Tag Archives: Ford

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The Ford Mustang Mach-E GT California Special Arrives

There’s something slightly rebellious about taking one of Ford Mustang’s most nostalgia-soaked badges and pasting it onto an all-electric crossover. But then again, rebellion has always been part of the Mustang brief. Now, with the arrival of the Ford Mustang Mach-E GT California Special, Ford Motor Company leans even harder into that contradiction—and somehow makes it work.

The California Special name dates back to 1968, when West Coast dealers gave the original Mustang a sun-kissed identity to match its booming sales in the Golden State. This time around, the vibe is less carburetors and chrome, more kilowatts and code—but the spirit remains intact. Think Pacific Coast Highway, just with fewer gas stops and more charging stations.

Visually, the GT/CS does just enough to stand out without screaming about it. The 20-inch Carbonised Grey wheels wear subtle GT/CS logos, while badges outlined in a new Rave Blue hue add a cool-toned contrast. The real centerpiece, though, is the hood stripe—a layered mix of grey, black, and blue, radiating outward like a stylized sunset melting into the ocean. It’s thematic, sure, but not overcooked.

Inside, Ford avoids the trap of trying to make “electric” feel sterile. Instead, the cabin leans into texture and tone. Performance seats trimmed in Navy Pier ActiveX and Miko material strike a balance between premium feel and real-world durability—this is synthetic upholstery that’s designed to be lived in, not tiptoed around. A reflective blue and silver stripe runs through the seats, while the same navy material wraps the steering wheel and center console, tying the look together in a way that feels cohesive rather than gimmicky.

Underneath the styling exercise, the broader Mach-E lineup gets meaningful tweaks. Premium Extended Range models now squeeze out a bit more efficiency thanks to lower rolling resistance tires, stretching range figures to as much as 555 km for all-wheel-drive versions and 615 km for rear-drive variants. It’s not a revolution, but in the EV world, incremental gains matter.

Safety tech also gets a boost. Ford’s Clear Exit Assist—essentially a digital lookout for cyclists, scooters, and unsuspecting pedestrians—joins the standard ADAS suite. It’s the kind of feature that sounds minor until it saves you from an awkward insurance claim or worse. Alongside it sits the usual alphabet soup of modern driver aids: adaptive cruise control, pre-collision assist, blind-spot monitoring, and evasive steering support.

And then there’s Ford BlueCruise, the company’s hands-off, eyes-on highway driving system. Already a standout in the Mach-E, it continues to expand across Ford’s European lineup, hinting at a future where long-distance driving becomes less about effort and more about supervision.

Two new paint options—Race Red and the intriguingly named Adriatic Blue-Green—round out the updates, offering buyers a chance to either shout or subtly flex.

The Mach-E was always a controversial addition to the Mustang family, but editions like the GT California Special suggest Ford isn’t interested in playing it safe. Instead, it’s doubling down on the idea that heritage isn’t about clinging to the past—it’s about reinterpreting it. And if that reinterpretation happens to come with instant torque and a West Coast color palette, well, there are worse ways to evolve an icon.

Source: Ford

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Ford Turns the F-150 into a Street Brawler

Ford knows its audience. Build a V8 with 480 horsepower and someone will ask for 580. Build 580 and someone will ask what it would take to see eight hundred. The answer, apparently, is a factory-backed supercharger kit with a warranty and a Blue Oval stamp on the box.

Through Ford Performance, the company has rolled out a dealer-installed, Whipple-developed 3.0-liter twin-screw supercharger package for any modern machine packing the 5.0-liter Coyote V8—namely the Ford Mustang GT, the Ford Mustang Dark Horse, and the V8-powered Ford F-150. It’s less a tune and more a sanctioned escalation.

Mustang: 810 Horsepower, With a Small Catch

Let’s start with the headline number: 810 horsepower and 615 lb-ft of torque from a showroom-stock 5.0-liter Mustang. That’s Mustang GTD-adjacent territory—at least in raw output—and it comes courtesy of a 3.0-liter Whipple twin-screw blower pressurizing Dearborn’s favorite V8.

There is, however, an asterisk. To see the full 810 hp, your Mustang needs the optional active exhaust. Without it, output “falls” to 800 horsepower. If you’re upset about losing 10 hp in an 800-hp Mustang, you may need a hobby.

This isn’t a backyard pulley-and-prayer setup. The kit includes a 92mm throttle body, colder spark plugs, Shelby GT500–sourced port fuel injectors, a dual-pass intercooler, and a Tomahawk flash tool to recalibrate the ECU. In other words, it’s engineered, not improvised.

And because this is Ford, not your cousin’s tuning shop, the whole thing is designed to meet 100,000-mile durability standards. Have it installed by a dealer or certified tech and you get a 3-year/36,000-mile Ford Performance warranty. That’s the kind of coverage that makes forced induction feel almost responsible.

F-150: Street Truck Energy, Raptor R Attitude

If 810 hp feels excessive in a pony car, 700 hp in a pickup might sound unhinged. The F-150 version of the kit fits 2021–2026 model-year trucks equipped with the 5.0-liter V8, bumping output to 700 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque.

