Gone were the days when we would all troop to our living rooms to watch ‘Knight Rider’ on our television sets. But one person can take home the vehicle used in the TV series when Ford puts two of these Knight Rider vehicles under the hammer.

Come March 29th, the Ford Motor Company would be bringing two KITT (Knight Industries 3000) Ford Shelby Mustang units used in the show ‘Knight Rider’. The vehicles would be put up for auction at the upcoming Barrett-Jack Collector Car Event which is in its sixth year already.

The KITT Ford Shelby Mustangs to be auctioned are actually products of the collaboration between Ford and NBC. They worked together to have a vehicle which would be used in the TV station’s TV series ‘Knight Rider’. The vehicles - the Super KITT and the Attack Mode KITT - would be put up for sale as a pair.

Jessie Vigil has a 2007 Ford Mustang. With a little tinkering and a good paint job, Vigil’s Mustang now has become a police car. The vehicle now is painted with black and white paint. It also has the emergency bar in red and blue at the top. Painted on the vehicle’s doors is the word “POLICE”.

According to Vigil, he decided to make his 2007 Ford Mustang look like Barricade in the Transformers movie because his son was so much into the film.

Vigil checked with authorities if painting his car to look like a police vehicle was illegal. He was given discouraging answers however there is not anything written down that says that doing such was illegal. There is a law that says people should not have cars that look like police cars but the state police can sell old vehicles to citizens who can let the cars stay as is. That is a gray area so Vigil decided to go for it. He was warned though that he would be meeting trouble if he would impersonate a police officer.

[Via AP]

If you are going to buy a new Ford Focus or a new Ford Mondeo, you would be delighted to find out that you would not need a key to open the door or even start the vehicle. The Ford Motor Company added a keyless entry system as well as a keyless ignition technology to the vehicles. When the driver pulls the vehicle’s door handle, the door automatically unlocks. To start the vehicle, with just one press of the Ford Power button, the engine roars to life.

Safety is not compromised though for the driver must carry with him a special transponder key. This would inform the car that you are the owner and it would open the doors once it recognizes the key’s signal.

One of the benefits of having a keyless entry system in your Ford Focus or Mondeo is not having to search through your bag, purse, or pocket to find your key. This means that you can rush to your car when it is raining and not have to fumble to open your car’s door.

For Volkswagen, a bumper sticker should say more than just a clever proverb or a humorous quip. Volkswagen’s Electronics Research Laboratory is developing a high-tech bumper sticker that will let drivers indicate their mood. The wafer-thin, highly-flexible programmable foil sticker will display text and images like a computer screen. It will continuously update what the driver’s emotional state is, so that the following drivers will know.

This shows how Volkswagen, as well as other automakers, is hard at work to improve communication between drivers. “You can let the traffic behind you know how you are feeling or say whatever you want to say as the mood takes you”, says VW’s ERL based in Palo Alto California. Other ideas on the drawing boards include an on-board heart rate monitor or other vital signs monitor that lets other drivers know the driver’s condition.

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There is a growing demand for PCs and Web Access on automobiles. Last September, a survey conducted by CNW Marketing Research revealed that 14% of prospective buyers under 30 years old would like to have in-car email and web access, a figure that double the number of people who said they wanted this feature back in 2004. Because of this demand, we will see more and more automobiles equipped with access to internet via an on-board PC.

Initially, these auto PCs will connect through regular cellular phone signals. However, the technology is expected to shift to WiMAX, a high-powered Wi-Fi that covers broadband access across urban areas. At present, Ford offers web access in its F-Series pickups through Fordlink, a $2,999 option. Meanwhile, KVH Industries features TracNet 100 system lets drivers view web pages on vehicle navigation and video screens. The TracNet 100 system equipment costs $2,000 while the monthly connection is $79.

Toyota and Honda dominated the list of the top vehicle models with the highest fuel economy ratings released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy. Five of the top ten most fuel efficient vehicles in the U.S. today were manufactured by Toyota, now the world’s second largest automaker. The hybrid car Toyota Prius topped the list with a fuel economy rating of 60 mpg city and 51 mpg highway.

