2015 Mustang to trot out in Dec.
Ford will unveil the 2015 Mustang, the next generation of the iconic pony car, on Thursday, Dec. 5.
The unveiling will be held simultaneously in Dearborn, Mich.; Los Angeles; New York; Barcelona, Spain; Sydney, Australia; and Shanghai, China.
The news broke earlier this month at an event at the Los Angeles Auto Show. This will be the first redesign since 2005 for the car and comes as car celebrates its 50th anniversary next year. The 2015 Mustang will be a global car. Ford already announced plans to sell it in Europe.
Ford also is partnering with social media, including Facebook and Instagram, to do a 15-day countdown to the unveiling events.
For the first 15 days of December, there will be a short film series called “Mustang Inspires,” developed by Instagrammers. People are invited to share pictures and stories using the #MustangIn spires hashtag.
The Mustang also will appear in the movie “Need for Speed,” to be released in March.
Jeep purist’s dream
Jeep is taking its most famous, rugged vehicle back to war — at least when it comes to looks.
For those nostalgic about the utility vehicle that won World War II, not to mention Korea and Vietnam, Jeep has created a modern tribute to the original Willys.
Shown this month at the Los Angeles Auto Show, the 2014 Jeep Wrangler Willys Wheeler Edition takes the vehicle back to its roots. Add your own big white star and the transition is largely complete, even if you don’t put a sourpuss sergeant behind the wheel.
The Willys Wheeler Edition “is a Jeep purist’s dream, deli- vering a Jeep vehicle that harkens back to the original, classic CJs of the 1940s,” said Mike Manley, CEO of Chrysler Group’s Jeep brand. “This new Jeep vehicle delivers pure functionality.”
That functionality includes off-road features that any GI would have dreamed of having in the dunes of north Africa. There is a Dana 44 rear axle with a limited-slip rear differential, BF Goodrich Mud Terrain tires, rock rails and other stuff meant for the toughest trails. It will be powered by a 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 engine that produces 285 horsepower and 260 poundfeet of torque.
The Willys Wheeler edition comes to showrooms early next year. Built in Toledo, Ohio, the Jeeps will be priced at $25,795 for the two-door models and $29,595 for the four-door version before delivery charges.
Longer Range Rover
If you demand to be carted around in style, Land Rover has just the vehicle — the extended-wheelbase version of the Range Rover that it debuted in Beverly Hills this month.
The stretch Rover is 7.3 inches longer than the standard, with most of the space going into the rear seat as legroom. The backseat now has a recliner to make full use of the added space, as well as a power-operated table to use with a notebook computer.
Don’t get the wrong idea, however. Even though the space is in back, Land Rover still expects most people will want to drive the Range Rover themselves, says Kim McCullough, Land Rover’s group vice president for the U.S.
The $199,000 Range Rover with long wheelbase will help at the top end of the brand, but McCullough says she’s taking a serious look at the bottom end, the part that appeals to upper-middle-class buyers.