2012 Ford Focus Sel on 2040-cars

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Hot Wheels Ford Transit Connect is worth more if we keep it in the box

If the 2014 Transit Connect is anything like it's utile current-generation predecessor, and we suspect it is, it will undoubtedly be one of the most functional vehicles in North America. Ford has used the occasion of SEMA to turn the TC in to things that both make use of that functionality, and occasionally sort of wreck it in the name of good old-fashioned fun. The Ford Hot Wheels Transit Connect most certainly falls into that second category.
Most TC owners might cite the vehicle's massive cargo capacity as its top positive trait, though in the case of this wide-bodied Transit said space has been sapped in the name of a 55-inch television screen, a massive Hot Wheels drag strip (continuing a popular theme at SEMA this year) and custom storage for dozens of models from one's personal hot wheels collection. Designers have also plucked the grippy Recaro seats from the Focus ST, and thrown in a pair of 18-inch tablet screens for connectivity on the go.
Naturally, the Transit Connect wouldn't be an appropriate SEMA vehicle, or Hot Wheels name-bearer, if it weren't wearing an eye-popping appearance package. Additional homage to the Focus RS can be found in the blazing blue and orange front fascia and bumpers, while 20-inch wheels make sure the wider (four-inches in front and six-inches in the back) Transit Connect sits just right. The 2.5-liter four-cylinder-engine that powers the Hot Wheels TC ensures that the concept is more show than go, but you probably had that pegged from your first look, anyway.

Automakers tussle over owners of 'orphan' makes

When General Motors put down several of its brands in recent years, it also let loose thousands of brand-loyal customers who will eventually need another car.
R.L. Polk Associates estimates there are more than 18 million cars from 16 discontinued makes on the road today. Those "orphan owners" have sales-hungry competitors seeing dollar signs. GM is offering Saturn owners $1,000 cash toward a Chevy Cruze, Cadillac CTS or a GMC Acadia. Ford is giving its Mercury lease customers a chance to get out of their contracts with no early-termination penalty and offering to waive six remaining payments if they drive off in a Ford or Lincoln.
Edmunds.com research shows the efforts are paying off somewhat for GM, with 39 percent of Pontiac owners, 37 percent of Hummer owners and 31 percent of Saturn owners taking delivery of another GM-branded vehicle. But that leaves as much as 69 percent of owners going elsewhere. Ford, Honda and Toyota seem to be attracting many former GM owners.

William Clay Ford Sr. dead at 88

William Clay Ford, retired vice chairman of Ford Motor Company and the last surviving grandchild of company founder Henry Ford, died this morning after a bout with pneumonia. He was 88.
Ford spent 57 years with his grandfather's company, joining the board of directors in 1948 before graduating from college. Ford also held a position as chairman of the design committee, as well as the chairman of the executive committee and vice chairman of the Board of Directors during his tenure with the company. In a 2013 Detroit Free Press story, retired CFO Allan Gilmour said Ford had an eye for design, and was once able to pick out when a fiberglass model of a Ford Contour was asymmetrical, off by an inch on one side. He retired and assumed the position of director emeritus in 2005.
"My father was a great business leader and humanitarian who dedicated his life to the company and the community," said Bill Ford, Jr., Ford's current executive chairman. "He also was a wonderful family man, a loving husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather. He will be greatly missed by everyone who knew him, yet he will continue to inspire us all."