1928 Ford Model A Enclosed Cab Pickuptruck on 2040-cars

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Ford decides C-Max shoppers not interested in fuel economy

If you say a car – the Ford C-Max Hybrid, for example – is "fun to drive," can anyone really come up with some empirical evidence against your claim? What about calling it "versatile"? We wonder if Ford has been thinking along these lines when it talks about the green little hatch. Ford is refocusing its sales strategy for the C-Max Hybrid after the model took a sales hit on both sides of the Atlantic recently, Automotive News reports. That sales dropoff may stem from the fact that Ford has had to revise its fuel-economy figures downward for the C-Max twice since last year, most recently in June. That made the company's once-proud fuel-economy comparisons with the Toyota Prius kind of pointless. Ford is going a different route, calling the model versatile (which, to be fair it was also doing a year ago), technologically advanced and fun to drive. Since the C-Max has about 50 more horsepower than the Prius, that last part may be true. Ford representatives didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from AutoblogGreen about the mpg-mention-free advertising direction, but we will update this post if we hear back. Sales of the C-Max Hybrid have suffered in the US. Through September, Ford sold 15,245 C-Max Hybrids, down 36 percent from last year. We shall see if a new focus away from the car's lowered mpg numbers helps. At least Ford can be pleased with sales of the C-Max Energi Plug-in Hybrid, which are up 51 percent compared to 2013.

Former Ford president, Jaguar chairman Nick Scheele dead at 70

We have the privilege here at Autoblog of reporting a lot of good news, but it is our duty as well to report the bad news and sad news as well. And this is one of those occasions as the automotive industry mourns the passing of one of its leaders.
Nick Scheele was born in the UK in 1944 and joined the Ford Motor Company upon graduating from the University of Durham in 1966, staying within the Blue Oval's portfolio for the entirety of his career. After moving to North America in 1978, he rose through the ranks to become president of Ford's Mexican operations in 1988. After acquiring Jaguar, Ford appointed Scheele as its chairman.
Scheele subsequently acted as chairman of all of Ford's European operations, making difficult decisions to take the division out of the red and into the black. He briefly headed up Ford's North American division before he was appointed in 2001 as president and chief operating officer of the global automaker, working under CEO Bill Ford following the departure of Jacques Nasser departure and retaining the role until his retirement in 2005.

1994 McLaren F1 LM-Specification fetches $19.8M at Monterey

The botched sale of that World War II-era 1939 Porsche Type 64 may have somewhat overshadowed the RM Sotheby’s auction last weekend at Monterey, but the event wasnÂ’t without its highlights. Exhibit A: The one-of-two 1994 McLaren F1 LM-Specification supercar that we told you about a month ago netted a whopping $19.8 million at the RM SothebyÂ’s auction last weekend in Monterey, and an almost equally rare 1965 Ford GT40 Roadster Prototype also netted seven figures.  The F1 is one of 106 examples ever built and one of just two in LM-Specification (the LM stands for “Le Mans”). McLaren upgraded the standard F1 at the factory post-production, adding a 680-horsepower GTR engine, an extra-high downforce coachwork kit highlighted by the massive rear wing, race-spec dampers, two more radiators and so forth. It also gained a more comfortable interior and creature comforts, with an upgraded air conditioning, radio, new headlights and a different steering wheel. Finally, the exterior was given a coat of silver paint, replacing the factory blue. Four bidders spent four-and-a-half minutes trying to outbid one another for the car, which eventually went to an unidentified American private collector. Also successfully auctioned on Friday: the 1965 Ford GT40 Roadster Prototype for $7.65 million, which fell right in line with expectations of between $7 million and $9 million. It helped pave the way for the Mark IV race cars that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans. As a reminder, it was the first of five GT40 Roadster Prototypes ever built, with seven hardtop versions also built, and it underwent a full restoration in 1983 and a mechanical overhaul in 2003. And it sure is pretty to look at.