turns out, a fairly lucrative gig. We make that statement after learning, through SEC filings, that FoMoCo's Mark Fields raked in $18.6 million in compensation during his first year as CEO. Now, as is so often the case, Fields' earnings weren't just straight salary. Only $1.7 million of that sum was from his salary, while another $3.2 million came from cash bonuses. The remaining $13.7 million, though, came from what The Detroit Free Press called "long-term stock options, performance equity awards and compensation for items such as security and travel," according to the SEC filing. That makes for a significant raise for Fields, who made $10.1 million in 2013, but it still doesn't match his predecessor, former CEO Alan Mulally. The 69-year-old Mulally earned $23.2 million in his final year as CEO, while bringing in $1 million last year as part of a $22 million compensation package. Fields' earnings may ruffle some features for a few reasons. First, while the Freep reports that Ford hit 91 percent of its performance goals, 2014's earnings were down $4 billion, to $3.2 billion, compared to the $7.2 billion the company made in 2013. On top of that, the CEO's take-home might be sour grapes for hourly employees, who were only treated to checks worth $6,900, as part of a profit-sharing plan. To that, Ford said in a statement that, "We remain absolutely committed to aligning executive compensation with the company's business performance and to tying a significant portion of executive compensation to long-term shareholder value." News Source: The Detroit Free PressImage Credit: Paul Sancya / AP Earnings/Financials Ford alan mulally Mark Fields