HOMESTEAD, Fla., October 17, 2006 – Three “championship-level” 2007 Ford vehicles – the Ford Shelby GT500, Ford Edge and Ford F-150 FX2 Sport – have been selected to pace the three Ford Championship Weekend races at Homestead-Miami Speedway, site of NASCAR’s season-ending events.

Dan Davis, director of Ford Racing Technology; Curtis Gray, president of Homestead-Miami Speedway; and Matt Kenseth, the 2003 NASCAR Nextel Cup champion and a contender for this year’s title, were all on hand at the race track today to help unveil the three pace vehicles in a ceremony before open NASCAR testing at the track.

“We wanted to select championship level production vehicles to pace the Ford Championship Weekend, and we picked three of the best,” said Davis, in making the announcement. “When you talk about vehicles that combine bold design and the kind of performance needed to lead the NASCAR field on track, these three vehicles are the place to start.”

The Full Line of Steeda Models on Display

The 7TH Annual Steeda Stampede will be held on October 14th at the Steeda Campus in Pompano Beach, Florida. From 9:00 AM through 1:30 PM enthusiasts will have the opportunity to tour the Steeda Campus, check out the sensational flagship of the Steeda Q line of performance Mustangs, the Steeda Q 525, with over 580 horsepower. In addition there will the latest 2007 Steeda Q 400, Steeda Red Thunder, 450 horsepower F-150, Crimson Ride Focus ZX3. New Edge Mustang enthusiasts as well as anyone who appreciates fast cars, will want to check out the 500 horsepower 2001 Steeda Q 400, the Q that looks like a street car yet turns 11 second quarter mile times at over 120 miles per hour. The latest Steeda certified performance parts will be presented and exhibited. The local press as well as the Mustang enthusiast media will be covering the event.

The Steeda 1995 Cobra R, the famed number 20 Cobra R, will be on display. This car won more IMSA GS Class races from 1995-97 than all of the other Cobra Rs combined. It also beat the GM factory backed Pontiac Firebirds. It is one of only 250 1995 Cobra Rs built.

In 1993 Ford built 107 Cobra Rs and the first won to win a race, the number 47 car will be exhibited at the Steeda Stampede. In addition to the Cobra Rs, a number of other successful Steeda equipped drag and road race cars will be on hand. There will be plenty to see as over 300 Mustangs, Cobras, Lightnings, Foci and a variety of Ford performance and show vehicles will be featured during the event.

Marking the 40th anniversary of the Shelby GT350H Ford Mustang, Ford Motor Company, Shelby Automobiles and The Hertz Corporation created 500 Shelby GT-H Mustangs. All but one of those cars will be available to rent through the Hertz Fun Collection this year.

That remaining car was sold to the highest bidder for $250,000 during the annual “Gathering of Eagles” fundraiser at EAA AirVenture 2006. Proceeds from the fundraiser and the auction benefits EAA’s aviation education initiatives, including Young Eagles the most successful youth aviation education program ever created with more than 1.2 million young people flown since 1992.

In 1966, Carroll Shelby and The Hertz Corporation created high-performance, special-edition Shelby Mustangs that could be rented by automobile enthusiasts. Ford Motor Company supplied the Mustangs , Shelby added extra performance and style and Hertz made the cars available to the public. The Shelby GT350H Mustangs are among the most sought-after collector cars in the world.

A reunion of the three Ford GT Mark II racing cars that conquered the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966 was the highlight of this year’s Le Mans Classic, marking the 40th anniversary of a major event in the history of the world’s most famous endurance race.

For the first time in 10 years, the three famed Ford GTs – led by the black and silver Shelby American Mark II of Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon that crossed the finish line first to claim victory for Ford – were reunited at Le Mans to recreate the moment. Ford of Europe had underwritten the cost of shipping the black car – loaned by American collector George Stauffer – to Le Mans for the prestigious historic racing event.

It was joined by the second-place car – the blue Shelby American Ford GT Mark II of Ken Miles and Denny Hulme – and the third-place car – the gold Holman-Moody entry for Ronnie Bucknum and Dick Hutcherson as Ford re-staged the 1-2-3 finish for fans and photographers during the countdown to the traditional 4 p.m. start of the Le Mans Classic 2006.

Subaru is offering its full model range for evaluation on four different purpose-built tracks including a high-speed route, skid-pan, tarmac rally stage and off-road course.

Cars available for testing include the iconic 230 PS Impreza WRX and 280 PS WRX STI, Legacy 3.0R spec.B which develops 245 PS and the 230 PS Forester 2.5 XT and 158 PS Forester 2.0.

Organised in partnership with Prodrive, the ‘Drive Days’ experience costs £250 including breakfast and lunch and lasts a full day.

‘Drive Days’ is based at Prodrive’s 240 acre proving ground in Kenilworth, Warwickshire – about eight miles from Birmingham’s NEC.

Anyone over 18 years old is eligible providing they have held a Full Driving Licence for 12 months, are between 5ft 2 ins and 6 ft 7 ins tall and weigh less than 18 stone.

The hot rod heroes charity pedal car program is part of Ford Motor Company’s activities marking the 2007 75 th Anniversary of the 1932 Ford

As part of Ford Motor Company’s anniversary activities marking the 75 th Anniversary of the iconic 1932 Ford, ten of today’s premier hot rod builders have been invited to produce pedal car versions of their personal style of hot rod. Each builder is starting with a special edition “75 th anniversary” pedal car representing the famous 1932 Ford roadster, donated by Warehouse 36. These 10 one-of-kind customized collectables, personally autographed by Edsel B. Ford II, will be auctioned in late 2007, with the proceeds divided between the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) and the charity of choice of each builder.

The first of these hot rod masterpieces has been built by Chip Foose and made its world début at the 2006 JDRF convention in Washington, D.C. Foose has won every major hot rod award in the country – many more than once – and has been inducted into numerous design and automotive halls of fame and is the star of the TLC television series “Overhaulin’.”

The other craftsmen constructing custom pedal cars for charity are Bobby Alloway, Roy Brizio, Boyd Coddington, Pete Chapouris, Jesse Greening, Steve Moal, Rolling Bones, Thom Taylor and Troy Trepanier. The cars will tour the country over the next year and be auctioned in late 2007.

Having enjoyed five years of success with the ANCRO administered National Gravel Championship, Mitsubishi decided to take the Evolution Challenge to the BRC in 2006, following the announcement that WRC cars would be no longer be allowed to participate and therefore hand the competitive advantage to Class N4 machines.

Series organisers are confident that the move to the British Championship will see registrations for the series increase and provide a host of benefits to competitors, such as: High quality stages, top level competition, increased media profile, more opportunities for sponsors, special deals for registered competitors and therefore represent excellent value for money.

The new-look six-round British Championship will feature three gravel and three asphalt rallies, therefore providing a balanced mixture of surfaces. It is hoped that the inclusion of the asphalt events will make the Evolution Challenge more appealing to Irish competitors.

Organisers are aware that some teams will be concerned that the move to the BRC will see the cost of competing escalate, but with the British Championship taking on a new format, the difference of competing in eight events in 2005 and six events in 2006 will be minimal. A spokesman for the Evolution Challenge said:

“With the series launched at BRC Live at the beginning of the season and the Rally GB at the end, plus the addition of television coverage, there will be many more advantages for sponsors. Therefore, we hope that teams will exploit these features and see the move to the BRC as a great opportunity. It’s shaping up to be a fantastic year.

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