#Ford

Making our way through the trim-laden legacy of the Lincoln Continental Mark V has consumed all of our attention over the past few weeks. After spending some time on the mid-tier Luxury Group packages of 1977 to 1979, we pored over the Designer Series editions of 1977 and 1978. The latter of those two years was Ford’s 75th anniversary and saw the launch of the super expensive Diamond Jubilee package to celebrate. For the Mark V’s outgoing year in 1979, the Designer Series cars returned, and Lincoln reworked the Diamond Jubilee package into the Collector’s Series. It’s time to have one final Mark V trim talk.

General Motors and Ford Motor Company have joined forces with Google – and a collection of businesses focused on solar power – to advance “virtual power plants” (VPPs). If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, it basically entails leveraging distributed energy networks to create a more flexible and efficient power grid. Though the entire concept hinges on networking countless devices together via collective energy rationing whenever demand spikes.

Take a gander at Robert Farago's 2004 Ford GT review over your morning coffee. If you're anything like me, you will be jealous.

We return with more Continental Mark V Designer Series goodness today, in our second of three consecutive installments on said topic. Last time we took a look at the resplendent luxury of the 1977 Designer Series trims in their respective Bill Blass, Cartier, Givenchy, and Pucci colorways. An immediate hit with consumers who were in desperate need of luxury gingerbread, the Designer Series trims were reworked in 1978 in the name of visual differentiation. There was also a very special and expensive Mark V commemorative edition in honor of Ford’s 75th anniversary.

This is the second 1960s Ford Thunderbird we're featuring.

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: A line of pickup trucks from Dearborn is the best-selling vehicle in America. There’s a very good chance you have indeed heard this before; after all, it’s been happening for 41 years. 

This 1970 Ford Bronco restomod still needs exterior work, but the seller claims that it runs and drives well.

It had better, for $45,000.

As we move on to the 25th entry in our Lincoln Mark saga, it’s the second week in a row where we’ll focus entirely on Mark V trim packages. Last week we discussed the various iterations of the Luxury Group - a variety of color themes for the Mark V’s interior. Luxury Group options served as a starting place for the customer to custom-order their Mark V. However, the truly well-heeled PLC customer knew such freedom of choice was inherently sub-par: A Designer Series Mark V cost much more than a Luxury Group car, and its appearance was specified for you.

It's that time of year. Time to look back, take stock of the year that's just passed, do some self-reflection, and think about the best and worst cars we drove in 2022.

Ford’s Maverick small truck has been highly reviewed, including by yours truly, so when two (one of each powertrain) arrived at my door within weeks of each other earlier this year, I was curious if my original take would hold up.

Hold up indeed it did, and I came away even more impressed with the truck – though I’d still lean towards the gas engine over the hybrid in most cases. If fuel economy or a few other factors matter more to you, then go for the hybrid. Otherwise, take the gas. But we’ll get to that.

One note: I’d normally do a separate review of each model, but aside from the powertrain differences, the two trucks weren’t significantly different. Yes, one was the nicer Lariat trim, so that changes the feature mix and interior materials a bit – but otherwise the two versions are similar enough in terms of user experience that I’d just be re-writing my own copy for 80 percent of the text if I did separate reviews.

We don't know why these workers at a Ford plant -- it says KTP, so we assume it's Ford's Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville -- are fighting, but we can't stop watching.

Of all the Mercury models sold since the marque was born in the 1939 model year, the Cougar must have been the most varied. From the first Mustang sibling in 1967 and into our current century, the Cougar name went on small sporty coupes, white-powder-sprinkled personal luxury boats, midsize sedans, big sedans, station wagons, and various thinly-disguised Continental/Thunderbird copies. The very last Cougar generation was a sport compact coupe with European ancestry, and that's what we've got for today's Junkyard Find.

We continue with more Continental Mark V coverage today, and hone our focus on the model’s various trims. After their successful (big profit center) introduction in 1976 on the Mark IV, the quite expensive Designer Series trims were a shoo-in for a return on Mark V. Lincoln took full advantage of the popularity of “special” trim and gingerbread during the late Seventies, and went a little wild with the options. New colors, limited editions, and Designer Series layouts that changed by the year! It’s time for some in-depth trim action, and Luxury Group is up first.

Floating around one of our corporate forums is this 1966 Ford Galaxie that got plucked off eBay.