Edsel’s Mercury Had A Good Run
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By Casey Williams
MyCarData
By all accounts, Edsel Ford, son of cantankerous Henry, was a kind and decent man. His flair for auto design and modern consumer desires contrasted against his father’s dogged determination to give people more black Model Ts. Under Edsel’s direction, Lincolns became stunningly elegant. In 1939, he unveiled the Mercury 8, a medium-priced entry that took basic Ford mechanicals and dressed them with Lincoln Zephyr styling. A sticker of $916 pit it against Buick, Nash, Hudson, and DeSoto.
Seventy-one years later, Mercury faces a tougher world. On June 2, Ford announced it would discontinue Mercury by this fall. Ford is pursuing a line of global vehicles like the Fiesta, Focus, Fusion, and Taurus. These cars are upscale, beautiful, and endowed with driving dynamics that were foreign to Americans a generation ago. Lincoln moved slightly down market with the MKX and MKZ, invading Mercury’s space with refined tailoring. Mercury’s demise will open a gap for a Lincoln compact to compete against the Lexus CT200h, Audi A3, and upcoming Mercedes B-Class.
Mercury had a great run. The ’39 Mercury 8 sold 65,884 units in its very first year, proving there was a market for a Ford with more panache. The post-war 1949 models are icons of streetrodders with their sleek bodies, chopped tops, and slammed suspensions. Beautiful Montclairs, powerful Marauders, and generations of Cougars defined Ford’s middle brand. Grand Marquis, Mercury’s longest-running nameplate, was introduced in 1975 and is still a heavyweight of its class. Futuristic Sables defined the ’80s. Mountaineer SUVs, Mariner crossovers, and Milan Hybrid sedans were all great, but never separated far enough from Mother Ford.
Today, Mercury accounts for 0.8% of Ford’s 16% U.S. market share with sales hovering around 90,000 units annually ? fewer than most individual Ford models. Ford moved up in refinement while Lincoln pursued the younger and style-conscious buyers Mercury once attracted. Eliminating Mercury will allow executives to focus all of their energy on global Fords and potentially international Lincolns.
With Mercury and Lincoln, Edsel put Ford solidly on the path of becoming a full-line automaker that is the equal of any. He would have fit right in among the current team at Ford, including his grandson, Chairman Bill Ford, and CEO Alan Mulally. Unlike his father, Edsel had no problem with change when change was required. Mercury served its time, but its time has come. We’ll always have the memories.
Dalai Lama – Good Kharma
Words of wisdom from the Dalai Lama accompanied by Yanni’s “Meditation,” With paintings and art by Martin Ridley, Homer Dodge Martin, and Spadecaller.
1966 Ford Galaxy 850Hp 4×4 Truck BarnYard Boggers at The Good times 4×4′s June 7th 2009
I want to Thank The Two BarnYard Boggers !!! Chris and his Partner for telling Us about there Truck.. The NY Barn Yard Boggers Own The Mud Pits around there area and I have Not seen anything Built Like That In NY all My Live.. The BarnYard Boggers Rock The Mud Thanks again Check Us out on Our website to at theoutlawvideoss.ning.com
dennis waterman – i could be so good for you
minder dennis waterman ford capri
Hyundai Tucson – Looks good, with room and high content level
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By Dan Scanlan
MyCarData
Face it gang ? everybody offers a compact four-cylinder crossover SUV.
You have the Subaru Forester, Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, Nissan Rogue, Chevrolet Equinox/GMC Terrain, Mitsubishi Outlander, Kia Sportage, Ford Escape/Mazda Tribute/Mercury Mariner, Suzuki SX4 Sportback, even Dodge Magnum. Almost all have tons of room for four to five adults and stuff, and all range from between $22,000 and $29,000 for a version that offers all-wheel-drive with the aforementioned four-cylinder.
So what’s your choice? Let’s look at one more from a company that once offered only a simple compact car stateside 20 years ago, but now has a whole fleet of product, some of which is just plain gorgeous ? the second generation 2010 Hyundai Tucson Limited.
*Hyundai haberdashery ? This is arguably one of the best-looking compact crossovers out there, and is Hyundai’s first design penned at its Frankfurt-based design and technical center. Its 61 pounds less than the last-generation Tucson, but 3.3-inches longer and an inch wider, with a longer wheelbase.
There’s an expressive face, its grill a slim upper slit over the chrome-accented center bar carrying its design line along the hood’s shut lines, letting the headlights arc up and into the flowing fender line. The lower grill is wide and aggressive, over a slim black lower air dam with neatly-integrated fog lights. Using the company’s new “Fluidic Sculpture” design, flowing edge lines frame the upper front and rear fenders with neat 10-spoke alloy wheels and wide 18-inch Kumho rubber. A gently arcing line ties the side doors together at the chrome door handles. The black lower door sills flow upward aft of the front flares into a wedge-shaped profile that extends into the rear bumper under slashed wrap-around taillights. The side window profile narrows to a tip as it heads aft, a bit of Lexus RX to the rear window shape. The roof is all black on our Garnet Red example, actually Hyundai’s first panoramic sunroof. Other than a feeling that the wheels are a bit small for the overall shape, it’s certainly a beautiful crossover.
*Hyundai homestyle ? Brown over tan with silver accents greets the occupants, nicely grained hard plastic with precise shut lines for the most part. A 4-spoke manual tilt/telescope steering wheel with a full compliment of stereo, cruise, Bluetooth and voice-command buttons frames an inset silver-trimmed 140-mph speedometer and 8,000-rpm tach bracketing a blue-lit gas and temperature bar gauge with full trip computer. Buttons for the center differential locking, hill descent control and stability control reside to the gauge’s lower left on the dash. To the right, a high-mounted 6.5-inch LCD touch screen for satellite navigation with XM Traffic, plus a good-sounding 360-watt AM-FM-XM Satellite-six disc CD audio system with sub-woofer, which also accesses music files off Bluetooth-equipped cellphones. My gripe ? the LCD screen is angled upward just enough to reflect glare in the daytime. Under it, a simple dual-zone climate control system, while the front seats’ dual-level heater buttons top the grab handle-framed hard plastic storage area at the head of the center console, with an iPod-specific multi-pin connecter and two 12-volt power outlets. The boomerang-shapes center air vents also house the front and rear defroster buttons, while some slightly less expensive looking plastic on the center console is where two cupholders reside. There’s decent room under the padded center armrest, but it flexes when leaned on. And the front head restraints thrust their padding too far forward, in touch with the back of my head at all times.
The two-tone brown and tan bucket seats were comfortable if flat, the driver’s benefiting from 8-way power adjustments and almost-there power lumbar. The long wheelbase means easy access and good head and leg room in the flat back seat, which gets a center armrest with shallow cupholders and not much else except mesh pockets on the hard plastic backs of the front buckets. Manual sunshades cover the two big moonroofs overhead, the rear fixed, the front sliding up and aft. Behind the 70/30 split folding rear seats, a 13 percent larger cargo area under a wide, high-opening rear hatch. The glovebox is OK, the door a bit flimsy in feel. All door map pockets have water bottle holders.
*Hyundai on the highway – Our 8,400-mile-old test crossover weighed in at 3,516-lbs., with a 170-hp partial zero-emission (176-hp in regular form) 2.4-liter DOHC inline four-cylinder under that sloping hood, 26 percent more ponies than the last-gen Tuscon’s four, and equal to the last one’s V-6. Some of that is due to its all-aluminum construct with Continuously Variable Valve Timing on both camshafts and variable induction. That said, our tester launched leisurely before picking up a head of steam to hit 60-mph in an average 10 seconds, decent passing power but a less-than-inspiring exhaust note. A GMC Terrain and CR-V do it in a bit over 9 seconds each, both with a tad more horsepower. Despite the 21- to 28-mpg EPA estimates, our Tucson saw no better than 17-mpg on the trip computer.
With a sporty ride accomplished via MacPherson strut front and multi-link rear suspension with larger stabilizer bars, our Tucson Limited felt solid on the road. Ride motion was firmly damped, with decent buffering at rebound. But the ride got a bit harsher on less-than-perfect roads, although the Tucson had limited body roll in turns and its all-wheel-drive, biased front wheels most times, allocated power aft when needed to neutralize sportier turning. The rack-and-pinion electric power steering was direct with lots of road feel, too much sometimes, and an artificial feel on the highway ? it needs to be softened a bit. But with a 34.7-foot turning diameter, U-turns were no problem. The brakes also had a solid, controllable feel and good stopping power with minimal fade after repeated hard use.
Off road, thanks to an electronic AWD system that sends power front or rear as needed, we could tackle dirt roads and trails, plus some softer sand with ease. Get in deeper, and there’s driver-selectable AWD lock for a 50/50 torque split between the front and rear, plus Hyundai’s first Downhill Brake Control that automatically taps the brakes going down a hill to keep you slow and steady without overuse of brakes. Its 6.7-inch ground clearance is adequate, but some tall grass was sweeping the bottom as we drove.
*Tucson tithing ? Everything we talked about bar the panoramic sunroof (that deletes the roof rails)/sat-nav/premium audio system ($2,850) and $100 carpet mats was standard with the Limited’s $25,845 base price, and that includes leather seating, 18-inch alloys and all-wheel-drive with locking center diff and hill descent control, plus six air bags. That’s nice, and costs a few thousand less for a bit more than some of the competition.
*Bottom line ? The new Hyundai Tucson has the handling, room, equipment level and price to be a real player in the compact crossover market. It also looks less like a box than most of the others. It just needs a bit more sophistication in ride, a bit more sprite in the engine room, and nicer plastic here and there.
2010 Hyundai Tucson Limited
Vehicle type – 5-passenger compact 5-door crossover
Base price $25,845 ($29,590 as tested)
Engine type ? DOHC 16-valve aluminum block in-line PZEV four
Displacement ? 2.4 liters
Horsepower (net) ? 170 @ 6,000 rpm
Torque (lb-ft) ? 163 @ 4,000 rpm
Transmission ? 6-speed w/manual shift mode
Wheelbase ? 103.9 inches
Overall length ? 173.2 inches
Overall width ? 71.7 inches
Height ? 65.2 inches
Front headroom ? 39.4 inches
Front legroom ? 42.1 inches
Rear headroom ? 39.1 inches
Rear legroom ? 38.7 inches
Cargo capacity ? 25.7 cu. ft./55.8 w/rear seats folded
Curb weight ? 3,516 lbs.
Fuel capacity ? 14.5 gallons
Mileage rating ? 21-mpg city/28-mpg highway
Last word ? Looks good, with room and high content level
Will Robert Pattinson’s Next Movie Be Any Good?
Has R-pattz been pigeon-holed by the Twi-Saga? Hey Twilight Fans, I’m Joslyn Davis for ClevverTV breaking down Robert Pattinson’s future. Will he be able to break the Mark Hamill curse? Ok, so I know what a lot of you are asking right now-”who the heck is Mark Hamill and what does he have to do with Robert Pattinson?” Well back in the day, Hamill played Luke Skywalker in the uber-famous Star Wars Franchise. After that movie-goers were completely unable to see him as anyone else. This became such a huge problem for the actor that apparently he REMOVED the credit from his resume. Other actors like Orlando Bloom, Harrison Ford and Elijah Wood have gone to great lengths to make sure that they can successfully do other roles outside of their big saga films. So will Robert be able to move past Twilight when all is said and done? Or will he always be known as the actor who got super famous playing a vampire and then never did anything else. Well, as far as critics are concerned, the jury is still out. There’s a lot riding on his performance in non-Twi-flick “Remember Me,” which will hit theaters in February of 2010. So, what do guys think? I know you all love seeing him as Edward but NUBMER ONE-does he have what it takes to convince us in other roles and NUMBER TWO-will you guys, the fans, accept him as someone other than Edward Cullen???? You know the drill, leave a comment and let us know! Thanks for watching ClevverTV-your ultimate hook-up for all things Twilight. I’m Joslyn …
Billy Currington – Good Directions
20k views WOOT! I was sittin’ there sellin’ turnips on a flatbed truck Crunchin’ on a pork rind when she pulled up She had to be thinkin’ “This is where Rednecks come from” She had Hollywood written on her license plate She was lost and lookin’ for the interstate Needin’ directions and I was the man for the job [Chorus] I told her way up yonder past the caution light There’s a little country store with an old Coke sign You gotta stop in and ask Miss Bell for some of her sweet tea Then a left will take you to the interstate But a right will bring you right back here to me I was sittin’ there thinkin’ ’bout her pretty face Kickin’ myself for not catchin’ her name I threw my hat and thought, “You fool, that could’ve been love” I knew my old Ford couldn’t run her down She probably didn’t like me anyhow So I watched her disappear in a cloud of dust. [Chorus] I told her way up yonder past the caution light There’s a little country store with an old Coke sign You gotta stop in and ask Miss Bell for some of her sweet tea Then a left will take you to the interstate But a right will bring you right back here to me Is this Georgia heat playin’ tricks on me Or am I really seein’ what I think I see The woman of my dreams comin’ back to me She went way up yonder past the caution light Don’t know why, but somethin’ felt right When she stopped in and asked Miss Bell for some of her sweet tea Mama gave her a big ‘ol glass and sent her right back here to me Thank God for good directions …
In Flames – Reroute To Remain [good quality]
Lyrics: It started as a whisper Now try to dodge this roar Unified, the most forceful way to go Waste this one? It’s up to you! We need this revolution Destroy the pattern, anything that separates Across the times, who dares to follow? For years we wandered these circles Hold on to whatever lie gets us through Design new latitudes Find ways to channel bliss Us defined is too fragile to neglect Reroute to remain! Reroute to remain! Never want to look back in greed Can I please have your attention? There are mountains to cross For all that are willing There are never ending treasures that awaits you For years we wandered these circles Hold on to whatever lie gets us through Design new latitudes Find ways to channel bliss Us defined is too fragile to neglect Reroute to remain! Reroute to remain! Design new latitudes Find ways to channel bliss Us defined is too fragile to neglect Reroute to remain! Reroute to remain!
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia #65- Final Boss and Good Ending
Final boss fight with Dracula and the good ending. Before fighting Dracula you should have 99.80% (100% in all maps and 96% in Dracula’s Castle), then after you clear the game you’ll have 100% map completion. Dracula’s first form is pretty easy, it’s the same as every other game almost, Rapidus Fio can dodge the fireballs and ducking/double jumping keeps you safe from the meteors. If you’re fast, using Rapidus Fio and going through him when his bats appear can get you behind him, and you can attack him while he’s facing the other way. Just don’t try this after he teleports or he’ll smack you with his cape. For his fatal ray, get near him, and you can attack without getting hit, being in front of him gives you more room. For his second form it gets tricky, he’ll summon bats (duck down near him to avoid), wolves (attack them to get rid of them), and his destruction ray (go back and forth to dodge), and a kick if you get too close. Individually these are easy to dodge, it’s just his soul steal can catch you off guard, I had such a hard time dodging it when he combined it with his other attacks, which individually are easy to deal with, so I smoked him with the light/darkness union. Also, as the dialogue implies, use the Dominus Union to finish off Dracula, unless you want to fly in the upper right corner forever…
Hank Williams – Hey Good Looking (1951) The Original
Yepp, that’s right, ladies and gentlemen! The King of Country, himself, Hank Williams, Sr. Here’s 1 of his 11 #1 hits: “Hey Good Looking”… Lyrics: Say hey, good lookin. what ya got cookin? Hows about cooking somethin up with me? Hey, sweet baby. dont you think maybe, We can find us a brand new recipe? I got a hot rod ford, and a two dollar bill; And I know a spot right over the hill. Theres soda pop and the dancings free So if you wanna have fun, come along with me. Hey, good lookin. what ya got cookin? Hows about cooking somethin up with me? Im free and ready, so we can go steady. Hows about saving all your time for me? No more lookin. i know I been cookin. Hows about keepin steady company? Im gonna throw my date book over the fence, And buy me one for five or ten cents Ill keep it till its covered with age cause Im writin your name down on every page. Say hey, good lookin. what ya got cookin? Hows about cooking somethin up with me?
