Mustang Gt Rio Red on 2040-cars

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2013 North American Car and Truck/Utility of the Year finalists announced [w/poll]

2012 is almost in the books and automakers are spending December gearing up for the 2013 auto show season, which tips off next month at the Detroit Auto Show. Traditionally, the latter opens up with the announcement of the North American Car and Truck/Utility of the Year awards, and this year figures to be no different.
But up until this moment, we didn't know which six vehicles would be parked ahead of the stage as finalists, with executives and engineers waiting for the winners to be disclosed. Whittled down from October's "short list" of nominees (11 cars and 10 truck/utility vehicles), the finalists are as follows:
2013 North American Car of the Year:

Project Ugly Horse: Part IX

One Step at a Time
Nearly every flavor of exotic driveline has been shoved into the ubiquitous Ford at some point or another.
Chuck Schwynoch had been patiently listening to my ramblings on the other end of the phone for a solid half hour. I'm not too big of a man to know when to ask for help, and at this point, I desperately needed some assistance. The truth is, working on a machine like a Fox Body Mustang is as easy as breathing thanks to the wealth of information available on the web. Nearly every flavor of exotic driveline has been shoved into the ubiquitous Ford at some point or another, and odds are the sorry souls behind those builds shared the highs and lows of their torment with the internet community.

California Man Reunited 33 Years Later With Thunderbird

A California man was at a loss for words when he was reunited with his prized 1964 Ford Thunderbird on Tuesday, 33 years after it was stolen from a bar parking lot. Gary Chartrand could hardly believe how well his old Thunderbird held up in the last three decades. The odometer had only added about 1,000 miles from when he last saw the car back in the 1980s. "A few bumps and bruises but boy, not much changed," Chartrand told KOVR. Chartrand bought the car as a present to himself after finalizing his divorce from his wife of 10 years in 1981. It disappeared one night from the parking lot of a Sacramento bar where he was working. Police found Chartrand's car 750 miles north in Washington State. They have no leads on who might have stolen the classic car. Related Gallery Buying An Older Car: Five Things To Watch Out For