Whether it's trailer hitches or complete rebody customizations; Ford, GM and Dodge all provide guides to body builders or upfitters to make safe and reliable modifications to light and medium duty trucks and vans. The guides contain wiring diagrams; dimensions and specifications (eg: how much weight can you put on your van's roof); emissions information; and information on areas to avoid mounting equipment in for safety. [more inside]
posted by Mitheral on Oct 10, 2009 - 9 comments

The Ford Treasury of Station Wagon Living blogged. (Vol 2). Downloadable at the Internet Archive. Scans of drawings here. [more inside]
posted by dersins on Aug 7, 2009 - 29 comments

An uncredited contributor to A Star is Born; a writer for Little Orphan Annie; the writer of Nuremberg and a writer of December 7th – both productions of the Office of Strategic Services documentary unit led by John Ford; author of a 1940s hit, What Makes Sammy Run? – the story of Sammy Glick (Shmelka Glickstein)'s rise from newspaper office boy to studio production chief – oddly enough also made into a musical. And, of course, the man who put the words "I coulda been a contender" into Marlon Brando's lips. Screenwriter Budd Schulberg dies today, five years short of a century.
posted by WCityMike on Aug 6, 2009 - 13 comments

Lynette 'Squeaky' Fromme, former member of the Manson Family and would-be assassin of President Gerald Ford, is being released from prison after 34 years behind bars. But did she really try to assassinate Ford in the first place?
posted by Lutoslawski on Aug 6, 2009 - 80 comments

We're familiar with blindsight, and seen a blind man navigate a cluttered hallway (wmv file). A blind man with a loaded rifle seems slightly scarier. But if you see the blind guy driving a 2010 Ford Mustang, it's probably best to yield.
posted by cloudscratcher on Jul 27, 2009 - 13 comments

On October 1, 1908, the first Ford Model T rolled out of the factory on Piquette Avenue in Detroit. Many people today wonder why Henry Ford started his nomenclature with the letter "T." Short answer: He didn't. [more inside]
posted by Turkey Glue on Jul 19, 2009 - 19 comments

How to start and drive a Model T
posted by loquacious on Jun 30, 2009 - 26 comments

Museum archivist, exploring Henry Ford's office records, stumbles into the interesting world of commercial telegraphic code.
posted by Miko on May 27, 2009 - 15 comments

Ford's new Business Plan proposal has been released. Ford CEO Alan Mulally said he'll work for $1 per year if the company has to take any government loan money. [more inside]
posted by Mastercheddaar on Dec 2, 2008 - 90 comments

Ford Model T owners "transformed the cars into tractors, pickup trucks, paddy wagons, mobile lumber mills and power plants for milling grain." [more inside]
posted by Knappster on Jul 31, 2008 - 8 comments

"She was the first and only girl I kissed in the car. It's priceless because of that, as far as I'm concerned." Clarence Cleveland Curtis, 84 years young, is still driving his first car, a 1929 Ford Model A he bought used (for $10!) as a teenager in 1938. It's the car in which he kissed his future wife 67 years ago, when he was 17 and she was 14... Related: "My First Car" at HotRodder, "My First Car" at Motortrend, and "My First Car" at "AutoWeek.
posted by amyms on Aug 22, 2007 - 40 comments

Latest news out of the auto industry: Buick ties Lexus as top auto brand in vehicle dependability. Cadillac is #2. Mercury is #3. If you haven't seen the new Buicks, you should take a look at what they've been doing lately (see: Enclave, Lucerne). Also, the new (sort of) Taurus gets rave reviews. The Ford Edge, also new for 2007, has captured 16% of the crossover market, and owners seem to love it. Finally, for the greenies, GM is ready to test the electric Chevy Volt--says it is on schedule for production in 2010. Is it time to consider buying American again? And not just for the sake of it?
posted by fusinski on Aug 9, 2007 - 150 comments

Steel Belted Romeos is based on a true story. (NSFW)
posted by airguitar on Jan 16, 2007 - 33 comments

MSNBC and NBC News is reporting that former President Gerald Ford has died at age 93.
posted by barrista on Dec 26, 2006 - 258 comments

This video about the history of petroleum industry propaganda used old archived footage found on the WayBackMachine. It shows some ridiculous propaganda videos from the past and leads us to the campaigns that the oily, slick PR-types and marketers are using today. It's hard to believe that companies like Ford Motor Company and ExxonMobil still get away with funding these industry front groups.
posted by jacob hauser on Nov 6, 2006 - 9 comments

Audi released its new super-sportscar, the R8, at the Paris Autoshow today. With cars like the R8 and the Bugatti Veyron at the top end and the Toyota, Volkswagen or Lexus, there's lots of neat stuff going on in the automotive world...just not from GM, Ford or Chrysler. Maybe it's just me, but pumping out crap like this may be part of the reason. Just guessing.
posted by tgrundke on Sep 27, 2006 - 63 comments

