2014 Ford Escape Se on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Ford GT successor to debut in Detroit and go racing

Anticipation for all of the exciting reveals at the 2015 Detroit Auto Show just a few weeks away is building to a fever pitch, and rumors are mounting that Ford has a big surprise in store in the shape of a future performance halo model. Insider sources speaking to Autoweek claim the next Ford supercar is definitely going to be revealed at the Detroit show in early January. However, the model is not necessarily the next-generation Ford GT in terms of its name or design aesthetic. Instead, one of these people indicates that the new halo model might drop retro styling altogether. If the latest reports are to be believed, Ford's high-performance project goes beyond something to just grab headlines and rocket down the street. According to Autoweek, the automaker is also reportedly employing Chip Ganassi Racing to run a two-car racing effort in the Tudor United SportsCar Championship in 2016. That would allegedly include a trip to the 24 Hours of Le Mans to race on the 50th anniversary of the Ford GT40's win in 1966. The speculation goes that at least the racing version might use a twin-turbo EcoBoost V6 for power. However, the motorsports part of the program may not be announced during the auto show reveal. Rumors about the new halo car from the Blue Oval and its racing intentions have been percolating for months. The company might have considered an LMP2 entry, but speculation popped up later about the production supercar. A more recent report suggested that Ford might show a new Shelby GT350R Mustang, a successor to the F-150 Raptor and next Ford GT in Detroit.

Ford Focus Electric gets $6,000 price drop, now starts at $29,995

In early 2013, the Nissan Leaf shed a massive $6,500 from its $35,200 base price to offer a new starting price of $28,800. Since then, we have seen numerous other plug-in vehicles get smaller price tags, from the Honda Fit EV (lower lease price) to the Chevrolet Volt (around $5,000 lower) to the Mitsubishi i (a $6,130 drop). Last year, Ford lowered the $39,200 price of the Focus Electric by around $4,000, but that hasn't been enough to get the Ford EV to really compete, saleswise, with other plug-in vehicles on the market. But wait, as they say, there's more. This past weekend, Ford lopped another $6,000 from the price of both the 2014 model year Focus EVs currently on dealer lots as well as the redesigned 2015 models that are now rolling out (they're basically the same car, minus some appearance changes). Ford spokesman Aaron Miller confirmed to AutoblogGreen that the Focus EV will now start at $29,995 and said that reducing the price should make the Blue Oval's only pure EV competitive. "We hope by reducing the price we're giving consumers another reason to consider it," he said. Through the end of September 2014, Ford has sold just 1,534 Focus EVs in the US (the model sold 1,335 in the first nine months of 2013). For comparison's sake, the Nissan Leaf starts at $29,010 and sells around 3,000 units a month in the US. Miller notes that the Focus EV has been selling the best on the West Coast, and is also doing well on the East Coast. After that, he said Atlanta and the Great Lakes area also see decent sales of model's admittedly small pie. We can only assume that offering the EV for under $30,000 will make that pie somewhat bigger.

12 new cars that will never go out of style

Some cars never go out of style. It’s rare, but it happens. They get old. They get depreciated. But they never stop looking cool.  Some might call them modern or instant classics. Within a few years theyÂ’re no longer the latest and greatest, no longer the flavor of the month, but they remain special. Eternally special. Timeless.  These cars arenÂ’t necessarily going to be worth a fortune someday. However, some may not depreciate as rapidly or as far as other models. But thatÂ’s not what weÂ’re talking about here. These are the cars that enthusiasts will always find desirable from the curbside. TheyÂ’re the cars you end up shopping on eBay late at night 10 years later because you canÂ’t get them out of your head. TheyÂ’re the cars that will forever excite you when you spot a clean one in traffic or in a parking lot.  There are plenty of recent examples over the past couple of decades that could count as instant design classics. But then we got to thinking, what 2021 models will be forever cool to stare at? Which new cars and trucks on sale today will we be shopping on eBay late at night in the 2030s? We kept supercars and other ultra-expensive cars off the list to keep things within the realm of attainability, and ended up with 12 total cars. Lexus LC WeÂ’re not applying a numerical ranking to any of the cars on this list, but if we were, the Lexus LC would be No. 1. There isnÂ’t another car design out there that can stir our emotions the way an LC can when itÂ’s just standing still. This car is a concept design come true in the most beautiful of ways, and itÂ’s a shoo-in winner for Concours events decades into the future. All of this heaping praise, and we havenÂ’t even gotten to the LC 500Â’s intoxicating 5.0-liter V8. It doesnÂ’t win drag races. It wonÂ’t be the fastest around the track against any similarly-priced competition. But none of that matters. ItÂ’s quite possibly the best car you can buy new, and that says it all when it comes to the LC. Chevrolet Corvette It might not be the stunner that the Lexus LC is, but the new C8 Corvette is and will always be a special vehicle. ItÂ’s the first mid-engine Corvette, which instantly cements it into an automotive hall of fame section of sorts. All of the performance stats and specs are there to back up its supercar-like looks, and it remains the best performance bargain on sale today.