No, that doesn’t quite eclipse the 720 hp of the Ford F-150 Raptor R, but it gets close enough to change the personality of the truck entirely. Ford points to the F-150 Lobo as the ideal canvas—essentially handing street-truck fans the power to match the attitude.

The kit works on both two-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive models, provided they use the single-alternator configuration. Trucks equipped with Pro Power Onboard will need an additional component to keep the electrons cooperative.

Like the Mustang setup, this one is calibrated for 91-octane fuel or better. Premium in, tire smoke out.

The Fine Print (There’s Always Some)

The F-150 kit lists at $10,250, while the Mustang package edges up to $10,500. That’s before installation, of course, but in the world of 700- to 800-hp builds, those numbers feel almost reasonable—especially with factory backing.

There is one California-shaped wrinkle. The kit is marketed as 50-state legal for earlier model years, but CARB certification for 2026 vehicles is still pending. Until that paperwork clears, 2026 buyers in California and other CARB-aligned states will have to admire from a distance.

Factory Muscle, No Apologies

The bigger story here isn’t just the horsepower figure—it’s the legitimacy. Aftermarket forced induction has always carried a whiff of risk: questionable tunes, voided warranties, fingers crossed at every cold start. Ford’s approach flips that script. This is boost with a blessing.

And it reinforces a simple truth: the Coyote V8 remains one of the most tunable, resilient engines in modern performance. Ford isn’t just acknowledging that fact. It’s monetizing it—with a warranty card tucked neatly inside.

For loyalists who believe there’s no such thing as too much power, Ford has provided an official answer. It just happens to come with a Whipple whine and a $10,500 receipt.

Source: Ford

News

Ford is coming back

For the better part of a decade, Ford Motor Company has treated traditional passenger cars the way most people treat old gym memberships—fond memories, but ultimately expendable. Crossovers, SUVs, and pickup trucks became the main course, while sedans and hatchbacks were quietly cleared from the table. In Europe, that meant saying goodbye to staples like the Ford Mondeo, Ford Fiesta, and Ford Focus. In America, the purge was even more dramatic. Today, the Ford Mustang stands alone as the brand’s only traditional passenger car.

But now? There’s a flicker of something unexpected: contrition. Or at least, recalibration.

During Ford’s fourth-quarter 2025 earnings call, CEO Jim Farley hinted that the company isn’t done building cars for Europe. Not exactly a grand revival tour—but not a funeral procession, either.

“We have plans, exciting plans for Europe, related to our passenger cars,” Farley said, carefully threading the needle between optimism and caution. The key phrase wasn’t “exciting,” though—it was “profitable.” Ford doesn’t just want to build cars; it wants to build cars that make money. And not just for the company, but for dealers, too.

That’s a subtle but important shift. The previous retreat from cars was largely justified by razor-thin margins and Europe’s brutally competitive small-car market. If Ford returns, it won’t be to relive the glory days of volume for volume’s sake. It’ll be to play in segments where it believes it has an edge.

The Renault Connection

The biggest clue to Ford’s strategy lies not in Dearborn, but in France. The company is collaborating with Renault to develop at least two electric vehicles based on the French automaker’s AmpR small EV platform—the same architecture underpinning the reborn Renault 5 and the new Renault 4.

One of those Fords is widely expected to be an all-electric spiritual successor to the Fiesta. If that happens, it would mark a poetic return for one of Europe’s most beloved superminis—this time humming instead of buzzing. The other model could take the shape of a compact electric crossover, potentially replacing the Puma Gen-E down the line.

It’s a pragmatic move. Developing small EVs from scratch is a financial blood sport, and sharing platforms spreads the cost. More importantly, it allows Ford to re-enter segments it abandoned—without betting the farm.

Hybrids, Partners, and a 2027 Timeline

Ford’s head of Germany, Christoph Herr, reportedly told dealers that the company would invest in several new vehicles—some co-developed with partners, some not—and that they’d arrive starting in 2027. Powertrains? A mix of hybrids and all-electrics.

That timeline matters. By 2027, Europe’s regulatory landscape will be even more aggressive about emissions, and consumer appetite for electrification will likely be stronger—assuming infrastructure keeps pace. A carefully timed re-entry could allow Ford to surf the wave instead of fighting it.

Overseeing this new chapter is Christian Weingaertner, freshly appointed general manager of the passenger vehicle division. His background in business transformation suggests this won’t be a nostalgic exercise. Expect spreadsheets to matter as much as steering feel.

Not a U-Turn—More Like a Three-Point Turn

Let’s be clear: this isn’t Ford admitting it was wrong to prioritize trucks and SUVs. Those vehicles are still the company’s financial backbone. But Europe is a different battlefield. Compact cars and city-friendly EVs remain culturally and economically relevant there in ways they simply aren’t in the U.S.

If Ford can leverage Renault’s hardware, keep costs in check, and deliver a product with genuine Blue Oval character—sharp steering, smart packaging, maybe even a dash of fun—it could carve out a profitable niche. Not a mass-market blitz. More of a precision strike.

The real question isn’t whether Ford can build another great European hatchback. It’s whether it can build one that makes money in 2027 and beyond.

After years of thinning the herd, Ford may finally be ready to plant something new in Europe’s passenger-car soil. The difference this time? It’s bringing a calculator along for the ride.

Source: Ford Authority