Ford Interceptor
It's based on the Mustang's rear-wheel-drive design, but Ford wants to make it crystal clear that this Mustang-based concept is not a Mustang and it's not bound for production (yet?). Other than that, it's just warm and fuzzy information about the new Interceptor, which has under the Shaker hood Ford Racing's 400hp 5.0L Cammer engine (a beefier take on the 4.6L V-8), which is powered by ethanol. The mill is hooked to a six-speed manual trans, has a three-link rear axle and independent front, and is outfitted with 22-inch wheels. It's about 201.6 inches long.
Anti Tour Hits Vegas, Baby!
Clear your calendars now; the Car Craft Anti Tour is heading to Sin City at the end of April. The plan is to meet up at Global West's manufacturing facility in San Bernardino, California, around 11 a.m. on Friday, April 27. The guys at Global West will let us hang around their place for a couple of hours and show us how tubular control arms are made. We may even pass out some CC T-shirts, hopefully without any oil stains. From Global West, we'll set our sights on Las Vegas Motor Speedway for Midnight Mayhem drag racing starting at 8 p.m. Racing goes till 1 a.m., and what you choose to do after that is up to you. On Saturday, the track will be hosting the Pacific Street Car Association's Las Vegas Nationals. We'll probably hang around the track on Saturday to watch some of the really fast cars then head back to Los Angeles on Sunday (late) morning via the scenic route. You can join us if you wish, or you can forge out on your own. Beaters and primered rides are welcome. Shiny cars can come, too. Stay tuned to CarCraft.com and the CC message board for updates. We hope to see you then.
Car Craft's Stupid Question For An Automaker
So, GM makes performance parts. Isn't that what the aftermarket exists for?
Hey, if you build the cars, you might as well dabble in making them even better, too, right? GM kicked off its Performance Parts division back in 1967, "when we figured out we could sell a line of Trans-Am-series racing parts," and GM notes that "in the big scheme of it, you might call GMPP a performance aftermarket-but really, we're an OEM trying to create dreams that the aftermarket doesn't have access to."
For example, GM probably fields more out-there dreams than a regular aftermarket company does-you know, a Duramax-diesel crate engine for a Camaro or 2,500 hp in a crate. That's not to say the weird stuff like that doesn't move beyond the customer-service line. The division works directly with engineers from GM's vehicle development group, powertrain, and racing to see what they can make happen. For 2007, there will be close to 2,000 GMPP part numbers in existence, which brings us to our next stupid question for an automaker: What's the part number for that 2,500hp crate engine?
Worst Traffic Accidents Of 2006
Yeah, call us morbid, but you're the one reading this item in spite of its title. Metro Networks, which gathers and reports traffic operations, compiled a list from across the country of the top of the worst from last year.
New York: A Tomahawk test missile ended up on the interstate highway.
San Francisco: A meat-packing truck spilled cow body parts across the freeway.
Houston: A truck containing frozen chickens split open on a ramp; the birds were thrown all over the freeway below.
Boston: A 12-ton concrete ceiling panel fell onto a car.
Dallas: A big rig smacked into an overhead bridge; it was carrying oil-refining equipment.
Detroit: Two semis collided on the northbound I-75; the fire and flaming debris in the heat of the moment caused the highway to be closed for a week to repair the road surface.
Atlanta: Two cars and a tractor collided, killing two people and backing up traffic for 10 miles.
Los Angeles: A big-rig crash caused the southbound 710 freeway to be closed for almost 13 hours. It overturned, caught fire, and burned to the ground-we think in that order.
Washington: Two tractor trailers collided on the northbound I-95. Fire, road shut-down, and repaving ensued.