96 - 01 Explorer / Mountaineer Power Antenna Base Stanchion F5tz18922a on 2040-parts.com

Hot Wheels Ford Transit and custom F-100 break cover at SEMA

Ford is making its Transit Connect van cool the only way it knows how: with the help of Hot Wheels. The company unveiled a customized royal blue van today at SEMA in Las Vegas. Alongside the Transit, the Blue Oval also revealed a customized 1956 Ford F-100 pickup, codenamed Snakebit, for charity.

End of Maybach may jump-start Mercedes S-class convertible

A couple of nondenial denials from Mercedes-Benz execs at the New York auto show this week sure made it sound like there's a convertible coming, based on the redesigned S-class due out next year. If the brand follows its usual practice, the convertible would come out a year or two after the sedan. Significantly, Mercedes-Benz showed the Ocean Drive convertible concept five years ago with a Mercedes-Benz badge, rather than Maybach.

Guzzler program still operating; White House searches for funds

The federal cash-for-guzzlers program continues to operate this morning despite dealer reports that it was to be suspended at midnight last night because it was approaching its $1 billion limit. "It is not suspended," a White House spokeswoman, who asked not to be named, said in an interview today. "We continue to assess the program and its budget." National Automobile Dealers Association spokesman Bailey Wood said Thursday that the group had been told by Transportation Department officials of plans to suspend the program after just six days.