Car Opinion: Could the new Bronco be a hit for Ford? BOTFG takes a look...

13 November 2015

Ford Motor Company is at it again.
Automoblog.net, the website that I write for, spilled the beans last week that we will be getting a new midsize-about SUV possibly dubbed the Bronco.
If you are new to cars and do not live in a rural area, you may not know what a Bronco is.
The Bronco, sold here from the 1960s well until 1996, was a midsize, if not almost full size, truck-based SUV that had a great reputation. Decent power, hard-working engines from the F-150, and excellent torque in the later Power Stroke diesel versions coupled to capable off-road driving made for a good nameplate.
After being phased out and being replaced by the V6-only Explorer urbanite of the 1990s (and still even today), Ford lost their two-door betweener-sized SUV. They also lost another diesel.
I think it is excellent news that they want to bring this famous nameplate back to Ford, and like the continued Research and Design division at Ford with strongly evolving technology, could mean renewed share of a the market for Ford, whom has lost to GM with the Tahoe/Suburban full sizers.
Long live the Bronco, and for oil's sake, sell us a powerful award-winning diesel in the U.S.

Used Luxury Car: Mercedes Benz SL folding hardtop

2009 Mercedes SL-class SL550/SL600

On: Why I think they are underrated

This short piece will be about why I miss the old SL550 by Mercedes--and why the SL600 is better for power, and a lot more fun to rocket around--without all the racket.

The 550 version of the SL today offers around 400 horsepower, if not a little more. What do I think? I think that is too much for an eight-cylinder powered car. It is also too close to the beloved twin turbo SL600 V-12's 510 hp figure. Even my own girlfriend thinks the V-12 needs to stay around after our conversation about the 600 last week.

Because no matter how much you boost a V-8 SL, it will never be as silky or effortless (common adjectives for Mercedes) as their excellent twin turbo V-12 motors. 
Starting with 493 hp in 2004 and now pegged at 510, the car currently boasts a truck-like 612 pound feet of torque, and remember this is all on pump premium gas we are talking about. Five and a half liters of all-aluminum, silky V-12 muscle that runs right into its 155 mph speed governor at full gas smash.

The old SL550's normally aspirated 5.5 liter V-8 was paired with the 7-speed automatic; a manual has not been available since the 1990s. And yes, the normally aspirated V-8 made the same displacement somehow as apparently "small" piston V-12 did.

The SL600, however, was paired with the slightly stouter 5-speed automatic to accommodate the 12 cylinder's torque. Used in the old Maybach 57 luxury sedans, these were stout engines and transmissions.

Step inside, and there is only room for the driver and the passenger. This is where I now think Mercedes hits the nail on the head, because interactive luxury systems are abound. Some of the goodies that will fit into the car's small interior are present, such as the smooth ride and fairly slow handing response. The SL will never let you forget you are driving a car that weighs almost as much as a Dodge Dakota does.

     Photo Credit: Google Images

What do you love about your truck No. 1: John Hoover and his F-150

TH BLOG of that Filtz Guy will be doing a series of timeless features this second half of the year 2015. John Hoover of Finleyville, Washington County, Pa., was the first to step up to the plate. Specifically, we will be interviewing truck owners about their trucks all around Western Penn.

While some working men use their trucks to carry fuel to construction equipment, John Hoover uses his sparingly
o help his kids move to new houses, and to haul of a bit of mulch for occasional mulching."

Hoover, who also owns two newer small SUVs, owns a 1989 Ford F-150 4x4 long bed, as pictured. He has put around 20,000 miles on the truck's odometer, which be bought from a friend somewhere around 2000-01. It's total mileage is right around 70,000 miles, which is read from a standard old school odometer.

It has locking hubs for 4 wheel drive, has no modifications, and a torque-rich big 4.9-liter six cylinder engine. It, as well as the close gearing of the 5-speed, help with work and hauling furniture. Its drivetrain has had no issues, as like other old school Ford 4.9s, it has been reliable for him.

While it's not for sale, Hoover said he has some some funny experiences of his ownership with it. He said when was helping haul a glass-topped picnic table, he said the table actually felt right out of the truck's bed around a sharp turn. "It was in the West End of Pittsburgh," he said, "and thankfully the table did not fall too far away from the road." Hoover said that he was thankful he did not have to clean up the mess, because he placed the table back in the bed, and was good to go afterward. There were no issues with it nor the truck.

He has only gone through one battery since bought it 15 years ago from a friend, and the motors for both of the windows do not work anymore.

Despite the Ford's wear and tear issues, 

"Once you own a truck, you will never want to go back to a car, or even a van."

While Hoover may not drive the truck on a regular basis, he does find enjoyment in helping his family, and driving one of the rare manual transmission trucks on American roads today.