Meanwhile, Honda’s Civic hybrid and Fit were also cited for their high fuel economy scores with the gas-sipping Civic coming only second to the Prius. The list is rounded up by other Asian models: the Hyundai Accent and Kia Rio tied for 9th place. Meanwhile, the Ford Escape FWD and 4WD were the only domestic models on the list.

All roads lead to Paris from Sept. 30 to Oct. 15 as the 2006 Mondial de l’Automobile opens at the Paris Expo, Porte De Versailles. Just like in previous Paris Motor Shows, automakers from all over the globe will turn out in full force to reveal their latest brand new models and concept car designs. This year, the spotlights will be on the latest hybrid and alternative fuel cars competing with high-end luxury cars and exotics for the public’s attention. Companies from Audi to Toyota will unveil their hottest new models and show a glimpse of their future design directions.

European automakers will take the covers off their top new models. The French have a number of major launches up their sleeves including Citroen’s midsize C4 Picasso and futuristic C-Métisse concept car. Meanwhile, Citroen’s mother company Peugeot is hoping that its Epure and 908 RC concept cars will both be a success. Another French automaker, Renault, will show off its new Nepta, a cabriolet concept with motor driven gull wings, 3.5-liter V6 engine, and 420-hp direct-injection gasoline engine.

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The perennial best-seller, Ford F-Series pickup, along with the other best-selling pickups like the Chevrolet Silverado and the Dodge Ram staved off the very stiff competition from smaller cars with way better gas mileage, to remain at the top of Forbes’ list of the top selling cars for 2006.

The F-Series still lords it over all the other vehicles sold in the US this year although sales have fallen 13% down from 625,047 units by August of last year to 545,963 by the end of August this year. Meanwhile, sales of the other pickups in the top ten also tumbled; the top three pickups sold a combined 1.2 million units in the first eight months of 2006, down 8% or over 110,000 units from the 1.3 million US sales registered in the first eight months of 2004.

A telling sign is the conspicuous absence of any SUV or van in the list. Ford’s Explorer SUV, once ranked sixth in 2004 is now dropped from the list, having experienced a 31% decline in sales this year despite significant upgrades in luxury and refinement.

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Three-point seatbelts, the kind we commonly see in practically all vehicles today, have been an industry standard for 32 years already. Now, Ford Motor Co. is currently developing a new design for the seat belt of the future. The new seat belt is modeled after the belts worn by race car drivers. Its design has four points, looks like suspenders, hooks on like a backpack and is more comfortable and easier to use, or so Ford claims.

The new seat belt is designed to keep the person firmly in place. During initial testing, consumers found the four-point seat belt more comfortable than current seat belt designs. It was also much easier to use because the buckle is in the front and is easier to latch on.

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More than seven months into its restructuring plan, Ford Motor Co. has a new CEO. Bill Ford has resigned as the company’s chief executive and is replaced by Alan Mulally, a top executive from Boeing. However, Ford will remain as chairman. Under Bill’s watch, the company has so far failed to turn around the fortunes of the second largest domestic automaker. He is the great-grandson of company founder Hey Ford. In efforts to cut production costs, Ford closed down five plants and cut 35,000 jobs. In the Way Forward Plan, 14 facilities will be closed down and 30,000 jobs cut up by 2012.

Meanwhile, Alan Mulally was responsible for the recovery of Boeing’s commercial airplanes unit. He was a top contender for the CEO post over at Boeing but the company chose Jim McNerney, CEO of 3M. Bill Ford described Mulally as “ideally suited” for the job. “We need somebody with extensive turnaround experience, who was a leader and a real team builder”, said Bill during a news conference. Ford has a lot of work to do especially now that Toyota has eclipsed it to become the second most profitable automaker in the US today. We’ll see if Mulally can turn things around for Ford. He doesn’t have any experience in the automotive industry but he is praised for putting Boeing’s commercial planes unit back in shape. Will he be able to do the same for Ford?