Restored 1947 Ford 3/4 Ton Fat Fender Step-side Flat-head 4-speed 48 49 50 51 52 on 2040-cars

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180,000 new vehicles are sitting, derailed by lack of transport trains

If you're planning on buying a new car in the next month or so, you might want to pick from what's on the lot, because there could be a long wait for new vehicles from the factory. Locomotives continue to be in short supply in North America, and that's causing major delays for automakers trying to move assembled cars.
According to The Detroit News, there are about 180,000 new vehicles waiting to be transported by rail in North America at the moment. In a normal year, it would be about 69,000. The complications have been industry-wide. Toyota, General Motors, Honda and Ford all reported experiencing some delays, and Chrysler recently had hundreds of minivans sitting on the Detroit waterfront waiting to be shipped out.
The problem is twofold for automakers. First, the fracking boom in the Bakken oil field in the Plains and Canada is monopolizing many locomotives. Second, the long, harsh winter is still causing major delays in freight train travel. The bad weather forced trains to slow down and carry less weight, which caused a backup of goods to transport. The auto companies resorted to moving some vehicles by truck, which was a less efficient but necessary option.

Shelby GT350 stars in 2015 Monterey Motorsports Reunion

Scoping out classic racing machinery sitting at Monterey Car Week is a lovely experience. We're always stoked to see some of these priceless pieces of metal wherever we can, up close and personal. But we all know that where they really belong is on the racetrack. That's where the Monterey Motorsports Reunion comes in, and this year's event was a thrilling spectacle. Sponsored as always by Rolex and held at the legendary Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, this year's reunion brought together a wide array of tantalizing machinery from the annals of racing history. There were Can-Am racers – some of the fastest and most powerful competition equipment ever devised – of every color, and more racing Porsches than you could shake a titanium connecting rod at. But the biggest part of the spectacle was the Shelby GT350. That most venerable of classic Mustangs served as the featured marque this year as it celebrated its 50th anniversary. Auspicious timing, considering that Ford has now brought it back. But fans of the original will want to check out the dozens of snake-bitten pony cars doing their thing on one of America's finest racing circuits. Check out the GT350s, captured through the lens of our own master shutterbug, Drew Phillips, in the gallery above, and the full array of reunited vintage racers in the second gallery below the video.

Ford patents a multi-touch version of its classic keypad

For decades, Ford has offered a keypad on the doors of their cars that would allow owners access with the right code. Amazingly, the keypad has survived almost unchanged except for a recent touch button version. A new patent from the Blue Oval shows the keypad may get a big upgrade soon. The first big change is that it looks like the keypad may move to the key fob. Although it might be possible to have it on the car itself as well, the patent only seems to focus on the key fob. In addition, the fob will now be a multi-touch pad similar to that of modern smartphones. This will allow for more diverse code entries, according to the patent's description. Instead of just a simple number code, owners could enter a code that involves swipes and keystrokes, and even simultaneous keystrokes. For instance, you could enter a code that requires swiping from 1 to 3, followed by holding 2 and 4 to unlock the car. The patent also seems to indicate that this keypad would then display unlock functions and other functions on the fob after the correct code is entered, thus making it more than just a way to unlock the car. As for the practical implications of this keypad system update, it could provide an added layer of security. If someone steals your keys, they would have to also know your access code to get into the car. Whether this would also help make the key and car harder to hack would remain to be seen, though. Another possible benefit could be the prevention of accidental lock and alarm button presses, although that likely isn't a common issue. There could be potential downsides as well. If used as an extra layer of security, the legitimate owner would have to punch in their code on the fob to get in, which would render proximity key benefits relatively useless. Moving the keypad to the fob would also mean owners couldn't get into their cars without having the key with them. We don't have any clues as to when this could become a feature, but it doesn't seem like it would be difficult to implement, so it could show up in the next few years. Related Video: News Source: United States Patent and Trademark OfficeImage Credit: Ford, United States Patent and Trademark Office / Ford Auto News Ford Lincoln Technology keyless entry