If you’ve got the floor all to yourself, why not do things with flair? That’s what Ford clearly had in mind when it crafted the Mustang GTD Spirit of American prototype that it unveiled ahead of the annual Detroit Auto Show on Thursday night. The red-white-and-blue exotic celebrates the achievement of Craig Breedlove, the one-time aerospace engineer who set an array of land speed records in a series of jet-powered racers.
This week in 2011, the final Mercury automobile rolls off the line at Ford Motor Company’s St. Thomas Assembly Plant in Ontario, Canada. The last Mercury, a Grand Marquis, is the dying vestige of a marque championed by Edsel Ford to fill the cavernous price gap between the Ford and Lincoln. Introduced in 1938, Ford sold more than 21 million Mercury vehicles during its 71-year lifetime. Being the middle child, it rarely had a distinct image, although it did have a handful of memorable models.
Jean Jennings was a gifted storyteller who became one of the go-to authorities about the auto industry. Unfortunately, she was silenced by Alzheimer’s Disease, passing away this week at the age of 70. Headlight.News takes a look at her life.
Workers at Volkswagen’s German operations walked off the job Monday. The 120,000 members of trade union IG Metall took to the streets to protest the automaker’s plans to pair back its home market operations, a move that could see it shutter as many as three assembly lines.
Despite the pictures of Jaguar’s Type 00 concept leaking before the debut, the all-electric vision provided the iconic British brand with a chance to make a statement. And while Jaguar officials seem confident about this new direction, it’s clear it will take others longer to share that confidence. Get details at Headlight.News.
It’s an iconic part of the Detroit skyline but, with General Motors moving its headquarters to a downsized alternative the fate of the massive Renaissance Center complex has been uncertain, some calling for its demolition, others hoping to find an alternative use. Now, GM is looking at a solution that’s a bit of both as it proposes a massive new “waterfront destination.”
After seven decades, Chevrolet’s second V-8 is an engineering and performance icon. And the bowtie brand’s very survival is tied to that small block engine.
The 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado was a radical departure and a testament to the brand’s long-time technical excellence at the time. Here’s a look back at what became the first front-wheel-drive car from a U.S. automaker in decades.
In this week’s episode of the Headlight.News podcast we talk about Stellantis’s ongoing struggles as well as Carlos Ghosn emerging from the shadows to contend with more legal issues. We also review the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Final Edition and take a look at This Week in Automotive History.
The Mini Cooper is a true icon of the automotive industry, sporting a powertrain that revolutionized car design and engineering. It’s about to celebrate its 65th anniversary and in this week’s Past Lane we look at how this improbable vehicle came to be.
Since the formation of Stellantis a few years ago, speculation about what will happen with the low-selling, but still-iconic Chrysler brand has run rampant. Officials, led by CEO Carlos Tavares, assured there were plans for Chrysler. However, time has passed with just one product left, the Chrysler Pacifica minivan, and now someone wants to resurrect the brand: Walter P. Chrysler’s great-grandson. Find out more at Headlight.News.
A once well-respected marque, the fate of Chrysler is increasingly in doubt. Last month, Carlos Tavares, the CEO of Stellantis — the Euro-American automaker formed from the merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Groupe PSA — warned that some of its 14 brands could be abandoned if they don’t start delivering better sales and earnings. Chrysler is widely believed to be one of the most vulnerable divisions. But that’s really nothing new.