Autoblog

FoMoCo never chromed out the Freestar and sent it to the Town Car division, but a version of Ford's new large wagon crossover called the Flex is reportedly headed to Lincoln. It would seem at first blush to be a better match for Mercury's product mix, but Ford wants Lincoln to become the volume seller under the L-M umbrella. What will power the Lincoln version is not yet known, but a variety of powertrains have been used in variants of the platform. Ford could snatch the 4.4-liter V8 from Volvo, but it's more likely to use some iteration of the new Duratec 3.5 or 3.7. The Lincoln badge is certainly befitting of some extra kick from the engine room for differentiation, and we'd expect a more luxe interior, too.

The Ford Flex will bow first, of course, and be allowed to hold court for about a year. The other version could be held back a full year, allowing Lincoln's seven-passenger alternative to vandom to get a solid footing. We're not sure what to think. A Lincoln version would definitely absorb some production capacity, but will it sell, or will Lincoln have a taste of the R-Class mystique? We think a better way to share the Flex would be to go retro and create a modern-day Volvo 245 GLT. A blacked out egg-crate grille, some different lights, throw in that force-fed V6 and there you go.

[Source: Car and Driver via Winding Road, Photo: Winding Road]

High fuel prices have taken another casualty. This time it's the Australian built Ford inline six-cylinder engine, which will be phased out in 2010 to make way for the Blue Oval's new Duratec V6. Up to 600 employees at the Geelong plant in Melbourne, which builds the old six-cylinder, will be losing their jobs, but some staff are expected to be redeployed elsewhere.

Ford cites its new product manufacturing strategy of accessing global economies of scale as the main factor for dropping the engine, but falling demand for Australia's traditional large sedans because of rising fuel prices and impending changes to local emissions standards would also have had a major impact on the decision.

The Aussie division is still on track to complete a new R&D center as part of Ford's $1.8 billion Australian investment program, and significant investment programs in new emissions laboratories and wind tunnel technology will continue.

The new Duratec engine will be sourced from high volume U.S. engine facilities and there's even talk of the addition of new diesel units for the locally built Falcon and Territory models.

[Source: Ford]

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None of us at Autoblog HQ are knocking on the half-century mark yet, but we can only hope that we're saluted in the same way that Caterham decided to celebrate its 50th anniversary.

The X330 Concept is exactly that, but it foretells the destiny of future Caterhams. A 2.3-liter, turbocharged Ford Duratec produces the concept's namesake, sending 330 HP and 221 lb.-ft. of torque through a six-speed manual gearbox to the rear wheels. Carbon fiber makes up the majority of the body panels, while a lighter steel frame holds it all together. The resulting thrust makes the lack of windscreen a disturbing proposition.

Although the X330 isn't slated for production, those of you who were in attendance at the Donington Park event this past weekend, celebrating the 7's golden anniversary, were in for a show.

[Source: Caterham]

Touted as a means to give V8-like horsepower with V6 fuel economy, the TwinForce V6 at this year's Detroit Auto Show stands as one of Ford's biggest announcements so far. Started with the Duratec 35 as a foundation, the engine's combination of turbocharging and direct injection yields a claimed 415 HP and 400 ft-lb of torque - more than enough to smoke any naturally-aspirated V8 currently offered by the Blue Oval here in the United States.

The engine also offers flex-fuel capabilities, with operation possible on either premium gasoline or E85. Ford also claims 15% better fuel economy than a 6.0L V8 of similar performance, so the tire-smoking can commence with reduced guilt. There's no word yet as to whether the new motor can take advantage of the superior knock resistance of ethanol to provide a horsepower bump, but this seems like an ideal platform on which to roll out such a feature. The horsepower junkies among us might also want to consider that an injector sized to flow enough E85 for 400+ HP will probably support at least 600 HP on gasoline, so the aftermarket should have a field day with turning up the wick on the TwinForce.

What do you say - should Ford put this thing into a Mustang, stuff a bulletproof drivetrain behind it, and continue in the V8-terrorizing tradition of the Buick GN and Toyota Supra? Just the thought of such a monster sends chills up our spine.

Click past the jump for the full press release and a general overview of the plumbing; meanwhile, we'll try to snap some live shots of the motor on the show floor.

Check out all the debuts and galleries from the Detroit Auto Show here.

We've been wrapped up in our own opinions about Mercury too much around here. So much so, that when we saw shots of Mercury's Meta One mules running around Detroit again, we instantly assumed the project was back on the front burner. Apparently that's not the case. A few of our sources have informed us that the mules running around Detroit right now are the same ones we saw at the beginning of the year before the car was cancelled. Since the Freestyle will be getting the company's new 3.5-liter V6 powerplant, Ford decided to put the Mercury mules back in service jut to test the engines on the Freestyle platform, and apparently mess with our heads. Mission accomplished. Sorry Mercury, no seven-passenger CUV love for you.

[Source: a little birdy]

Caterhams are light and fast. Take the company's flagship CSR260, for example. Weighing in at around 1300 pounds and packing a 260-horse 2.3-liter Ford Duratec screamer underhood, the car flashes from 0 to 60 in 3.1 seconds and tops out at 155 mph. Now the company has decided to up the ante with the introduction of the CSR260 Superlight.

Apparently, it was felt that the regular car could benefit by going on a diet, so the windshield, carpeting, heater and weather equipment (wipers, etc.) all got tossed in the dumpster. A carbon fiber wind deflector is installed in the spot vacated by the windshield. The material is also used to form the cockpit's new dashboard and wings that help keep it safely planted to the ground ("Wings" is Brit-speak for "front fenders." Thanks to commenter Otto for the clarification. -AN). The rest of the cockpit gets powder-coated and outside, most of the exposed aluminum gets blacked out (Caterham calls this the "black pack").  Handling improvements come in the form of faster steering, a limited-slip differential, and Multimatic-developed "Dynamic Suspensions" dampers. Finally, a detatchable MOMO steering wheel rounds out the Superlight's racy character. The deleted parts and materials represent 55 lbs in weight savings over the standard car, and the whole package is designed to give the driver world-beating handling behavior.

The Superlight shares the 0-60 times and top speed of the regular CSR260, and really, that's fine. Any faster and the car would run the risk bending the space/time continuum without requiring the use of a flux capacitor.

Finished car pricing starts at £37,995 (around $70,000 USD), and Caterham is taking orders now. Delivery of the new rides this August..

(More pictures and Caterham's press release after the jump ... )

[Source: Caterham Cars Ltd.]