Tag Archives: Ford

Cars We've Seen

Galpin GTR1 Spotted in Monterey, CA

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Galpin GTR1 Spotted in Monterey California

When we saw this Galpin GTR1 out rolling on the streets of Monterey, we flipped out, thinking it was a concept for a new Ford GT. Utilizing our smart phones, we quickly realized that our memories were quite fuzzy. We knew we recognized the car from somewhere, and, as it turns out, this Galipin GTR1 was released at Pebble Beach in 2013, so we had seen it before.

This spot was made no less awesome once we realized it was a Galpin, though, as the Galpin GTR1 is about as exotic as cars come. Galpin initially only planned to make as many as 24 GTR1s total, but I’m not sure how many have actually been built to date.

Based in California, Galpin Auto Sports sells customized vehicles as a subsidiary of Galpin Motors, which is the number one volume selling Ford dealership in the world. Also of note, Galpin Auto Sports was the shop featured in the 5th and 6th seasons of MTV’s Pimp My Ride.

The GTR1 is based on the Ford GT, but the engine has been heavily modified to over 1000hp, and the interior and exterior have been significantly revised. The car is really quite something, and it definitely dropped our jaws for the few seconds we were able to see it out in the real world, before it disappeared into a hotel car park.

-Nick Walker

Opinions

Why Couldn’t Lincoln Just Make a Lincoln?

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Lincoln Continentals vs Bentley Flying Spur

The Lincoln brand desperately needs a savior, but I’m really not seeing the 2016 Lincoln Continental Concept as the car to do it.

Establishing a solid brand identity for Lincoln is really the only thing that matters here, in my opinion. And, frankly, if the new Continental isn’t going to do that, then it is total a waste of effort and money for Ford. My problem with it is that most of it’s good aspects are done the wrong way to establish a real unique brand identity. There is too much copying going on, and you can’t anywhere new as a follower. There are a few good things, though, so let’s begin with that before jumping into the ocean of criticism I have to voice.

Continue reading Why Couldn’t Lincoln Just Make a Lincoln? →

Car Shows, SHOWCASE

1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 at the Boca Raton Concours

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1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 Front 1

Grabber Green might be one of the best colors Ford put on the Mustang in the early Seventies–and they couldn’t sell it.  The Boss 302, a homologation special for Trans-Am racing, was a screamer of a car–the small-block V8 Ford developed was capable of winding up to 6,250RPM, quite high for the time, especially for an American V8.  A four-speed manual, special suspension, and all sorts of racing goodies rounded out the package under the skin, with plenty of trim pieces to make the package tasteful.  Unfortunately, they only sold it for two years.

In 1970, the Boss improved a bit–the new look of the ’70 model Mustang gave the Boss 302 a reskinned and more mature look.  The stripes were unchanged, and the offer of a few new colors made sure people kept on buying them.  When all was said and done, the changes did indeed pay dividends–after only selling a bit over 1500 units in 1969, Ford moved more than 7000 of these in 1970.  Unfortunately for those of us who love bright green, not many left the factory in Grabber Green–only 352 were painted that way, and according to the placard, only 111 were equipped with the manual gearbox in that color.  Therefore, this Hurst-equipped Green Monstah is a seriously rare machine.  Enjoy the photos. Continue reading 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 at the Boca Raton Concours →

Car Shows, SHOWCASE

Highlights from the 2015 Boca Raton Concours

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1930 Cadillac V16

This past weekend, I found myself getting a small tan in sunny Florida, while my cohort in the Northeast froze like a Popsicle. 80 degrees, plenty of sun, and low wind make great bedfellows with classic cars on a golf course, and with palm trees abound, the 2015 Boca Raton Concours was a sure thing. This was the first time I’ve attended this show, and I was suitably impressed.

Now in its 9th season, this show is very close in terms of timing to Amelia Island, but takes place much further south, just 60 miles north of Miami. The show is held on the grounds of the Boca Raton Resort and Club, one of the best establishments in South Florida. The show was on the golf course and featured Cadillac products, as well as anything related to the Ford Mustang, to celebrate its 50th anniversary. Best of Show was a familiar face and a familiar car–the same car that won Best of Show at Greenwich last summer, a stunning Minerva owned by Joseph Cassini, won the prize at Boca this weekend. Please enjoy this gallery of fine automobiles–features will be coming very soon of a stunning Ferrari 275 GTB NART Spyder, as well as a few gorgeous old Mopar muscle cars. Enjoy, all! Continue reading Highlights from the 2015 Boca Raton Concours →

Cars We've Seen

1957 Ford Thunderbird spotted in Carmel, CA

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1957 Ford Thunderbird Curbside Front

The day before the Concours at Monterey Car week is a busy day. Laguna Seca is running races all day, the Concorso Italiano is in full swing, and Nick and I are running around town covering as much as humanly possible before dropping on our faces at the hotel later in the evening. Luckily for the both of us, there’s plenty of great cars out there to satisfy even the most finicky car enthusiast.

Exotics are aplenty, but American classics are always out in full force–some, like this Skymist Blue ’57 T-Bird, are even for sale. This particular car is almost identical to a model of a ’57 that occupies some valuable real estate on my desk at my office. In fact, the only difference is that the toy I have has wide whites, while the car on the streets has skinny whitewalls. Either way, it looked rather handsome on the streets of Carmel in the evening hours. Enjoy the photos. Continue reading 1957 Ford Thunderbird spotted in Carmel, CA →

Opinions

The 2016 Ford Focus RS Done Right!

