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Ford once planned to race fiberglass-bodied Mustang touring cars

Tucked away on page nine of the May 9, 1964 issue of Competition Press and Autoweek is an intriguing little story: “FIA Rejects Ford Bid for Homolgation [sic].” At the time, the Mustang had just made its world debut, but Ford was already scheming to fold the car into its “Total Performance” campaign. The automaker apparently proposed to do so with a fleet of crazy fiberglass-bodied touring cars. According to Competition Press, Ford tried to get the new Mustang classified as a touring car for international racing.

U.S. sales, aided by General Motors, show some real spark in October

U.S. light-vehicle sales--bolstered by General Motor Co.'s first gain in 21 months--declined less than 1 percent in October as the industry showed signs of a recovery without the aid of government incentives. The drop was the smallest this year and made October the year's strongest month aside from August, which received a lift from the federal cash-for-clunkers program.

Ferrari ramps up engine-making -- for Maserati

Ferrari is adding 250 workers and expanding its engine-building capacity, even as it says it will cut car production this year at its landmark factory in Maranello, Italy. Why the cause for growth? Ferrari is ramping up its in-house engine operation and will produce more V6 engines, which sister company Maserati will use in the redesigned Quattroporte sedan and the smaller E-segment entry, the Ghibli.