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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

The fascinating forgotten civil defense history of Mister Softee trucks

Hemmings came across an interesting article from the Throwin' Wrenches blog about the intersection of ice cream, cars and civic duty in America's late 1950s. In particular, it focuses on the Mister Softee trucks, which criss-crossed neighborhoods of the eastern US serving ice cream. Looking past the ultra-durable vehicles used - heavy-duty Ford-based chassis, for what it's worth - the article delves into some deeper national-security territory.
See, Mister Softee truck owners were voluntary members of the Civil Defense, thanks to all the useful stuff (potable water, generators, freezers and fridges) that the machines carried with them for serving ice cream. Click over to Throwin' Wrenches for the full run down of how Mister Softee would have stepped in to help fight if the Cold War ever turned a little hotter.

Ford gives police chiefs tech to surveil officers in their own cars

Police officers certainly have a difficult job in keeping the streets safe, but as public employees in positions of authority, there is still a very real need for oversight. To that end, Ford is partnering with a tech company to offer a new system called Ford Telematics for Law Enforcement on its line of Police Interceptor patrol vehicles that could make cops safer, while giving cities a better idea of what its officers are doing.
The system streams live data about cruisers back to the home base to people like the police chief or shift supervisor. That info includes expected things like speed, location and cornering acceleration, but it gets incredibly granular as well, with records of things like if emergency lights are on, or even if an officer is wearing a seatbelt.
Ford Telematics for Law Enforcement "ought to protect officers as much as it protects the public," said Ford spokesperson Chris Terry to Autoblog. Constantly monitoring patrol cars offers cities a lot of advantages, too. First, it reduces potential liability because a department can prove where each vehicle is at all times. Also, officers know they are being watched and may potentially drive more safely.