Since the Carlisle All-Ford Nationals likely boasts the highest concentration of blue-oval fans at one place at one time for the whole year, Ford decided it would be wise to camp out close to the fairgrounds in the hopes of luring some of them into new vehicles. At the Expo Center across the street, the manufacturer put on some fanfare, including a Focus givaway car and a fleet of Focus, Fusion and Escape test-drive vehicles. And they had a nice little showroom display involving some of the more high-profile Fords of late, including the Knight Rider Mustang GT500 KR, the Warriors in Pink Mustang for breast cancer awareness, the new AWD Ford Flex that they said is hitting the showrooms this week, and the polished-aluminum-bodied Shelby GR1 concept that’s been on the auto show circuit for the last couple of years. They also gave me a Ford t-shirt and a bunch of pink-camo scarves. Thanks, guys! Click here for more pics.

Continue reading "Ford's Little Shindig at Carlisle" »

People love to carry on about the looks of the ugly-duckling Edsel, but it’s nearly impossible not to love the ’58 wagon’s perfectly-styled tail lights. The distintive flying-V’s are even pilfered for other projects—I’ve seen them on everything from a pickup truck to a convertible T-Bird. They were offered for one year only, and were exclusive to the wagon—compare them with the sedan rearview after the jump.

Continue reading "Fords at Carlisle: Cool Tail Lights" »

At nearly every Carlisle show, Axcelerated Motorsports trucks in their mobile dyno-in-the-sky for participants to test their cars on. While I recall the price being a little steep, remember that this is small-town Pennsylvania, and a lot of people who come from all over the region for the shows at Carlisle live in places where they can’t get their rides dyno’d locally. I shot a video of them dyno-testing this 4.6L Mustang, and was suprised that they didn’t seem to be pushing it too hard at all. I guess those new-fangled rides are always in danger of hitting their rev limiters, but of course the RPM’s are also set by the car owners—during testing, the dyno operator won’t push the engine any further than the max RPM the owner has agreed to.

The best metal-flake paint at the show was easily Phil Scot’s ’95 Mustang GT, whose sparkles just seem to jump right off the panels. It’s hard to capture the effect in a still picture—maybe this tiny video clip will give you a better sense of how awesome this paint is. More views after the jump.

Continue reading "Fords At Carlisle: Mr. Orange" »

Some unlikely cars competed in this year’s burnout contest at the Carlisle All-Ford Nationals, including a pair of Lincoln Mark VIII‘s, two T-Birds, and a Mustang convertible, but ultimately Shane Hiney’s propane-powered ’78 ‘Bird prevailed, shredding its tires and filling the grandstands with smoke. Wait’ll you get a load of the epic video—watch as the explosion, and later the tire shreds, menace pushy photographers! He’s been working on this car since age 11, when he and his dad picked it up. Congratulations, Shane!

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I met a number of the Pinto owners at last year’s All-Ford Nationals, and they’re a good-natured bunch. And the awesome thing about their cars is that no two are the same. They’re divided into stock and modified classes, but within these distinctions, anything goes. The woodgrain wagon isn’t even a Pinto, it’s a Bobcat, Mercury’s equivalent model. The powder-blue ’77 has a Mustang’s 302 and a Shaker hoodscoop. A handful of the cars are running the boosted T-Bird turbo coupe version of the Pinto’s 2.3L four-cylinder. One of these was Connie’s lovely orange Pinto, which also has a color-matched powder-coated valve cover and orange plaid seats that were re-covered using a roll of the original NOS fabric. Check out the whole Pinto gallery after the jump!

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Donald Gromling wanted to try something other than the traditional flames when he did paint on his cool ’68 Torino, and the splashy-looking red graphics he chose kind of give it the look of the world’s most badass Red Cross mobile blood bank! Tubbed and caged, it’s running a 347 stroker and can get 11′s in the quarter-mile. More pics after the jump.

Continue reading "Fords At Carlisle: Bloodbath!" »

If you thought the Aerostar had rollover problems right out of the factory, you’re probably not going to want to ride with Terry and Lynette Sipe in theirs: the center of gravity is… oh, maybe about 4 feet higher than it was before! This insane monster van is running a Chevy 400 stroker motor through wide-open headers. It’s got adjustable Bilstein racing shocks up front, and a leaf-spring rear with Rancho shocks. Next up, say the Sipes, is a 4-link suspension for the rear, Bilsteins back there also, and 54" tires. So, yep, it’s only gonna get bigger! Watch my walkaround video of the van here.

Tomorrow I’m off to the All-Ford Nationals at Carlisle, one of my favorite car shows of the season! This was the very place where my Escort won its first prize and I’m just a little bummed not to have the car here again this year. But hey, I could always be a total dork and enter my rented bone-stock 6 cyl automatic Mustang in the show. Just for kicks, how ’bout it? Check out the Events at Carlisle site for the show’s full schedule, and keep an eye on the blog this weekend for coverage. And if you’re going to be at the show as well, let me know where to find you: I’ve got a limited number of CarDomain t-shirts to give out. Hope to see you there!

CarDomain’s going to be sending me to cover the Carlisle All-Ford Nationals on the weekend of June 7-8! The Ford Nats hold kind of a special place in my heart—last year, it was the first car show I took my Escort to after completing the resto and before moving to the other side of the country, so I’m stoked to be going back. The Carlisle shows are always huge and always awesome, with a friendly and laid-back crowd, and this year’s event is supposed to be particularly whizz-bang, with a whole Ford test-drive setup in the adjacent expo center and appearances by a heap of motorsports and car-culture celebrities. Area Ford owners and anyone who wants to check out an awesome weekend car show, come on down! Let me know if you’re going to be there, and I’ll try to round up some CarDomain swag to hand out at the show.