Some old news regarding Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. Further proof that tigers don't change their stripes. Tiger Force in operated in Vietnam, led by the recently-deceased Colonel David Hackworth), with the task of out-guerilla-ing the guerillas. Their attrocities were covered up by Cheney, Rumsfeld, and James Schlesinger, who most recently headed an independent panel probing Abu Gharib. Others incidents inside...
posted by rzklkng on Jul 10, 2006 - 63 comments

Aero Warriors: Battling at super speedways on Sunday to sell cars on Monday. In 1969 only showroom stock cars were permitted in NASCAR sanctioned events. This meant in order to compete a car had to be produced and available through dealers in minimum quantities. Only minor changes for racing were allowed. And in 1969 Ford and Chrysler were locked in a Battle Royale to win races. To this end both produced cars designed to dominate on the 1+ mile speedways. For Chrysler: the Dodge Charger 500, Dodge Charger Daytona, and Plymouth Road Runner Superbird. For Ford: the Ford Torino Talladega and Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II. Aero Warriors is the story and history of these street legal, 200mph (320kph) capable, wildly winged cars from the Chrysler side of the line.
posted by Mitheral on Mar 19, 2006 - 16 comments

Fancy Ford is the most elegant-looking political smear site you've ever seen. But is there a racial message?
posted by barjo on Mar 10, 2006 - 47 comments

Gay hating Ford exec led push for Roberts nomination, meanwhile..... The scandal [ see mefi 47306] lurches in new directions as antigay Ford exec caught "running secret meetings out of Ford's own offices in support of Bush's far-right Supreme Court nominees." The Ford / Nazi link is bad enough, and the leader of the largest branch of American Judaism has recently said, in a speech, "when Hitler came to power in 1933, one of the first things that he did was ban gay organizations", now a new Am. Judaic alliance to oppose ( viciously anti-gay ) Christian theocratic nationalism ?
posted by troutfishing on Dec 6, 2005 - 54 comments

Ford folds to pressure from American Family Association; pulls ads from gay media The American Family Association is forthright about its efforts to take corporations "Head-On" who supposedly embrace the homosexual agenda; apparently in this instance it worked. Ford spokespeople are pitching a different story to the New York Times, claiming the ad withdraws were due to "cost cutting," but John Aravosis claims to have more sources who will confirm Ford's dealings with the AFA. One wonders how Ford could forget its founder's history of intolerance; not everyone is missing the connection.
posted by rkent on Dec 6, 2005 - 78 comments

Ford Motor Company is under attack by the American Family Association for supporting gay rights, or as the AFA calls it, "affirm and promote the homosexual lifestyle". Other targets of the AFA include Carls Jr., Kraft Foods, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Old Navy, and NutriSystem Inc. Previous targets include Walt Disney Co., Wal-Mart, and Microsoft.
posted by C17H19NO3 on Jun 1, 2005 - 51 comments

After an American car company recreates its legendary 1960's Ferrari-beating race car, the first $150,000 2005 production car sells at a charity event for $400,000 over sticker price, (to a Microsoft-enriched individual, of course) and many months later, dealers are still asking up to $200,000 over sticker, or at least $150,000 over sticker. The "experts" at Edmunds say the car is selling for about $100,000 over sticker (seeing their "True Market Value" requires a few clicks from this page), and the widespread belief is that these admittedly amazing cars are virtually impossible to find and all selling for at least $100,000 over sticker. But using publicly available data, including completed eBay auctions and public documents, this non-commercial site shows the truth to be very different than the hype.
posted by escorter on May 13, 2005 - 32 comments

Thirty years ago today, on May 12, 1975, less than two weeks after the fall of Saigon, the U.S. flagged container ship Mayaguez was seized by the Cambodian Khmer Rouge who took the crew hostage. Late that night the ship was located, anchored off a tiny island called Koh Tang in the Gulf of Siam. U.S. President Gerald Ford ordered the aircraft carrier USS Coral Sea, the guided missile destroyer USS Henry B. Wilson and the frigate USS Holt to the area of seizure. He also ordered a battalion of Marines to assault the island and rescue the crew. The rescue was bungled. 41 US servicemen were killed. The crew of 39 was released.
posted by three blind mice on May 12, 2005 - 12 comments

"The President wants me to argue that he is as powerful a monarch as Louis XIV, only four years at a time, and is not subject to the processes of any court in the land except the court of impeachment." - James D. St. Clair, arguing before the Supreme Court in 1974.

The court didn't agree, returning an 8-0 decision and as a result, thirty years ago today Richard Nixon announced his resignation. The next day at 11:35AM it became official and Gerald Ford, the first unelected Vice-President in history was sworn in under the provisions of the 25th Amendment to the Constitution as the 38th President of the United States.