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2016 Ford Focus RS

Don’t you just love when automakers don’t drop the ball at the last minute and disappoint everyone?

All too often car companies release products that just aren’t as good as they should be. They either don’t listen to what customers are asking for, or they think they don’t need to improve upon a good product (cough, Subaru, cough).

Today, Ford has released the details on the new 2016 Ford Focus RS, a rally-style hatchback aimed directly at the Subaru WRX STI. All of the details we were praying for are thankfully present and accounted for, namely all-wheel-drive a manual gearbox.

Continue reading The 2016 Ford Focus RS Done Right! →

Opinions

Edmunds Tests The Durability Of Ford’s Aluminum F-150

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I’ll admit to being one of the skeptics of the new aluminum-bodied Ford F-150. I could just see them getting banged up real easily on worksites, and being extremely expensive to fix. This video shows some surprising resilience in the F-150’s aluminum body panels, even after being pounded with a sledgehammer. No word on the repair bill as of yet, so we’ll have to wait and see. But thus far, I’m definitely impressed.

UPDATE: They got the bill!

So the aluminum body panels are sturdier than many had thought, but you won’t want to have to fix them. They are quite expensive, more than double the cost of repairing steel body work. Aluminum costs substantially more to work on than steel, and it takes more hours to do the work.

In a nutshell, it’s a good thing that the F-150’s aluminum body panels are pretty robust because many customers may find it a better idea to just live with a few dings and dents than spend the big money on repairs.

-Nick

Car Shows, SHOWCASE

1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 at the River Edge Car Show

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1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 Front

While finishing up my stint at the River Edge Car Show, an aqua Ford Mustang Mach 1 showed up. While I’ve seen plenty of 1969s in my time, this one looked almost too familiar, and it hit me pretty fast. When I was 17 years old, a friend of mine asked me to help judge a classic car show in Parsippany NJ and this car was the Best of Show winner. Seven or so years later, and it was back–and I was more than happy to not only see it again, but to be armed with a camera to photograph it again.

This particular car is a single-owner vehicle. When we’re talking about a 1969 Mustang, that’s pretty special in its own right. The owner, Douglas Hakes, bought this car on a low-interest loan thanks to his stint in the Navy and he never looked back. More than 130,000 miles later, it’s been restored and has been a fixture at Mustang events and at North Jersey car shows (it’s based apparently out of Morris County) for some time now.

This one’s not your typical Mach 1–it’s not a big-block ground pounder with bright orange or white paint and psychedelic strobe stripes running down the sides. This one is Gulfstream Aqua, and it’s equipped with the 351 Windsor V8, a four-speed manual, and the Sportsroof body type (fastback body). It’s absolutely stunning, and although it came too late to this show to be judged, I would love to see it back next year to compete in its class and win a trophy to add to its rather large collection. Enjoy the photos. Continue reading 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 at the River Edge Car Show →

CARS 101

Ford Fiesta ST Tuning And Modification Guide

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Ford Fiesta ST Modification Guide

The Ford Fiesta ST is one of my favorite cars currently on sale in America. It’s just such a great package for a great price, and it puts most other cheap performance cars on sale in America to shame. If your budget is a strict $25,000 and you want a fun new car, you’d be a bit foolish to buy anything else.

Of course, with any performance-focused car, owners want to know how they can make their car faster with aftermarket parts and tuning. I thought the Ford Fiesta ST had pretty much everything going for it in stock form, but it’s only human nature to want to push things further.

A friend of mine just got himself a Ford Fiesta ST, and that has inspired me to write this overview on modifications and tuning for the car. Now, The Smoking Tire has already done some wonderful videos on upgrading their Fiesta ST. Because I want you, the reader, to have the best information available here, I will include those videos in this post. Also, see the table at the bottom for all the numbers in one place.

Let’s get to it!

Continue reading Ford Fiesta ST Tuning And Modification Guide →

Cars We've Seen

Ford GT Spotted in Carmel, CA

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Red Ford GT in Carmel Ford GT in Carmel California

Even amongst other exotic machines, the Ford GT is special. Ford did a fantastic job bringing the classic lines of the GT40 into the 21st century, and it really sets it apart on the street, even amongst droves of Ferraris and Lambos. Such is the epic automotive extravaganza that is Monterey Car Week!

-Nick

Auto Idolatry

Chris Harris Shows Us Ken Block’s Insane AWD ’65 Mustang

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Ken Block is a racing driver, but he admits he’s rubbish at explaining his car. So for that job, Mr. Block has enlisted the help of none other than Chris Harris, of /DRIVE YouTube fame.

The “1965 Mustang” used for Ken Block’s Gymkhana 7 is really a totally custom machine with only a few bits remaining from the actual Mustang itself. In a nutshell, it is a custom built all wheel drive rally car fitted with a NASCAR engine. Sound fun? Then enjoy the video!

-Nick

Auto Idolatry

Ken Block’s Gymkhana 7: Wild In The Streets Of LA

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The whole car world eagerly awaits every new stunt-tastic video from Ken Block, and Gymkhana 7 is finally here! This time, Ken attacks the streets of Los Angeles with a custom all wheel drive Ford Mustang, probably his most badass car yet. Have you ever seen anyone drift a car under a bouncing Low Rider? Well feast your eyes!

-Nick