Dodge Takes Truck Speed Record From Ford
We knew it was only a matter of time. Ford's new SVT Lightning pickup made it into the Guinness Book of World Records last summer as the "fastest production pickup" with a top speed of 147 mph. Yet as that record was being set, Dodge was on the verge of debuting its answer to the Lightning, the Viper-powered SRT-10 Ram. Just like it did back in the glory days of musclecars, Dodge went gunning for Ford. And nabbed the record, big time. Traveling over a "flying kilometer" at Chrysler's Chelsea Proving Grounds in Michigan, an unmodified SRT-10, with NASCAR driver Brendan Gaughan behind the wheel, clocked a two-way average of 154.587 mph.
This Just In...
*The Name Game, Part 1: In a move that was obvious to all of us months ago, Nissan has decided to drop "Pathfinder" from the name of its Pathfinder Armada fullsize SUV. "We think the mid-year adjustment is a smart decision and hope that buyers will have a clearer understanding that our two newest SUVs come in two sizes-but now with two distinct names," said Fred Suckow, director, marketing, Nissan Division. No duh.
*The Name Game, Part 2: Land Rover will launch a revised version of the Discovery later this year, but it won't be called that here in the States, according to AutoWeek magazine. Instead, U.S. versions of the SUV will be called the Land Rover LR3.
*Mitsubishi is going to market a version of the new Dodge Dakota in coming months, but the products shared between it and DaimlerChrysler may not stop there, according to trade publication Automotive News. The two are also in talks to share minivans and the Durango. Does Mitsu really need another SUV?
*SEMA reports that Toyota and Honda are considering the use of composite materials in the construction of truck beds for their upcoming Tacoma and SUT models, respectively. According to the association, ThyssenKrupp Budd Co. will manufacture a short and long sheet-molding-composite box for the Tacoma at a new plant near Toyota's facility in Tijuana, Mexico. The automaker will finish the boxes in Mexico and ship them to its New United Motor Mfg. Inc. final-assembly plant in Fremont, California. At $5 million, the tooling costs for the composite box on the Tacoma are one-fifth of what it would be for a steel system, according to Budd. GM offered a similar type of bed on Silverado pickups in 2001, but few consumers chose the $1,000 Pro-Tec option and it was dropped. SEMA says the composite boxes will be standard equipment on the Toyota and Honda trucks.
Ford's New F-150 Makes More News
Ford continues to win accolades for its new F-150 pickup. Among the latest press clippings:
*Last month we told you how the F-150 earned a Best Pick for its crashworthiness by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Well, crash testing by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration brings more good news. The '04 SuperCab and SuperCrew earned the top safety score in the federal government's frontal impact crash test: five stars for the driver and five stars for the front-seat passenger.
*The Automobile Journalists Association of Canada named the '04 F-150 Canadian Truck of the Year at the recent Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto. This trophy joins many others in Dearborn, including Motor Trend magazine's Truck of the Year and the North American Truck of the Year, which was awarded to Ford by a panel of automotive journalists.
*Look forward to more Harley-Davidson editions. Ford and the motorcycle maker just extended their agreement to co-brand special editions of the F-series through 2007.