But what if Nixon had chosen to respond differently? What if he had vowed not to resign? Article II of the Constitution makes the President the Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy. Could the Supreme Court really have forced Nixon to comply with their order? What if the President had viewed the Court's order as an attempted coup d'etat?
posted by snarfodox on Aug 8, 2004 - 17 comments

The Shore, a short-story by Richard Ford.
posted by semmi on Aug 6, 2004 - 4 comments

Heads are Gonna Roll • Ford Motor Co. is pissed at ad agency Ogilvy & Mather after O&M leaked a viral marketing ad for the Ford Sportka depicting "a realistic-looking orange cat climbing on top of the car and curiously poking its head into the open moon roof...The roof slides closed and the cat struggles briefly to escape before its headless body slides to the ground." Apparently Ford never authorized the commercial's (.mpg) release.
posted by dhoyt on May 2, 2004 - 33 comments

At Ford, Why Wasn't Safety Job One? "Like other car companies, Ford has consistently fought mandatory increases in fuel economy....by invoking fears that higher mileage requirements would result in smaller, more dangerous vehicles. Safety has been used to beat back fuel efficiency regulations. But Ford's own internal documents and a series of recent court cases reveal a company that is shockingly indifferent to safety risks in the very class of gas-guzzling vehicles it most wants to shield from increases in fuel economy standards...All of this leads us to wonder, if Ford is willing to produce a product it knows will injure and perhaps kill a certain percentage of customers simply to maintain profit margins, does the company really have driver safety at heart when its lobbyists aggressively fight easily-achievable standards for higher corporate average fuel economy?" A new review of internal car manufacturer documents, and more questions about corporate ethics.
posted by fold_and_mutilate on Mar 11, 2003 - 13 comments

Ford will sell hybrid Escape at a loss. In order to get technology out to the public, and get feedback from customers, Ford is going to release it's hybrid version of the Escape SUV, and take a loss with it.

With today's economy, who knows what that will mean in the end for an already struggling Ford.
posted by wondergirl on Mar 6, 2003 - 51 comments

FORD Pulling Plug on Electric Car... Ford Motor Co. on Friday said it was pulling the plug on its Think electric vehicle division due to poor customer demand and lack of government support for the environmentally friendly cars. "The bottom line is we don't believe that this is the future of environmental transport for the mass market."
posted by DailyBread on Aug 31, 2002 - 32 comments

FuckedCompany knocked offline for two days due to headlines that sounded like Ford's advertising slogans. While FC is no stranger to cease and desist orders, Ford threatened the web host directly, who ended up pulling the plug. Was Ford in the right, or did they overstep their bounds? Personally, it sounds a lot like suing a newspaper when a headline plays on your advertising.
posted by mathowie on Aug 27, 2002 - 30 comments

As the biggest, burliest SUV sold in the United States -- nearly 19 feet long and weighing about 7,200 pounds -- the Excursion was attacked by social critics who accused Ford of environmental irresponsibility. I for one, will not miss it.
posted by hotdoughnutsnow on Jul 31, 2002 - 77 comments

Ford's cutting 15,000 jobs, five plants and four cars from its lineup. Despite a record year in the auto industry, Ford is losing money and market share, leading to a massive restructuring plan to take effect within the next months. To show he's serious, Chairman Bill Ford Jr. said the company would turn a profit or he wouldn't get paid.
posted by me3dia on Jan 11, 2002 - 16 comments

"Preserving the environment is a competitive advantage and a major business opportunity." So says Bill Ford, former chairman and now CEO of Ford Motor Company (replacing the ousted Jacques Nasser). An admirer of the ecology of Volvos and a "hardcore environmentalist," Bill Ford represents the hope of many with the planet's environment in mind. Can he really be for real? Whether or not, the news is good to hear.
posted by moz on Oct 31, 2001 - 17 comments

Cheat! Win a new car! Ford's website tie-in to the NASCAR race series looks fairly normal on first glance. It's a contest that offers prizes (Grand Prize a new Taurus) based on picking the top Ford finishers in each week's race. However, the website is riddled with issues. Enough issues that no one should win a prize when all is said and done. More inside:
posted by machaus on Jul 31, 2001 - 4 comments

Racial discrimination at ford? White male managers accuse the Ford Motor Co. of reverse discrimination, claiming they are victims of racial, age and gender bias. After reading this article, I'm really at a loss as to where the racism is. They are reviewing all management and ditching those in the worst 5%...

"... older white managers who received "Cs" after long highly productive careers say they feel they are victims of discrimination."

Golly Pal. You know, the past counts for something but you have to keep producing or you're gonna get canned. What's the problem here? This isn't racism, it's meritocracy and I'm all for it. If they were giving bonuses to the evaluations based on ethnic background or sex then I could see the gripe. But the article doesn't say they are so what exactly is wrong with cutting the fat?
posted by revbrian on Jun 20, 2001 - 11 comments

Ford Motor goes after 13 year old girl for her domain name. Personally, I'm disgusted with corporate America right now.
posted by tj on Jan 24, 2001 - 54 comments

Auto baron Henry Ford was a great entrepreneur and a peacemaker during the World World I era. In fact, he loved just about everyone. Everyone, that is, except for the Jews. Read his book and find out how Anti-Semitism isn't just for white trash anymore.
posted by tdecius on Aug 28, 1999 - 0 comments