1942 Lincoln Zephyr on 2040-cars

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2015 Ford F-150 named Truck of Texas, Lincoln and Jeep also awarded at Truck Rodeo

The Ford Motor Company has a lot of reasons to celebrate after winning eight categories in this year's Texas Auto Writers Association's annual Truck Rodeo. Most important among them, the Blue Oval's latest 2015 Ford F-150 earned the prestigious Truck of Texas award, ending the Ram 1500's two-year winning streak. The 2015 Lincoln MKC also grabbed the honor as the CUV of Texas, and Ford was named Truck Line of Texas.
FoMoCo even took trophies for best technology with its extensive use of aluminum on its latest F-Series and best commercial vehicle for the new Transit 250. It wasn't a total sweep, though, because the Jeep Grand Cherokee grabbed the title of the SUV of Texas for the fifth straight time.
This year's event put 60 auto writers in 75 pickups, SUVs and crossovers and challenged them to find the best in a plethora of categories. All of the winners are listed below, and scroll down to read the full announcements from the Texas Auto Writers Association and Ford.

Ford recalls 462,000 SUVs over faulty rear camera

Ford has had some issues with its backup cameras in recent years, and the troubles are continuing with yet another recall announced today. In this recall, certain Ford and Lincoln vehicles equipped with the 360-degree parking camera could lose the rear-view camera feed. The newest recall affects some 462,000 vehicles worldwide, Reuters reports, including 382,759 in the U.S. under NHTSA recall 23V-022. The recall applies to the 2020-2023 Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator, as well as the 2020-2022 Lincoln Corsair. The remedy involves dealers updating the vehicles’ image processing module software free of charge. This latest issue expands a previous recall, and applies to vehicles that have already been serviced under recall 21V-735. Owners will be notified by mail around February 20, and owners can also contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford told NHTSA that it first became aware in October 2021 of a small number of complaints of a blue screen from the rear camera feed on vehicles that had already been repaired. Ford worked with suppliers to track down the potential issue, and said warranty claims remained low until December 2022, when it started to see more claims for blue screens in vehicles produced after the last remedy, at which point Ford ordered a stop-ship on those vehicle lines. Ford said itÂ’s aware of 17 minor accident reports related to the issue, but no injuries. In addition to this recall, Ford has had other camera issues in the past few years that resulted in recalls. NHTSA recall 22V-151 applied to 2021-2022 Edge SUVs experiencing “a distorted, black and white, or discolored screen” when reversing. 2021-2022 Ford Broncos had an issue where the rear-view camera would remain on even after the vehicle was put back into a forward gear. Last year, Ford recalled 330,000 Mustangs for faulty cameras, as well as 277,000 Super Duty trucks over foggy rear-view cameras. In 2021, NHTSA opened an investigation into whether Ford was slow to recall more than 620,000 vehicles for faulty cameras. Recalls Ford Lincoln Safety Crossover SUV

2024 Lincoln Nautilus First Drive Review: Lincoln's moonshot (with nits to pick)

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. – It was only a decade ago when Lincoln seemed destined to go the way of Oldsmobile and Mercury. Odd styling, cheap retro interiors and blatant parts sharing with supporting Ford vehicles had this storied American luxury brand trailing the competition by a significant margin. Then things started turning around with the reborn Continental sedan in 2017, followed by the massive and massively improved Navigator the following year. In hindsight, I equate those to the Mercury and Gemini space programs that led to Apollo and the game-changing moonshot. After driving the all-new 2024 Lincoln Nautilus throughout the Palm Springs area, it could very well deserve the accolades and ticker tape parades bestowed upon NASA in 1969. Starting with the new styling, this second-generation Nautilus manages to stand out from the crowd without shouting. There's a quiet resolve in the rounded-over corners and subtle sculpting. The appropriately sized grille has suggestions of woven Bentley rods while a distinctive horizontal bar connects the Lincoln emblem to the narrow LED headlights. Below, two brushed metal accents anchor the fascia with a classy foundation. Down the sides, a distinctive flourish spans almost the entire length of the front doors, and the absence of traditional door handles gives the profile an unusually clean look. Those door handles are integrated into the window frame in the same manner as the Continental, further emphasizing the way reflections and shadows dance across the gentle curves of the bodywork. Around back, there are echoes of Audi or Porsche, but not in a derivative way since it integrates well with the rest of the Nautilus. To my hyper-critical styling eye, I can only find the slightest of nitpicks in a series of horizontal stripes present in the rearmost side window that are repeated in the edges of the headlights and taillights. My nitpicking is typically a good omen, as it means there isn't anything significant to fault it for, and that could very well be the theme of this review. While the exterior is suitably attractive, the interior is downright stunning. The biggest attention-getter is the 48-inch curved panoramic display that spans the entire length of the dashboard. It's the type of design element expected of a concept or prohibitively expensive luxury vehicle, not a production SUV starting in the low $50,000 range. Even better, it works.