2001 Ford Windstar Se Sport Mini Passenger Van 4-door 3.8l on 2040-cars

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180,000 new vehicles are sitting, derailed by lack of transport trains

If you're planning on buying a new car in the next month or so, you might want to pick from what's on the lot, because there could be a long wait for new vehicles from the factory. Locomotives continue to be in short supply in North America, and that's causing major delays for automakers trying to move assembled cars.
According to The Detroit News, there are about 180,000 new vehicles waiting to be transported by rail in North America at the moment. In a normal year, it would be about 69,000. The complications have been industry-wide. Toyota, General Motors, Honda and Ford all reported experiencing some delays, and Chrysler recently had hundreds of minivans sitting on the Detroit waterfront waiting to be shipped out.
The problem is twofold for automakers. First, the fracking boom in the Bakken oil field in the Plains and Canada is monopolizing many locomotives. Second, the long, harsh winter is still causing major delays in freight train travel. The bad weather forced trains to slow down and carry less weight, which caused a backup of goods to transport. The auto companies resorted to moving some vehicles by truck, which was a less efficient but necessary option.

Ford Fiesta becomes UK all-time best seller

We may regard Ford as an American automaker, but ask a Brit and they may tell you otherwise. The Blue Oval has, after all, been selling cars in the UK since 1903, and started manufacturing there as far back as 1911 when it began local production of the Model T in Manchester. Last year Ford ended 100 years of vehicle manufacturing in the UK when the last Transit van rolled off the assembly line in Southampton, but it's still the biggest-selling automotive marque in Britain.
Ford has led the British market for 34 out of the past 45 years, selling more Fiestas than any other company sells any other car in the UK since 2009... when it overtook the Focus. In fact the Fiesta has now become the best-selling car in British history, topping 4,115,000 units since its introduction in 1976. The previous record was held by - you guessed it - another Ford: the Escort sold 4,105,961 units over the course of its 32 years on the British market.
Although the Fiesta is no longer manufactured in the UK (previous versions having been built at Dagenham until 2002), engines are: the EcoBoost line was developed at the company's R&D center in Essex and are built at the factory in Dunton, while its diesel engines were developed at Dagenham in East London. Even the 1.6-liter EcoBoost engine in the Fiesta ST is built in South Wales.

Leno talks racing with NASCAR racer Joey Logano

Jay Leno has to be under significant pressure knowing the appetite his fans have for a new Jay Leno's Garage video every week. This time, Jay takes a break from his usual format (something he's been doing with some frequency as of late) and goes back to his roots as a talk show host. There's no classic in the garage his episode with an interesting story to tell and a sumptuous exhaust note. Instead, the focus is purely on interviewing 23-year-old NASCAR racer Joey Logano about what it's like to be a racecar driver in his Ford Fusion.
Logano started racing at the tender age of six and has risen up the circle-track ranks to the big show of the NASCAR Sprint Cup. The two of them talk about what it's like to compete in the sport today compared to yesteryear, and Logano shares some racing anecdotes. Of course, they also get into what it's like to be on the racetrack controlling a car with about 850 horsepower, a four-speed manual transmission and brakes without any power boost. Scroll down to watch the video.