1974 Ford Thunderbird Family Survivor T-bird 36,122 Org. Mi. 95% Original on 2040-cars

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Feds open investigation into Chevy Express, Ford Freestar rust issues

'Tis the season... for road salt. And with that, comes rust. And what does rust bring? Well, for Ford and General Motors, a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigation. According to The Detroit News, NHTSA is looking into potential recalls issues with Chevrolet Express vans and Ford Freestar minivans.
The feds have received five complaints that rust has caused leaking fuel filler pipes on 2003 Express vans. Separately, seven complaints have been filed over excessive rust in the rear wheel wells of 2004 Ford Freestar and Mercury Monterey minivans. The Freestar and Monterey went out of production in 2007. Neither issue has resulted in any crashes or injuries, according to the report.

Leno drives Henry Ford II's all-original '52 Ferrari 212 Barchetta

The story of the relationship between Henry Ford II and Enzo Ferrari is absolutely fascinating. The two great men of the auto industry had what appeared to be a burgeoning friendship until Ferrari pulled out of a deal to sell his company to Ford in the '60s. The latest car featured in Jay Leno's Garage is a 1952 Ferrari 212 Barchetta that tells the very beginnings of that story.
This Prancing Horse was a gift to Ford from Enzo when the two companies were first thinking about merging, according to the curator of the Petersen Automotive Museum. Ferrari really wanted to show off its best so instead of the 212's normal V12, this car was fitted with the larger 2.7-liter unit from a Ferrari 225. The car has been almost unaltered since then. It still wears its original paint, and it's tires date back to 1954.
The great thing about the Petersen is that unlike a lot of auto museums, the people there actually drive the cars and keep them in working order. Once on the road with Leno behind the wheel, this Ferrari really sings. Unfortunately, he can't open it up too much because the 60-year-old tires really hold things back. Scroll down to watch this amazing piece of automotive history and learn it's possible effect on the styling of the original Ford Thunderbird.

Hennessey unleashes 2015 HPE700 supercharged Ford Mustang

Thanks to the 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat there is a new magic number in the muscle car world - 707. To raise eyebrows these days in the power war, a vehicle needs to match or preferably exceed that palindromic figure. The tuners over at Hennessey took a look at it for their 2015 HPE700 Mustang and decided to go one better. Well, ten actually, because they bestowed their latest creation with 717 horsepower and 632 pound-feet of torque.
The HPE 700 Mustang takes the standard Mustang GT with its 5.0-liter V8 and turns up the power a few hundred notches with a Roots-type supercharger running at 7.25 psi. Hennessey claims that this boosted 'Stang can rocket to 60 miles per hour in about 3.6 seconds and cover the quarter-mile in 11.2 seconds at 131 mph. For those keeping score at home, those figures are very similar to Challenger Hellcat.
To cope with all of the added boost, the engine gets a high-flow throttle body, upgraded injectors, new fuel pump, stainless steel exhaust and Hennessey's calibration for the engine management. Pricing for the package is $59,500, including the base 2015 Mustang GT, but the company is limiting production to 500 units for the 2015 model year. Founder John Hennessey told Autoblog that he has already received about a dozen orders for them.