1962 Ford Econoline Pickup V8 on 2040-cars

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Ford Fiesta ST in startling track battle against Toyota GT86

On the surface, there's very little that the Ford Fiesta ST and Toyota GT86 (or the Scion FR-S that is sold in the US, or the largely similar Subaru BRZ) share in common. One is a hatchback with power coming from a turbocharged engine routed to the front wheels. The other is a coupe with power coming from a naturally aspirated four-cylinder boxer engine routed to the rear wheels.
Thing is, both of them are reasonably priced performance cars aimed at a similar segment of the automotive marketplace, so a comparison isn't out of the question. It is with all of this in mind that we direct you to the video below, in which the blokes from Evo pit the two manic little machines against one another on a race track. The result? Well, it can be summed up this way: Fast versus fun.
See how the track battle goes down in the video below.

Here's more of the Ford GT soundtrack

You probably won't be surprised to find out that that while we outsiders were speculating on the racing plans for the new Ford GT, the automaker was already testing the American exotic on track. Ford Performance has just posted some footage from one of those tests and it's worth a watch. In spite of that early exhaust promo and Xcar's two in-depth videos on the racer and the road-going coupe, this is the first time we've been treated to sustained looks at the track version just laying in laps and roaring by. Now that we know Ford's plans include running four cars throughout the 2016 season, the early testing makes sense. Ford will have two cars running in the GTE-Pro class in the Tudor United Sports Car Championship and another two in the same class in the FIA World Endurance Championship, all of them campaigned by Chip Ganassi Racing with the Felix Sabates team. Then the company plans to have all four cars at Le Mans, which will be Chip Ganassi's first ever tilt at the French event. If you want some practice picking out exhaust notes come 2016, check out the video above. Related Video: Featured Gallery Ford GT LM GTE Pro View 18 Photos News Source: Ford Performance via YouTube Motorsports Ford Coupe Racing Vehicles Performance Videos ford performance

Martin Smith retires, Joel Piaskowski in as Ford Europe design chief

The mind behind the look of much of the modern Ford global range is retiring. Martin Smith, Head of Ford Design in Europe, will give up his position on July 1 and will leave the company altogether at the end of the year. He will be replaced by current Strategic Concepts Group leader Joel Piaskowski (pictured above).
Smith has led Ford of Europe design for the past 10 years, and he was partially responsible for the brand's Kinetic Design language with a large grille and swept-back headlights found on the Focus, Fiesta and C-Max, as well as several other vehicles abroad. After stepping down on July 1 until his retirement at the end of 2014, Smith will work on a project to decide the future direction of the company's look with Moray Callum, its vice president of design.
Piaskowski already has some impressive credentials in terms of automotive design as well. He joined Ford in 2010 as director of exterior design and led the teams responsible for the 2015 Ford Mustang and next-generation F-150. He was also previously design director at Ford Asia Pacific. Before working at the Blue Oval, Piaskowski held positions at Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai and General Motors. Scroll down to read the complete announcement of this changing of the guard.