2004 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer V8 4.6 on 2040-cars

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Ford, Chrysler and Mazda expand scope of Takata airbag recalls

The scope of the Takata airbag inflator recall is ballooning once again across the United States. Where Honda has elected to take its driver-side airbag campaign nationwide, Chrysler Group and Ford have now announced expanded regional actions to cover some passenger-side airbag inflators. Mazda is adding more regions, as well. For Chrysler Group, the campaign covers the inflators on 149,150 examples of the 2003-model-year Ram 1500, 2500 and 3500 pickups. The recall is limited to vehicles sold or ever registered in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and the territories of American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, Saipan, and the Virgin Islands. The company will begin notifying affected customers on January 19. According to Chrysler's announcement of the action, the passenger side inflators in these trucks "are of a type that is not used in any of the other vehicles affected by Chrysler Group's regional field action." The automaker says that it's not aware of any actual failures or accidents in these pickups and even claims there are no "observed failures in laboratory testing of its airbag modules." The company is continuing to study the problem, though. Ford is taking a similar step by issuing a recall of inflators for 38,500 examples of the 2004-2005 Ranger and 2005-2006 Ford GT. The campaign only affects vehicles originally sold or ever registered in Florida, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Certain zip codes of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Guam, Saipan and American Samoa are also covered. There's already precedent for passenger-side airbags to be covered under the Takata inflator recall. When many automakers announced campaigns in June, BMW, Chrysler, Ford, Honda, Mazda, Nissan and Toyota all included that side in some of their repairs. Subaru subsequently did, as well. In addition, Mazda is expanding the scope of its recall to add Florida, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Saipan, Guam, American Samoa, US Virgin Islands, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas to the affected areas. The company estimates that it has a total of 86,773 vehicles in need of repair. Mazda is also teaming with Toyota to begin independent testing of the Takata inflators. Scroll down to read all of the automakers' announcements of these newly expanded recalls. Statement: Air-Bag Inflators December 3, 2014 , Auburn Hills, Mich.

California Man Reunited 33 Years Later With Thunderbird

A California man was at a loss for words when he was reunited with his prized 1964 Ford Thunderbird on Tuesday, 33 years after it was stolen from a bar parking lot. Gary Chartrand could hardly believe how well his old Thunderbird held up in the last three decades. The odometer had only added about 1,000 miles from when he last saw the car back in the 1980s. "A few bumps and bruises but boy, not much changed," Chartrand told KOVR. Chartrand bought the car as a present to himself after finalizing his divorce from his wife of 10 years in 1981. It disappeared one night from the parking lot of a Sacramento bar where he was working. Police found Chartrand's car 750 miles north in Washington State. They have no leads on who might have stolen the classic car. Related Gallery Buying An Older Car: Five Things To Watch Out For

2017 Ford GT looks resplendent in Liquid Silver and will be built in Ontario

You didn't think we'd let an opportunity to capture another high-res image gallery of our favorite vehicle from the North American International Auto Show pass by, now that it's taking center stage in Chicago, did you? Especially since it's now painted in a brand-new hue? Of course not. And so we're happy to present to you the 2017 Ford GT in Liquid Silver, wearing titanium-tinted racing stripes. It may not be as classically American as the show-stopping blue that debuted with the concept in Detroit, but it's beautiful nonetheless. And, in even better news, we hear that the GT has been confirmed for production at Ford's factory in Markham, Ontario, according to our Canadian friends at CTV News. To recap what we know about the Ford GT – besides the fact that we're in mad, mad love with it, of course – it's beautiful, will be powered by a mid-mounted 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 with "more than 600 horsepower," it's beautiful, it sends all that power to the rear wheels through a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox, it's beautiful, blends a carbon fiber monocoque and body panels with aluminum subframes, and it's beautiful. We think it's likely headed for endurance-racing competition, as was the original GT40 that is its spiritual grandfather, and we're sure it will look good doing it. Heck, maybe it'll even win at Le Mans. In any case, check it out in high-res glory below, in multiple color schemes, in both images and video. Related Video: Related Gallery Ford GT Concept: Detroit 2015 View 45 Photos Related Gallery Ford GT View 11 Photos Related Gallery 2017 Ford GT: Chicago 2015 View 30 Photos Image Credit: Live photos copyright 2015 Drew Phillips / AOL Design/Style Plants/Manufacturing Chicago Auto Show Ford Coupe Performance Supercars Videos autoblog black