As rising gas prices squeeze its fullsize truck sales, Ford Motor Co. is thinking of keeping the popular Ranger around for a little longer, according to sources close to the company’s future product plans.

Bryce G. Hoffman writes in The Detroit News that Ford may tack on another two years to the Ranger’s life, continuing its production until 2011, when a new global version of the truck manufactured outside of the United States is expected. Ford is currently scheduled to end Ranger production next year and close the Twin Cities Assembly Plant in St. Paul, Minnesota, where the compact pickup is built.

Debuting in 1982 as a 1983 model, the Ranger is the most fuel-efficient compact pickup on the market today, getting 21 mpg city and 26 mpg highway. Ford sold 36,421 Rangers by June of this year, a 2.3% increase over the same period last year, in stark contrast to the 18.7% beating that its fullsize F-series trucks have taken.

One downside to the Ranger rethink, for enthusiasts anyway, is an indefinite delay for the rumored high-performance F-150 SVT Raptor. The Hemi-fighter 6.2L V8 “Boss” engine is likely to be another casualty.

A Ford spokesman could not confirm the plans for The Detroit News.

Last year, truck enthusiasts who own Rangers spent more than $2,100 on specialty-equipment parts for their trucks. The top components purchased included high-flow air filter replacements, performance tires, custom wheels, bed liners (spray-in and/or drop-in) and exhaust kits.

Original story from sema.org

See more on the Ford Ranger

For those of you who have been waiting patiently for our new ‘67 Mustang and ‘67 Fairlane FordMuscle T-shirt and decal designs, well here they are. Both models are now available in the FordMuscle Store. In the FordMuscle store you can also find other companion designs. We will continue to add models over time, so don’t be shy about suggesting what Ford models we can begin working on next.

Here are the T-Shirt samples. Remember, with a T-shirt order you get a free matching 4-inch decal. Decals are also available seperately and will ship immediately upon placing an order. Since the designs are brand new, please allow 3 weeks for T-shirt delivery.

You’ve got to offer your props to FordMuscle reader and large Ford enthusiast Fabiano Zanon from Porto Alegre, Brazil. Fabiano is preparing his 1981 Brazilian Galaxie for asphalt road course action typically made up of short wheel base performance street and dedicated race cars. Fabiano will be participating in the regional “FORMULA CLASSIC 2008 OLD CARS RACE” at Guapore International Raceway in his home state of Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil. The event is dedicated to classics that are 25 years old and older. The FORMULA CLASSIC 2008 OLD CARS RACE race can be compared to the road course events put on here in the U.S. by the HMSA Historic Motorsorts Association. You’ll just need to subtract the wine, cheese, barriers-to- entry, and the HMSA’s ultra-specific rule book to get a feel for what the FORMULA CLASSIC 2008 OLD CARS RACE is all about.

While the FORMULA CLASSIC 2008 OLD CARS RACE is yet to run later this year, Fabiano has already got his car to an open track event in preparation for the competition at Guapore. “Primeiro Track Day” (First Track Day) was held earlier this June. Here are some shots from the event. Great to see a large Ford going around the course with smaller varities of Brazilian sports cars!

Ford Galaxie Landau
For Brazilian Ford lovers, the Ford Galaxie Landau has been the option to the more popular Brazilian Maverick which FordMuscle covered in detail in the article “Fords do Brasil” a few years ago. Only available in Brazil in a 4-door, the Galaxie Landau was one of the few V8’s ever produced in the country. While somewhat sedate in appearance for American musclecar enthusiasts, the site of a Landau to a “car guy” in Brazil evokes passion for V8 sound and power. It is also important to realize that cars of this size are VERY unsual in Brazil despite the vast open spaces and the overall size of the country.

Brazilian Galaxies were originally equipped with 272 or 292 Y-blocks and the body went largely unchanged during the 1967-1983 production run.

Here’s a run down of Fabiano’s 1981 Galaxie Landau. Remember, these cars are not hugely popular in Brazil as race cars, so parts and are not readily available.

Engine: 302
Compression ratio: 11:1
Carburetor: Stock Motorcraft
Distributor: Stock Duraspark II
Fuel: Premium Gasoline (96 Octane)
Wheels: 15 X 10
Brakes: Factory
Transmission: C6
Rear end: 3.07:1

About Fabiano
Fabiano is a 30 year old project engineer working for a food enterprise that manufactures measurement devices for packing machines. He has been studying Mechanical Engineering at a local University since 1997 and is nearly finished. At the University, Fabiano and more than 15 other students have built various automotive prototypes. Outside of work and school, Fabiano enjoys working on his Galaxie of course along with gravity cars, and virtual CAD projects.

This past Saturday FordMuscle’s Jon Mikelonis got a chance to witness the “Crowbra” up close at a SCCA autocross event at the Reno-Stead Airport. You may recall the Crowbra is the incarnation of our former teal 1993 Cobra Project car that was stolen from us several years ago, and subsequently recovered, striped and pillaged of its original beauty. FordMuscle friend Rufus Crow III bought the car at auction and has given the car a new life with new purpose - as an autocross machine. However, Rufus is quick to point out that by no means is this a trailer queen. Case in point, he drove the car from Sacramento, over the Sierra’s and into Reno to race in the Solo 2 E Street Prepared Class. In fact, Rufus is the points-leader in the Sacramento chapter’s 2008 Cup - ahead of a variety of American and foreign sports cars.


