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Spy shooter claims proof of upcoming aluminum Ford F-Series Super Duty

Ford has already confirmed that the 2015 F-150 (pictured above) was just the beginning for its more extensive use of aluminum. CEO Alan Mulally said it himself during the 2014 Detroit Auto Show. We've even already seen the future Raptor testing with an aluminum body. But a recent discovery from an intrepid spy photographer might indicate that the lightweight metal is coming to the Blue Oval's Super Duty pickups in their upcoming generation, as well.
According to Automotive News, a spy shooter in Colorado spotted a prototype for the next-gen F-350 testing. He happened to have a magnet on hand and got close enough to check the truck out. When he held it up to the metal in the bed, it didn't stick, which signaled to him a switch from steel to aluminum.
Obviously, this claim raises some questions. Given that it was a test vehicle, one possibility is that the Blue Oval is just evaluating the feasibility of switching to aluminum for the Super Duty trucks, not necessarily committed to it yet. Ford has been testing it quite exhaustively, after all. In fact, much of the rest of the truck in question was covered in camouflage, so it's possible that the magnet failed to work along the rest of the body not because it was aluminum, but because it wasn't powerful enough to get through the disguising material. Thus, the lightweight metal's use could be far less substantial than on the new F-150. Still, it was a clever idea for the cameraman to check things out and might have given us the first hint about brand's next heavy-duty models.

Ford to rebrand SVT as 999?

Ford operates a number of performance divisions around the world. There's SVT in the US, Team RS in Europe and Ford Performance Vehicles (FPV) in Australia. But the Blue Oval has been steadily integrating its performance operations into one unit, and here we might have our first indication of what it will be called.
A reader at Jalopnik sent in a survey in which respondents were asked to gauge the name for a new performance brand from a "major automotive manufacturer," and while the identity of that automaker was not disclosed, according to the survey, the automaker is considering the name 999 for its new go-fast unit.
As our compatriots point out, the 999 was Ford's first racecar, a rudimentary chassis with a 19-liter inline-four campaigned by Henry Ford around the turn of the 20th century. (Ford also used the number to designate a Fusion fuel-cell racer a few years back.) That could prove the tie-in Dearborn is looking for in rebranding its performance operations worldwide, replacing the letters SVT, RS and FPV globally under one name.

Ford spotted testing new Fiesta RS hot hatch

There's a lot to love about Focus ST and Fiesta ST, but if neither of those is enough for you, we've got good news: Ford has even more potent RS versions of both in the works. The Focus RS we already saw last month, but here we have our first spy shots of the smaller Fiesta RS undergoing testing. Spotted alongside still-camouflaged prototypes of its big brother, the new Ford Fiesta RS is wearing a modified front end, flared fenders packing a wider track and a revised rear-end. The beefed-up bodywork is all well and fine, but we're looking forward to finding out what's underneath it all. Sources point towards a 250-horsepower version of Dearborn's 1.6-liter EcoBoost turbo four, along with upgraded brakes and suspension. The big question, though, is whether the production Fiesta RS will pack the new performance all-wheel-drive system from its larger counterpart, or stick with front-drive and some sort of clever diff. It may be too early to tell, as this pocket rocket is likely a good year away from its debut, but in the meantime you can scope out the spy shots in the slideshow above for a taste of what's to come. Related Video: