1949 Ford F1 Pickup on 2040-cars

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Car companies used to cook up sales with recipe books

The evolution of automotive marketing has undergone a number of strange phases. Few, though, match the strangeness of the 1930s to 1950s, when automotive marketers turned to cookbooks as a means of promoting their vehicles. Yes, cookbooks. We can't make this stuff up, folks.
This bizarre trend led to General Motors distributing cookbooks under the guise of its then-subsidiary Frigidaire. Ford, meanwhile, offered a compilation of recipes from Ford Credit Employees (shown above). The cookbook-craze wasn't limited to domestic manufacturers, though. As The Detroit News discovered, both Rolls-Royce and Volkswagen got in on the trend, although not until the 1970s.
The News has the full story on this strange bit of marketing. Head over and take a look.

Ford, Renault have surprises in store for Le Mans

All those prototype and GT racers won't be the only attraction catching our eye at the 24 Hours of Le Mans this weekend. Two major automakers have also confirmed that they've got new metal to unveil. And while they're not saying exactly what they'll be, we've got some pretty good ideas. First up is Ford, which has announced a "major Ford Performance news announcement" on Friday. Chairman Bill Ford, CEO Mark Fields, and product development chief Raj Nair will be on hand for the announcement set to take place on Friday at 10:00 AM Eastern. The Blue Oval isn't saying just what it has in store, but the widespread speculation has been that it will present a racing version of the new Ford GT at Le Mans a good half century since the original GT40 raced there. Meanwhile, Renault has announced that it is marking the 60th anniversary of the Alpine marque at Le Mans this Saturday. The French automaker has been working on reviving the dormant marque, and looks poised to finally reveal its new sports car at its iconic home endurance race this weekend. Tipped to be called the Alpine AS1, the new sports car will bring the marque back out of retirement in a more real way than the ELMS-winning LMP2 prototype ever could. Expect it to be based on the mid-engined chassis underpinning the Renault RS 01 spec racer, but built for the road. Related Video: FORD TO ANNOUNCE SIGNIFICANT PERFORMANCE NEWS THIS WEEK - Ford this week is making a major Ford Performance news announcement via live-streamed media conference - Bill Ford, executive chairman will host the event with Mark Fields, president and CEO; and Raj Nair, group vice president, Global Product Development COLOGNE, Germany, June 8, 2015 – Ford this week is making a news announcement regarding Ford Performance at 14:00 UK time on Friday. Ford Executive Chairman, Bill Ford; President and CEO Mark Fields; and Group Vice President of Global Product Development Raj Nair, will be joined by special guests for an event that will be live-streamed around the world. The news conference will be available to view live at http://bit.ly/FordPerformanceSpecialEvent where an automated calendar entry for the June 12 event is now available. Broadcasters please note the conference will be available from BT Tower at 15:00-15:30 CET/13:00-13:30 GMT (HD – ref: HD/LOG/C 113) (SD – ref: ARQIVA 71). ### Save the date: 60th Anniversary of Alpine To celebrate the 60th Anniversary of Alpine, we have a surprise for you at the 24 Hours of Le Mans!

Trump threatens huge tax for Mexican-built Fords

Donald Trump announced his candidacy for president on Tuesday. So what would be one of the first things he would do if elected? Tax the heck out of Ford. According to The Detroit News, Trump advocated instituting a specific tax against Ford products built in Mexico during a speech in New York. Rather than incentivize US production, the outspoken billionaire's proposal would penalize Mexican-built Ford vehicles and parts by 35 percent upon purchase. That would ostensibly raise the base price of a Mexican-built Ford Fiesta from $13,965 to over $18,800, and a Lincoln MKZ from $35,190 to over $47k. He apparently made no mention of applying the same or a similar penalty to other vehicles or products imported across the border, or from other countries, raising serious questions about the legality and feasibility of instituting and enforcing the proposed measure. Trump's remarks arrived against the backdrop of a shift in automobile production from the United States into Mexico – and specifically Ford's recent announcement that it was investing $2.5 billion and creating 3,800 jobs for its Mexican operations. Of course the Blue Oval isn't the only automaker shifting production across the border and still invests heavily in its US operations. "We are proud that we have invested $6.2 billion in our U.S. plants since 2011 and hired nearly 25,000 U.S. employees," Ford spokesperson Christin Baker told The Detroit News. "Overall, 80 percent of our North American investment annually is in the U.S., and 97 percent of our North American engineering is conducted in the U.S." Though Trump has generally stood against over-taxation, he's been a staunch critic of free trade agreements like NAFTA that shift American jobs overseas. Fortunately for Ford, though, America's combover-in-chief stands about as much chance of being elected to the White House as Dearborn stands of reviving Mercury or Edsel. Related Video: