Some people really do have a twisted sense of imagination, don’t they?
We really don’t have any idea how somebody can dress up a Ford Cargo truck using the iconic Shelby Mustang as in inspiration. The people behind this piece of work, which was on display at the 2011 Fenatran Show in Sao Paulo, Brazil, apparently thought that it would be a fantastic idea to do just that.
So, against seemingly every fiber of sense known to man, they went and dressed up this Cargo 1932 with an orange paint finish and matching black stripes as an ode to the Shelby Mustang. Imagine all the brain cells that were roasted during this build. Of course, a creation like this features more than just a sketchy color scheme; it also needs a special new body kit - check - a dressed up interior - check - and a new suspension set-up - check. Heck, even the rear of the truck was designed to look exactly like the rear of a Shelby!
Speaking of the interior, the people behind this Shelby-inspired Ford Cargo saw fit to add black decoration materials on the interior, as well as a new set of sports seats and a sports steering wheel.
Behind all the questions surrounding Optimus Prime’s bastard cousin of a truck, here’s one thing we do know: When Carroll Shelby started his line of special Mustangs, this wasn’t what he had in mind.
Whether we realize it or not, the health of truckers across our nation is of great importance to our economy and our communities. These men and women spend hours on end delivering products to homes and businesses across the USA, with one in 16 jobs being directly tied to trucking. This leads to poor nutritional habits and a sedentary lifestyle taking a toll on their bodies, leading them to battles with lung disease, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, sleep apnea, exhaustion, and back problems, to name a few. But if they are not sitting, they aren’t making any money, so what are they to do?
The Man in White.ORG (TMIW) is now addressing this issue in a way that no other organization has done before; they have released a 4-disc, audio book (CD), titled “Truckers’ Road to Health” that educates truckers on their health. Unlike educational tools provided to truckers in the past, this audio book was written by respected medical specialists and broken down into laymen’s terms to make it easily understood by all. Topics covered in the educational audio book were chosen after interviewing hundreds of truckers, leaders in the trucking industry, and medical specialists, and include pulmonary disease, hypertension, cardiac disease, diabetes, nutrition, vision, obesity, back pain, exercising on the road, stress management, sleep apnea, and recommended health screens. Risk factors and preventive measures are discussed, along with proper nutrition, exercise and lifestyle issues. The best part about this audio book is that truckers do not need to stop making money to learn about their health; they can do it while they drive.
Full story after the jump.
Full story
The Dodge Durango may not be one of our first candidates as far as tuning programs are concerned - we reserved that right for the Viper - but we certainly aren’t complaining with what Mopar Underground did with this SEMA-bound special edition Dodge Durango Tow Hook.
Immediately, the SUV’s four-coat orange and satin-black color scheme attracted our attention, as did the healthy infusion of styling upgrades done on the SUV. In addition to the fancy pants paint finish, the Durango Tow Hook also gets a piano black split-crosshair grille, a satin-black roof, fascia accents, hood graphics, and a set of 22" twin-spoke forged Superalloy wheels wrapped in Pirelli tires. The Dodge SUV also has a custom and performance-increasing mandrel bent exhaust system featuring Corsa components and a lowered suspension that cuts the SUV’s ride height by 25 mm.
Meanwhile, the Durango Tow Hook’s interior picks up from where the exterior left off with a variety of high-quality Mopar components, including black, perforated Mopar Katzkin leather seats that come with orange leather trim and orange stitching and piping. The seat inserts are covered with Perforated Barracuda suede covers while suede bolsters with matching orange accent stitching and piping provide visual treats for the seats. The orange treatment continues with a leather trim, stitching, and piping on the center armrest while the door panels come with orange stitching and a silver metal brush trim. The SUV also has a new SRT steering wheel, black chrome trim around the vents, and piano-white trimmed radio/HVAC and center console bezels, completing the entire dress-up for the Durango Tow Hook.
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Usually when there is a transmission failure, it is something internal that, after many years of dutiful service, is expected to start breaking down. However, Nissan has announced that some of their best selling trucks and SUVs (2005-2010 Nissan Frontier, Xterra, and Pathfinders) are experiencing radiator leaks that are finding their way into the components of their automatic transmissions. This leak is causing premature wearing of the automatic transmission that warrants replacement often at less than 100,000 miles. The New York Times reports that even after Nissan extended warranties on the effected models by 5 years/50,000 miles (for a total warranty coverage for 80K miles/8 years) owners still reported that "the radiator issues have affected the vehicles transmissions, causing premature failure...Lance Wiggins, Technical Director of the Automatic Transmission Rebuilders Association points out ’what’s happening is the radiator cooler tanks are rupturing, forcing coolant into the five-speed automatic through the transmission cooler lines." Motor Trend also points out that for many of the owners of these vehicles (particularly the older models) are beyond the extended warranty. If the transmission fails, they will have to put forth a substantial investment for a new one. Nissan says they "would cover transmissions damaged by coolant, as long as they met the extended warranty guidelines." No warranty, no fix.
Although Nissan says "only a small proportion of models are affected," we are perplexed by their actions. They seem to be doing enough to belay a lawsuit, yet don’t seem to be real concerned about maintaining a loyal customer base, which is a real pity because we love the ruggedness and the utility of the Nissan trucks and SUVs.
We’ve been watching the Bugatti versus SSC battle closely with their back and forth efforts of one-upmanship fueling our need for speed. The record for the fastest vehicle on Earth is a hefty goal to attain, but soybean farmer, Brent Hajek, is working on a different kind of record. You see, Hajek also has a passion for speed and his company, Hajek Motorsports, has taken on the challenge of breaking the land speed record for diesel and biodiesel trucks. Not only did they take on the challenge, but they succeeded wholeheartedly with two land speed records.
Hajek Motorsports has joined the record breakers of the world by achieving these land speed records with a Ford F-250 SuperDuty. First, the F-250 SuperDuty got up to 171.123mph, hitting the new record for B Production Diesel Trucks. Then the F-250, running on bio-diesel fuel, smashed the existing 130.614 unlimited bio-diesel land speed record by getting up to 182mph.
The 2011 Ford F-250 SuperDuty is powered by a 6.7L Powerstroke V8 turbo diesel engine delivering 400 HP and 800 lb-ft of torque. The truck used for the record was mostly stock, but it did get some changes to the high pressure fuel pump, fuel injectors, and turbochargers for more fuel flow. The compression ratio was also modified.