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Diego Percivaldi drove his 1981 Argentinian Ford Falcon “Rural Deluxe” almost 10,000 miles, over 47 days, through 11 countries to see Ford Motor Co.’s headquarters on Thursday.

“The Ford Falcon, in Argentina, it’s very sentimental for all the Argentine people,” Percivaldi said, adding that he drove the Argentine version of the four-door wagon that featured a luggage rack and sported several sponsorship stickers.

Ford of Argentina produced the Falcon from 1962 to 1981. In fact, the vehicle was imported from North America and given a face lift at the Pacheco, Argentina plant. The car became popular with the military “junta” government, and many people identify the car with that era of rule.

Here are a couple of great Spanish sites dedicated to the Argentinian version of the Falcon:

http://www.todofalcon.com.ar/Galerias.htm
http://galerias.netfirms.com/galmodel.htm

The trip took three years to plan, he said, and the Falcon’s original 221-cid engine was rebuilt in preparation for slow ride north.

“If you don’t love cars, it’s impossible to travel with this car,” Percivaldi said.

Percivaldi, 32, declined to say how much the trip cost, but did say sponsors helped with half the expenses. He said he paid as much as $8 per gallon for gas in Peru and $1.40 in Ecuador.

Cecilia, Percivaldi’s 32-year-old wife, said the trip has long been a goal for the family of four. They brought along their two sons, age 3 and 10 months.

Upon arriving unannounced at the Dearborn headquarters of No. 2 U.S. automaker, the family walked up to the security desk at about noon and asked to speak to someone from Ford, spokesman Tom Hoyt said. Hoyt said he will be talking to senior management to see if they will do anything for the family.

In the meantime, Percivaldi said they’ll stay in Michigan for a few more days before heading home — by plane.

The Falcon will be shipped back home, he said.

Diego’s website: http://www.desafiolasamericas.com.ar

By MARGARET HARDING, The Associated Press

Editors Note: Diego, if you are out there we’d like to send you a FordMuscle T-shirt - reply to this blog and send us an email!

FordMuscle sponsored one of its long time members and current Tech Exchange moderator, Rick Devito (aka FATNFAST), with a set of Hoosier drag slicks for the 2008 NMRA season. A first for FordMuscle. Rick will be running his 1965 Ranchero at the NMRA nationals in Milan Michigan, Joliet Illinois, and Columbus Ohio this summer. The staff is honored that Rick has already got his FM badging in place. Just don’t ask us for fuel money Rick!

I hate to say “I told you so”, but in January of 2006 I asked then Ford CEO Bill Ford Jr. why they had not canned the Lincoln and Mercury brands in order to focus squarely on Ford. Bill responded by claiming that the three brands worked very well together, and seemed pretty dismissive of the idea to streamline the brand portfolio. (Read the Q&A on Time.com)

Shortly thereafter, Ford Jr. was replaced by Alan Mulally as the company CEO, and today the newswires are reporting that Mercury is on the chopping block. This comes just a couple months after Ford unloaded Landrover and Jaguar to Indian automaker Tata.

According to the Cleveland Leader, industry analyst Aaron Bragman of Global Insight believes “Mercury has one more product cycle left in it, and then will most certainly be retired as a brand.”

The Los Angeles Times reports that Mercury sales have dropped off dramatically. “After regularly selling half a million vehicles a year during the mid-1980s, Mercury sold only 168,000 cars and sport utility vehicles last year. Its U.S. sales are down 23% this year — the biggest drop for any brand except Chrysler and Hummer.”

From a FordMuscle viewpoint, Mercury really hasn’t produced anything of enthusiast interest since the 2003-2004 Mercury Maurader (pictured). Before that you had to go back to the early ’70s to find any significant muscle. Since then, the brand has carried an awkward, semi-luxury, position between Ford and Lincoln. Most of the models offered were just nameplate upgrades of a Ford model (e.g. Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln Zephyr), the reasonable deduction was that Ford was the bottom-end “econo” product to Mercury and Lincoln. This, in my opinion, made no sense at a time when Ford was struggling to revive its brand image and perceived quality, among other things.

-Chirag

Read the entire story, and tell us what you think.

A number of recent posts in the FordMuscle forums has us wondering if a slow economy has some people loosening their grip on “the old hot rod in the barn”. Here are a couple highlights of recent acquisitions by members of FordMuscle. If you just acquired a “barn find”, be sure to post photos to the appropriate FordMuscle model forum and let everyone know.

1969 Torino 428SCJ
See Forum Thread

1969 Mercury Cyclone
See Forum Thread

And here are a few more recent posts on barn finds. We just need pictures guys! Please.

1961 Falcon Gasser

1963 Fairlane