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Ford C-Max spot aimed squarely at Cadillac ELR 'Poolside' hubris [UPDATE]

If we had tried to predict the first video response to the controversial Poolside video for the Cadillac ELR, we would not have thought it would center on compost. But, hey, it's always nice to be reminded that the real world is sometimes better than fiction. Instead of the chic swagger of 'Poolside,' 'Anything Is Possible' is all about getting dirty. The new short in question is called Upside: Anything Is Possible and it promotes two things: Detroit Dirt and the Ford C-Max Energi. As in the ELR ad, Ford's plug-in C-Max only makes an appearance at the tail end of the spot, but instead of the chic swagger of Poolside, Anything Is Possible is all about getting dirty. The ad stars Pashon Murray, co-founder of Detroit Dirt, which takes natural waste from around Detroit, composts it into soil and then spreads that around "forgotten parcels" of Detroit to create urban farms. Detroit Dirt gets its bio-waste from a lot of sources, including the Detroit Zoological Society (all that herbivore manure has to go somewhere), Ford and General Motors, but this particular ad was the idea of Ford's PR agency, Team Detroit. It was a frenetic shoot, filmed with an LA-based director right after a big winter storm blew through Detroit, and Murray couldn't be happier with the result. "This was Ford Motor Company pushing my story, letting me tell the story that I believe in," Murray tells AutoblogGreen. "I get to help push this car and I get to tell my story." She says that the Team Detroit and Ford had to agree on the message, "from my understanding, [YouTube] is where they wanted to start, not where they wanted to finish." The ad is already getting a positive response on Twitter, so we won't be surprised if it shows up in more places soon. "It's not saying Ford is better than GM. It's telling the story of a black woman who's working hard in Detroit." As Detroit Dirt has off-screen support from both GM and Ford, it's unsurprising to hear Murray say that the video "is not a rivalry thing." She notes that the ad agency Team Detroit came to her and offered to tell the Detroit Dirt story using the framework of the GM ad. "It's a parody on this commercial, but it's not saying Ford is better than GM," she said. "It's telling the story of a black woman who's working hard in Detroit." What is that story? It's about urban farming, recovery and recycling. Murray tells us that for the last seven or eight years, she's been dedicated to sustainability.

Hot sales have Detroit automakers shortening summer shutdowns

Back in May, there was speculation that the Detroit Three automakers would maintain or perhaps even extend their traditional summer shutdowns, mostly due to a bitingly cold winter that saw below-freezing temperatures infiltrate the southernmost reaches of the US, putting a chill on auto sales. Now, though, the numbers are in, and thanks to some promising sales figures, it looks like some domestic line workers are going to be working clear through July, in some cases.
According to Automotive News, Ford has slashed its traditional two-week hiatus for factory workers in half at four of its plants, while both Chrysler and General Motors will keep factories running nonstop (two plants in Chrysler's case and a third of GM's factories).
This is, as we said, thanks to some positive numbers. Chief among those is the Seasonal Adjusted Annual Rate, which was at an eight-year high of 17 million units. Individual figures were less promising. GM, embroiled in its recall scandal, still saw a one-percent increase while Ford dropped six percent in year-over-year sales. Chrysler was the big winner, though, with a nine-percent jump in June.

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