21st Century of Guts: Why I still remember the forgotten GTO

8/3/15

I have been thinking about the sleek looking modern Pontiac GTO from about a decade ago. 
I have been thinking about its strong, somehow poetic 350-horsepower engine.
I think that the car kicks ass. But why did it go?

Who can forget such a car. The 2004 Goat boasted a 5.7 liter engine lifted from the Corvette. That car boasted a 0 to 60 time of a good 5.3 seconds for the stick and 5.4 for the automatic. Fast, but the auto's acceleration felt a little slow.

Source: Net Car Show website

Seeing the car lose its guts, all of its sales, and its availability for the American market.

It was kind of beautiful, if a little on the plain side. But I sure do miss seeing them on GM dealer lots.

I miss seeing them rumble quickly past everything in sight, only Corvettes and Subarus and other serious performance cars strong and light enough to keep up.

I miss the no-cost 6-speed manual option, one of the very few cars to offer such an option. I miss hearing those 'boxes clutches engage and then disengage, and then continue to wildly accelerate onto a freeway ramp. 

I have been thinking lately perhaps I will own such a car someday, used, with plenty of miles. And, just for kicks, an automatic car to mod it. 

The best sports car Ford made

I need to get this one off my chest. I have since joined another blog but I want to say this.

I think the Ford GT is one of the best Ford sports cars ever sold in the USA. 

I believe this even if Jeremy Clarkson asked Ford to take his car back.

The 2015 Charger

The 2015 Charger

June 18, 2015

The Charger is on its way to be a world class full-size sporting sedan.  With the release of the Hellcat and R/T Scat Pack models, good ol’ Mopar is returning to its early 1970s roots: where big power meets loud engines.

            It has also increased in technology too, for the most part. While fuel economy isn’t quite hybrid-ish, the big sedan starts things off with 292-hp six-cylinder. Not enough for you? A 375-hp Hemi is optional, with a top speed limiter.

            More juice comes from the SRT branch’s mechanical work on the SRT 392 (6.4 Hemi) and Hellcat, a new name that Chrysler is using for super-Hemis. Boasting 485 horsepower for the SRT and an extreme 707 for the Hellcat, these big machines mean business. All that power takes gears, and all Chargers start off with a new, class-leading 8-speed auto carried from the Ram trucks. Charger’s brother, Challenger, is the only one to offer a manual with these engines: a six-speed.

            Last year I pondered whether the Hellcat Challenger was going to be more badass and thus more popular than Chrysler’s other sports car: the Viper. Has Chrysler made their comeback with this supercharged 4-door behemoth?

American Writers' Personalities as Modern Cars

“What would you be if you were a car?” My father and I came up with this idea a few weeks ago.

While I have a hard time fitting myself into stereotypes, I think it would be fun to place the “personality” of today’s cars and associate them with famous American writers of the 19^th and 20^th centuries.

Flannery O’Connor—2015 Chevrolet SS

            One of the great American writers of Southern “grotesque,” O’Connor was known for writing stories that could be sometimes quite frightening, or appear to be timid at first and then shock the hell out of you. For a literary example, read “Good Country People.” The Chevy SS appears to be something like that—kind of average-looking sedan until you press the ignition button and drive the car onto a busy highway. Watch the smoke from the rear wheels appear into a cloud, then a mushroom cloud, and feel your heart speed until a stop while the fear of an overpowered sedan overtakes you.

Mark Twain—Bentley Flying Spur or 2015 Cadillac CTS

            Twain was not poor by any means, and it is understood that he enjoyed the wealth that he built from his traveling lectures. I had a hard time picking either a luxurious Bentley sedan or Cadillac’s newest car, the CTS. I suppose it could vary depending on how patriotic Twain was feeling, but with his money he would enjoy fine motoring in some sort of luxury.

T.S. Eliot—2002-05 Jaguar X-type

            Eliot and his poetic colleague, Ezra Pound, were born in America but hated living here. Eliot eventually took up British citizenship, which is why he is associated here with the Ford-made Jaguar X-type. Sold only for a few years in the States, the car was probably much less popular than his poetry about 100 years earlier.

F. Scott Fitzgerald—the President’s Cadillac limousine (unknown year)

            Scott Fitzgerald may ring a bell in many Americans who at least received a B in their high school English class. That’s because he is famously associated with the Jazz age, his tremendous if short-lived wealth, and his extraordinary income from his literature, such as “The Great Gatsby.” I figured why not pick the President’s very own limousine.

Tennessee Williams—1966 Shelby Cobra 427

            Although this is meant to associate authors with modern cars, I could not think of a car that was more associated with excess and drama than the king of American cars itself, the Shelby Cobra. Equipped with a mean 425 horsepower engine, the car could rocket to high acceleration numbers faster than anything else with plenty of noise, drama, and boys staring at it as it drove by. Williams was a purveyor of stories but also of drama, with his “A Streetcar Named Desire” hitting audiences in the 1950s. His critics complained of excess drama and sex in the play, as well as other literature he composed.