Ricart Ford has the right Ford for your deadstyle!

   Most people don’t realize the Ford F150 Raptor was specifically designed in response to leaked information about a secret program creating undead creatures, a program rumored to be taking place

right here in Raccoon City!

   Not really...

   Ok, maybe "Resident Evil 6" wasn’t so good, but "World War Z" was a huge hit, "The Walking Dead" is still sprinting, "The Last of Us" became an instant classic, and like the masses of walkers surrounding the mall in "Dawn of the Dead", there is no end in sight. With that in mind (brains!), let’s look at Ford’s vehicle line-up, and how they fit various zombie deadstyles!

   Let’s start with the classic and original zombies from George A. Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead”; rugged, purposeful and relentless… they will not stop, just like Ford F150 trucks! And while Romero’s ghouls have a voracious appetite for brains, the F150’s available Ecoboost engine means you’ll spend less money and time at the pump! 

    

   The 2013 romantic comedy “Warm Bodies” gave us zombies who could think, and by the virtue of love, become human again. These thinking undead really don’t have to put a ton of thought into driving one of Ford’s Hybrid or Electric vehicles. The C-Max Energi or Hybrid, Fusion Hybrid, or Focus Electric, all have great economy, amazing style, and cutting edge technology. It doesn’t take a high functioning brain to drive smart!!

    

   The 21^st century saw a major shift in zombie philosophy. Zombies in the new century still view humans as their entrée of choice, but movies like “28 Days Later”, Will Smith’s “I Am Legend” and the Brad Pit big screen adaptation of “World War Z” made them fast. Inhumanly fast! And if you are a zed-head in the new millennium, Ford’s got the speed you need. Mustang offers a slew of packages and options to take you from quick with the V6 pony, to ripping the screaming tires off the back from a dead stop with the Shelby 500, and all points in between! Or as a Zack runner, you may want the thrill of the Focus ST, the Focus that’s not for the faint of heart, whether it’s beating or not!

   

    The new century has given us way more Zombies than we have ever had before, and “The Walking Dead” comics, novels, and television series gave rise to “the hoard”, which is cool, because Ford has cars, CUV’s and SUV’s that’ll help get that walker team to the soccer pitch, or the shamble family down the block to the school play comfortably, economically, and looking good… at least the Ford vehicle is good looking. Whether it’s the Escape or Explorer, Edge or Flex, Taurus, Fusion, or Focus, Ford has the right vehicle for every undeadstyle. And if you happen to still be warm, you can stop by Ricart Ford in The Megamall and find the Ford for your, ummm,  lifestyle!

What'd we learn from Cash for Clunkers?

The “Cash for Clunkers” program reaffirmed something for us at Ricart Automotive that we have always known… Americans really love their cars. We could tell by looking at the woman who tearfully sat in her late 80’s Buick one last minute before driving off in her new 2010 Fusion with a smile as wide as a four lane highway. We could tell when a family asked us to take pictures of their old van and email the pictures to their house, where they would keep them as a reminder of all those miles they shared before it became a clunker. They also had us take pictures of their new Escape. The really amazing thing is, these were not rare occurrences during the “Clunkers” program.

A lot of people were sad to be trading away their old, rust and primer spotted, have seen much better days (some even with duct tape repair jobs), cars and trucks. Of course, all those very same people will soon be just as madly in love with their new Escape and Focus, Fusion and Flex, Ranger and Edge as they were with their clunker… probably an even deeper love because the economy, safety features, and quality of their new Ford is far superior to what they just got rid of. Oops, better make that traded in instead of “got rid of “. It seems like a much more fitting end to a beloved family member. And that’s the point driven home to us during “Cash for Clunkers”. No matter how much we deny it, and try to research it away, buying a new car is an emotional experience. The promise of an exciting new relationship with your latest ride, and the fond memories of your former wheels racing through your mind are a lot like feelings we usually save for our family and closest friends, probably because we see our vehicles as both.

The Ricart Automotive Family thanks and congratulates all those folks who made a new Ricart vehicle part of their family, and became part of ours during the “Cash for Clunkers” program

Ford-Microsoft Sync... cooler than cool!

So I bought my third Ford Focus the other day, long before I read an article about Kelly Blue Book rating the new 2008 Focus one of the ten coolest cars you can get for under $18,000, which it most certainly is. I used the rebate to pay off my Liquid Gray 2003 Focus SE and am giving it to my eldest daughter for her college car. Heck, it has well under 60,000 miles on it, and still looks and drives great. She is thrilled, and thinks it’s a cool car. Now, with all modesty aside, I really didn’t think that a car could add much to MY coolness factor. I worked in rock and roll radio in New York for nearly two decades, roadied for Van Halen for part of the second album tour, watched Deep Purple rehearse in a friend’s basement when I was a kid, actually saw the Ramones at CBGB’s… you get the idea. Anyway, all things considered, how could a Ford Focus possibly make me any cooler? One word… Sync.

Just In case you are still living in the twentieth century and have missed all the commercials and press about the Microsoft and Ford creation which is Sync, it is a system available only in Ford. Lincoln, and Mercury vehicles, which seamlessly allows you to use voice commands to control your Bluetooth enabled phone, your MP3 player (I have the Microsoft 80g Zune), and has upgradeable software that will allow updates of the system, the first of which is due by early fall. All this means that you can tell Sync to call your home, and it will. You can also tell Sync you want to listen to the Ramones, and it will, or to play a certain genre of music, or album, or song, or songs that sound kind of the same… and it will!!! Now that’s cool.

Okay, so it may be hard sitting there reading this to picture in your mind’s ear just how Sync works and sounds, but a quick trip to see Sync demonstrated in person will calm those Hal from “2001 A Space Odyssey” fears, and let you see just how easy Sync is to use, and how easily it becomes a part of your driving life. Ford has Sync in the Focus, the Edge, and the Fusion now, and on the way for the Escape, F150, and Taurus making it a lifestyle feature that spans all economic levels, and can make anyone who owns it at least a little bit cooler… not that I needed it mind you.

Come see, hear, and experience Sync at Ricart Ford in the Megamall today, and you'll probably have a new Ford at your house tonight!