1960 Ford Thunderbird Rare "j" Code 430 Ci Engine Rebuilt ! on 2040-cars

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Ford bringing production F-150 to Detroit with Atlas styling and Alcoa blast shields

According to a report in Bloomberg, the 2015 Ford F-150 will indeed be showing up at the Detroit Auto Show next month. It will bring attitude with it, not only in the form of sheetmetal inspired by the Atlas concept (pictured) that appeared at the 2013 Detroit show but also in the Alcoa military blast shields among the display being used to showcase the ruggedness of aluminum.
There's been a lot of talk about the F-150 switching to aluminum body panels (although maintaining a steel frame), and for good reason. The lightweight body is expected to shed more than 700 pounds and greatly increase its highway mileage, but production-line issues and possible delays have been a major focus of attention concerning the best-selling vehicle in America for 32 years, meaning Ford has to get it right. F-150 is responsible for a massive portion of the company's global profits and it will come in a year when company profits are already predicted to decline because of new car launches.
When it comes to dings, the Bloomberg story says Ford wants Alcoa to supply some of the military-grade aluminum it uses for blast shields on battlefield vehicles to help it talk up the toughness of aluminum. Reading commentary on the many stories about the F-150 reveals there are many more little questions about the aluminum overhaul, like "How much will it cost to repair and insure?" and "How will companies hang their magnetic signs?" Answers should start coming in a couple of weeks.

249 reasons you want to go to Goodwood Revival

At its most basic, Goodwood Revival is a long weekend worth of car races featuring cars made before 1970. There are lots of those, though, including some pretty great ones all over the world. But nothing is like Goodwood Revival because it's so much more than "just" vintage car racing.  First, you have to look the part. Attendees are strongly encouraged to dress in period clothing from the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, with a strict dress code enforced should you want to enter the paddock. The goal is to create a more authentic atmosphere to match the cars and the meticulously restored and recreated paddocks, grandstands and other facilities of the reborn Goodwood circuit. Now, the dress code was relaxed this year since the Saturday was literally the hottest Sept. 9 on record in that part of England, and the organizers didn't want people dropping dead because they needed to wear an ascot. Some people definitely took the "relaxed" bit too far, but there was still plenty of atmosphere maintained. It really does make a big difference, as those "relaxed" individuals were often akin to seeing a Starbucks cup in a scene from "Game of Thrones."  You can see what I came up with below along with former Autoblog editor Reese Counts and various other Goodwood attendees. Second, there's the parking lot. But I'll let this entire separate post detail that. Third, there's the enormous carnival-like area featuring vintage-looking rides and various boutiques. Both of those are on the outside portion of the track, and honestly, you could easily just spend your entire day in the parking lot and carnival/shopping area without even crossing over into the circuit area. There you'll find more shops, food and drink opportunities, plus obviously, race car paddocks and the track itself.  Fourth, there are airplanes! I heard there are fewer than in the past, but they're there and they're cool. The Goodwood circuit started out life as the perimeter road around the World War II airfield RAF Westhampnett.  Fifth, with all of the above, Goodwood Revival really is fun for the whole family. It isn't just a bunch of old guys sitting around in lawn chairs. There are plenty of women and adorably dressed children, including babies in vintage prams. It's also not an event that's exclusively for the uber rich, even if they are certainly in full force given who has the sort of money needed to go vintage racing.

Which of these high-powered pickup classics would you choose?

High-performance pickups would appear to be having a moment on the auction site Bring a Trailer, with two tempting examples up for auction right now: a 1971 Ford Ranchero GT and a 1991 GMC Syclone. These trucks are a generation apart, but they each represent the peak muscle truck of their time. The Ranchero, of course, was Ford's car-based pickup, and Ford took advantage of its Torino roots by offering the same ultra-high-performance 429 Cobra Jet V8 in the Ranchero as it did in the Torino-branded coupes and convertibles. The 429 V8 in this truck is said to be numbers-matching, and it looks the business topped with an air scoop poking through the hood. It's paired with a three-speed automatic and a limited slip differential, reportedly one of only 82 1971-model Rancheros with this powertrain combo. As a Ranchero GT, this example sports hidden headlights, and the dual sport mirrors and vinyl top further establish its kinship with its passenger-car siblings. A set of factory Magnum 500 wheels and a respray in the original red add to the muscle-truck vibe. Two decades later, car-based pickups were dead, so when GMC decided to revive the muscle-truck genre it did so with the mid-size Sonoma. The resulting Syclone put a more modern spin on the fast-pickup idea (and on the spelling of "cyclone"). This hi-po hauler uses a 4.3-liter V6 topped with a Mitsubishi turbocharger that helped it make 280 horsepower. It's mated to a floor-shifted four-speed automatic and a Borg-Warner all-wheel-drive system with a 35/65 torque split. The Syclone was a one-year-only model, of which just under 3,000 were built. All were black with matching cloth seats with red accents. The only other '71 Ranchero to appear on BaT was a non-original GT with a 351ci V8 that was a no-sale at $7,900. This Ranchero is already nearly double that figure. Of the four previously Syclones that have crossed BaT's virtual auction block, two have sold, for $36,000 and $50,000, but both had lower miles than this truck. At this writing, these two trucks are neck-and-neck, both in the mid teens with both auctions set to end April 23. Which powerhouse pickup makes you want to put your money down? Featured Gallery Ford Ranchero and GMC Syclone Ford GMC Truck Classics