Northstar

Nice truck, looks great!

Woah. I think that'd be a hit with the tuner crowd.

Congrats, Erik, and welcome! You should take some pictures of your new truck and post them.

They look fine for minivans, I think. The rear end is odd, but the rest is not bad considering it's a minivan.

FORD MOTOR COMPANY REPORTS DECEMBER AND FULL YEAR 2006 U.S. SALES; FULL YEAR CAR SALES ARE HIGHER FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?...ake_%20id=trust * Ford's December sales totaled 233,621, down 13 percent compared with a year ago. * Full year sales totaled 2.9 million, down 8 percent. * Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan, and Lincoln MKZ lift full year car sales 5 percent – first back-to-back increase since 1993-1994. * Full year truck sales decline 14 percent. * All-new Expedition and Navigator (up 12 percent each) close 2006 with higher sales each month in the fourth quarter. * Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX crossovers debut in December. * Land Rover sets full year sales record. * Ford end of year inventories totaled 590,000 units – 143,000 less than a year ago. Less than 10 percent are 2006 models. DEARBORN, Mich., Jan. 3 – Ford Motor Company’s dealers delivered 233,621 new vehicles to U.S. customers in December, down 13 percent compared with a year ago. Lower F-Series sales (down 21 percent compared with last December's near-record month) and lower sales for the discontinued Taurus and Freestar minivan more than accounted for the decline. Full year sales totaled 2.9 million, down 8 percent compared with full year 2005. Car sales were 5 percent higher than a year ago. It was the second year in a row of higher car sales and the first back-to-back increase since 1993-1994. Ford's new mid-size sedans were the major factors behind the increase as combined sales for the Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan, and Lincoln MKZ totaled 211,469. Awareness and demand for these award winning products continues to grow. In December, Fusion sales were up 67 percent, Milan sales were up 36 percent, and MKZ sales were up 78 percent. MKZ sales of 3,795 were the highest for any month. Full year truck sales were down 14 percent as higher gasoline prices and long-term demographic trends drove SUV sales lower and a soft housing industry weighed on full-size truck sales. Ford believes these factors will continue to weigh on these segments in 2007. New products should help mitigate these factors. The company's new full-size SUVs, Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator, closed 2006 by posting higher sales each month in the fourth quarter. The company will soon introduce a new Super Duty F-Series pickup truck. This model accounts for about 40 percent of total F-Series sales. Conversely, passenger car sales and crossover utility vehicles (CUVs) should continue to benefit from demographic trends (notably the aging of the baby boomer generation) and higher gasoline prices. In December, the company expanded its CUV line with the introduction of the Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX. In addition, the company will introduce a redesigned Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner early this year. Escape has been the best-selling CUV since it was introduced in late 2000. Land Rover was the company's only brand to post higher sales in 2006. Land Rover's full year sales totaled 47,774 – a new calendar year sales record. Although Lincoln's overall sales were down 2 percent, sales to individual retail customers rose 4 percent. U.S. Inventories Lower At the end of December, Ford, Lincoln and Mercury inventories were estimated at 590,000 units. This level is 143,000 units lower than a year ago. The company es timates less than 10 percent of the total inventory is 2006 models. ------------------------ The Fusion did well, but the 500 tanked. Edge seems to have stolen Freestyle sales. The redesigned Expedition is doing well, but it appears the T-900 are hitting the F-150 hard.

Chicago is the show with webcams.

So I noticed today someone put a very small ding in the front fender of the GTO I took a picture, and it doesn't show up that well but you can see it because of the high-resolution. It's in a rather odd place and I'm not sure if it can be popped out, so I thought I'd ask to see if anyone knows. The ding is in the upper part of red "circle," above the crease in the wheel flare.

If the interior, ride, handling, or acceleration suck, or if the exterior is just plain ugly. I could live with a bland car (as the GTO is to some) if it isn't ugly and does everything else that I want it to do well.

A Corvette is not an exotic. Even a Z06 isn't really exotic. The Blue Devil though, will be an exotic.

I don't know... my aunt won't buy a car without it (or if adding it through an aftermarket place voids the electrical warranty).

These new EPA rules must be really tough. Don't the Lambdas get 25MPG highway with the same engine and transmission combo?

I'd do a search on Autotrader. A used one is a good idea, the old ones lost their value very quickly because of the huge incentives.

I'm not too confident it will have NAV. We've seen 8 interior pics and none have NAV, and when GM releases a car with NAV, they usually release more pics with NAV than without.

The GTO!

Here are all of the pics that were released tonight: http://autodeadline.com/Photos?source=Linc...p;model=Concept

Thanks for the updates, Variance!

Great write-up as always, bobo. Here's to plenty of cheers and hopefully very few jeers in 2007!

I like the previous-gen better, but perhaps this will look more exciting in person.

I think they can't offer the 6-speed standard on the 4cyl models because of lack of production. Once they are able to produce more I see no reason why it won't be standard, as it supposedly doesn't cost any more to make than the 4-speed.

It's quite clear the Vette wasn't racing. I don't know how many cars can walk a Vette like that, much less a 300C SRT-8.

I'm not sure I like the gauges, but everything else kicks ass.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/blogs/auto...ws/4204309.html

Certainly it should be replaced, but he blows the whole situation out of proportion, IMO. Maybe the dealer just sucks at fixing it.

It sounds like it could be a problem with the drive-by-wire. It goes, but it doesn't know when the throttle gets depressed more. Also, the engine sounds pretty much like an LSX to me, so I'm not so sure it sounds so bad... Also, if the cruise doesn't work or the tach, those are both electrically-controlled. Finally, how does this tool afford a CTS-V?

It's weird that it has camo, at least on the front there are no apparent differences to the Commodore, unless the lower front fascia is different.