I'm no longer going to express any shock that my island city continues to provide a seemingly inexhaustible supply of street-parked vintage cars and trucks; we got to 150 Down On The Street posts late last year, we're up to 200 as of today, and I've got enough photos in the can to get us to 250, no sweat.  read more »

WASHINGTON -- The insurance industry named dozens of new cars and trucks, led by Ford Motor Co. and its Volvo subsidiary, to its annual list of the safest vehicles Tuesday, helped by the increased use of anti-rollover technology.

Ford and Volvo had 16 vehicles in the 2009 model year on the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's list of the safest new cars, followed by Honda Motor Co. with 13 vehicles.

Seventy-two cars, trucks and SUVs received the top safety pick designation for 2009, more than double the number of vehicles in the 2008 model year and three times the number in 2007.

"The sheer number of this year's winners indicates that automakers have made huge strides to improve crash protection," said Institute president Adrian Lund.  read more »

The 2008 LA Auto Show starting tonight will see the debut of the new 2010 Ford Mustang we revealed first in full for you last night — nearly 44 years after the original 1964 model made its debut on the show circuit. The Mustang's not only the original pony car, it's the only one to continuously sell for all 44 of those years. With such an established history, and with the new Challenger and Camaro nipping at its tail, we were skeptical of a redesign we were told was more an "evolution" rather than "revolution." We'd also been told not to expect any seriously new powertrain options for the 2010 model year. Despite those nagging concerns, what we've found may surprise even us.  read more »

Weve been covering the rollout of April incentives this week, and so far the deals coming from Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep are the most jaw-dropping. The weak economy and double-digit sales slump in March spurred major incentive spending from Ford , while GM has kept incentives about even for the past few months. Chrysler, however, has incentives so large that, in some regions, they even beat the radical employee discount sale from the summer of 2006. Not surprisingly, the biggest numbers are on large trucks and SUVs, with the Dodge Ram half-ton sporting a $5,500 cash-back offer.  read more »

Dodge decided to "hit it" on big money day here at the big BJ auction by dropping the very first 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 on to the auction block to watch as it sold for $400,000 with the proceeds going to charity. But strangely enough, despite now running the new Challenger without cover on the highways and byways of Metro Detroit, the PR folks with Chrysler decided to only bring the concept version here to Barrett-Jackson. Does that make sense?  read more »

We fired up the email this morning, per our usual, only to read lots of people asking why we hadnt posted about Toyota overtaking Ford for the No. 2 automaker in the U.S in 2007. Frankly, we had thought that had already happened. Just kidding. Still, we didnt digest all the numbers until now and there are some interesting things to note. Toyota Division Toyota-branded vehicles only; no Lexus or Scion sold 2,291,648 total vehicles in 2007, the companys best number ever. Ford Division Ford-branded vehicles only; no Lincoln or Mercury sold 2,101,244 total vehicles, down 13.6 % from 2006s figure of 2,433,086. Conclusion 1: Yes, Toyota is now the No. 1 nameplate. GM as a company is still really No. 1, but its Chevrolet nameplate is the No. 2 brand now, with 2,265,641 vehicles sold in 2007. Thats down 6.2% from 2,415,428 in 2006. GM as a company including Cadillac, Hummer, and so on is still tops with 3,833,611, versus Toyota Motor Company at 2,620,825 and Ford Motor Company at 2,572,599. The new Chrysler group Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep was down 3% to 2,076,650. Conclusion 2: The Ford brand didnt do that poorly if you take into account old models that were discontinued in 2007. The Freestar minivan alone accounted for a loss of 47,735 vehicles in 2007 sales. It will be replaced by the Flex crossover in 2009.  The Ford Five Hundred accounted for a loss of roughly 17,040 vehicles, when you account for its discontinuation and the addition of the new Taurus, which replaced it a few months later. The Freestyle accounted for a loss of 16,492 during its few months out of commission before the Taurus X replaced it. The gas-guzzling Excursions minimal sales of 965 surely wont be missed. The total of those discontinued vehicle sales is 82,232, which you could subtract from the 190,404 shortfall vs. Toyota, a number large enough to make an obvious dent. Thats not Fords only problem, though. Conclusion 3: Big sellers for Ford saw big declines and most are in need of replacing or updating. The F Series alone was down 105,450 in 2007. Thats a huge number and would help bridge that gap with Toyota (which added an all-new Tundra last year, by the way). The Mustang, Econoline and Ranger also saw significant losses in 2007. Conclusion 4: Lincoln sales are gaining, but Mercury sales are dropping, and Ford needs to address Mercurys failure soon. There are no new Mercury models in the pipeline at all. And with most Lincoln and Mercury dealers already consolidating with Ford stores, theres no need for two upmarket nameplates. The Silver Lining: Ford will introduce an all-new F-150 in two weeks at the Detroit auto show. Even in a declining segment that should boost sales a bit. Also, the Mustang will get an update in 2009. In 2008 the Flex crossover will go on sale, potentially offsetting the loss of the Freestar. The last all-new Ford crossover, the Edge, has done extremely well for the company. Its 130,125 in sales in 2007, its first year, easily offset the 41,412 drop in Explorer sales to 137,817 in 2007. Ford also says it cut down fleet sales which dont turn as much profit by 18% in 2007. What does all this mean?  read more »

The spirit of the current generation Ford F-150 that came along in 2004 is still present in the 2009 model. When you sell as many F-150s as Ford does, you don't ever risk breaking all the eggs you may have in your biggest basket. Having the choice of four box options and eight trim levels indicates just how many variations Ford is willing to extend to their truck owners. And there is lots of refinement to be had this time around.

Ford's 2009 F-150 pickups are part of a rich heritage of hard working trucks that only gets more refined with the new 2009 model. In a highly competitive full-size half-ton pickup segment that Ford has owned as long as there have been pickups, the new lineup will do nothing to hurt potential sales.

Delivering the obvious enhancements in styling, engineering and convenience features, the F-150 is making believers out of people who might never have pictured themselves in a pickup truck.  read more »

Dodge is known for bucking conventional pickup-truck wisdom. The '94 model polarized everyone with its brazen big-rig styling. For 2009, the Dodge Ram gets perhaps its most significant breakthrough yet: rear coil springs. That's big news, as is the 390 horsepower rating of the revised 5.7-liter Hemi. But is class-leading power and a new suspension enough to lure more half-ton shoppers to Dodge's lots? With Ford and GM well entrenched in the pickup game and Tundra and Titan nipping at Detroit's heels, Dodge has to do better than good enough. And that's especially true in these, the hardest times yet for the full size pickup market. The verdict from down south?  read more »

Though there was much gnashing of teeth over the Land Rover Defender last week, the British stalwart marched triumphant into the Jalopnik Fantasy Garage, with a convincing 82.8%. We now have 43 slots down and a mere seven left to fill. Things are beginning to get tight, so let's move on to something better able to fit in the tiny and uncomfortable spaces we've got left. With a wind-sculpted shape and dominating track record, purity of concept and unwavering devotion to engineering, this week's long-awaited entry proves that might does not always make right. Indeed, sometimes the victor is he who carries the lightest burden.  read more »