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Ford F-150 SVT Raptor sales jumping to new heights

Ford can't seem to build F-150 SVT Raptors fast enough. The off-road-ready trucks have been one of the Blue Oval's most reliable sellers, with record sales in eight of the last 10 months and a 14-percent jump in 2013. That's impressive enough, considering that the least expensive Raptor starts at $44,000. Factor in the modded F-150's fuel economy (it's rated at 11 miles per gallon in the city and 16 on the highway) and a national average gas price, as of this writing, of $3.55 per gallon, and its success is as unlikely as Ford's home team, the Detroit Lions, winning the Super Bowl this year (sorry, Lions fans, we're just quoting the experts in Vegas...).
Yet for some reason, Raptors spend an average of just 15 days on dealer lots before being snapped up, which is a quarter of the 60-day industry average. According to Ford's truck group marketing manager, Doug Scott, it's capability that keeps the Raptor selling strong. "What's helping drive Raptor sales is that Raptor delivers unmatched off-road performance to our customers. Raptor is also proof of our commitment to offer a truck for every customer and continuously improving them to meet our customers' evolving needs."
To address the strong demand for Raptors, Ford will bump production from three trucks per hour to five. Not much, we agree. But building an extra 48 trucks per day, at most, seems like a prudent way of addressing demand without oversaturating what is ultimately a niche market. Check out the press release below for more.

Ford Mustang GT350 seen and heard in motion for the first time

We just recently saw our first spy shots of the next-gen hi-po Ford Mustang slated to replace the Shelby GT500, but now we're getting our first look - and listen - of prototypes captured on video. Mustang6g.com has the video (along with some different spy shots), which show that, if nothing else, SVT knows how to tune an exhaust system. The :50 mark is a good example of this, but fast-forward to around 2:00 where the driver revs the engine and really gets on the throttle hard taking off from a stop.
There's still no definitive evidence that the next-gen SVT Mustang - said to be called GT350 - will be naturally aspirated, but it sounds just as menacing as the current Shelby GT500. While the video posted below exhibits the sort of quality that is to be expected from someone driving while trying to film someone who is attempting to elude being filmed, it's still exciting to see and hear this new Mustang in motion.

Ford builds one-off 50th anniversary Mustang Convertible for charity

At the New York Auto Show this year, Ford revealed a special-edition Mustang to honor the iconic pony car's 50th anniversary. Only 1,964 highly symbolic examples will be made, all of them fixed-roof coupes. But the Blue Oval automaker has just announced that it's also building a single 50 Years edition convertible that it will raffled off for charity.
The first production example of the new Mustang Convertible to roll off the line this fall, this one-off will pack many of the features on the 50 Years coupe, including its white paintjob, chrome trim, aluminum dashboard, two-tone upholstery, contrast stitching, special 19-inch wheels and special-edition badging throughout.
This unique cabrio will also be fitted with a special performance pack including Pirelli PZero rubber, Brembo brakes and a limited-slip differential to help get the 420 horsepower and 390 pound-feet of torque from the 5.0-liter V8 through the six-speed manual transmission and down to the road. It'll also feature a serial plaque with the number 0001 of 0001 and chairman Bill Ford's signature.