14th Annual All Ford Powered Car Show

On June 10th, the Greater Pittsburgh Mustang Club held their 14th Annual All Ford Powered Car Show at Shults Ford/Lincoln in Harmarville, PA. It was a beautiful day for a car show with hardly a cloud in the sky and the blue oval well represented across the board. The show has been renamed the Tom Cavataio Memorial Show in honor of GPMC longtime member Tom Cavataio who passed away in late 2011. Tom's beautiful Grabber Blue 1970 Mach 1 was prominently displayed by his family. And anyone who knew Tom, knew he shared a great passion for anything blue oval. I entered my 2009 Mustang Bullitt for the 3rd year and brought home 2nd place for 2005-current Mustangs. Here's some pictures from the event as well as a full album of pictures taken throughout the day.

California Highway Patrol switching to SUVs

When you think of a highway patrol car, you instantly think Ford Crown Victoria. And usually in California Highway Patrol black n' white trim. Since the Crown Vic went out of production last year, you see a few older models out on the roads that have been slowly replaced by the Dodge Charger, Ford Taurus, or the Chevrolet Caprice (I know we haven't seen one yet either). But Ford also produces the new Explorer in a police package, and that's what the California Highway Patrol is leaning towards to replace their fleet and to keep it in the Ford family. The CHP maintains a fleet of 4,000 vehciles (give or take a few) and each year, they replace 1/3rd of that fleet with new vehicles.

Due to the ammount of gear that a trooper has to car with him or her on any given day is always increasing. And now with gear mandated by the Department of Homeland Security, the smaller patrol cars offered by the big three just won't cut it.

Of course they'll still be black and white....


Source: California Highway Patrol.

Is Ford signaling the end of the mighty Crown Vic?

The Detroit News announced today that Ford has plans to close their Ontario, Canada factory, by the end of 2010. The factory in St. Thomas is home to the Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis, and Lincoln Town Car.

Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) president, Buzz Hargrove, told the Detroit News that, "There's nothing we can do to save St. Thomas."

The St. Thomas factory has made some glorious Ford vehicles in the past. From the firetacular Pinto, to the almost world car Escort. The 2.6 million square foot facility employs 2,400 people.

While it would be shame to see the Crown Vic, Grand Marquis and Town Car go on to that parking lot in the sky. These fall into that same category of cars that the old Taurus did. For really did nothing to the cars to keep them up to date. Other than very minor upgrades over the past few years, the cars themselves have not changed much cosmetically in the last 10 years. There was also Ford's "Late to the game" Mercury Marauder which was the answer to the Chevrolet Impala SS that went out of production in 1996, which also put GM out of the cop car game.

What Ford REALLY needs to do is revamp the Crown Victoria into a true modern rear wheel drive platform. If GM can develop a hybrid system that can move a heavyweight like the Escalade around, Ford can do the same to the Crown Vic. Having a hybrid system would do wonders for both police use and as taxi cabs.

Source: Detroit News.