Right after the last of the Holiday decorations have been packed away, and the din of New Year’s celebrations and Bowl Games fades into the past, it is, to the uninitiated, a quiet time of year. The lull between football and The Daytona 500 or Spring Training can seem deceptively quiet and uneventful. But those with motor oil in their veins… gears spinning in their noggins… and thoughts of rubber meeting road know better. This. Is. Car Show Season. And as usual, Ford is the star!

Running through January 22nd, The 2012 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, which we’ll just call the NAIAS from now on (to reduce the risk of a finger sprain with all those extra letters), runs the gamut from really boring to outrageous concepts that nobody would ever really build in a million years. But what that really means is something can be found for everyone at the show.

Before jumping to the extremes, how about some news from Detroit that you will actually use in your life? And of course, it’s from Ford.

The Ford Sync and My Ford touch are now superstar options in the industry, with other manufacturers trying to come up with matching technologies that always seem to look like weak copy attempts, or fall completely flat on their faces. So that probably explains why the early hit at the 2012 NAIAS is the Ford Fusion for 2013. As a matter of fact, it took less than a half hour for Consumer Reports to declare that with the Fusion, "Ford stole the show!”

Of course the new Fusion has SYNC and My Ford Touch, along with a new lane assist feature which helps you keep it between the lines, auto parking for parallel parking, blind spot detection, and adaptive cruise control, and c/net has an overview of the advancements. And autoblog has a good rundown as well.

Add to its style, all the technological advancements already mentioned to a Hybrid system update, or the ability to get an Ecoboost engine to save on fuel costs, and a plug in version, and it becomes obvious why Ford’s Fusion is already in the passing lane, and is set to accelerate past Camry in a big way.

Oh, and it looks great too!

Is it the end, the beginning, or simply SOP at Ricart Ford?

   So you probably wonder just what the title of this post means. The answer is, it means it all. It's Ricart Ford's Year End Celebration with special Holiday specials and a really cool Holiday video, it's the start of a new year at Ricart Ford, and Motor Trend just announced the 2012 F150 as the Motor Trend Truck of the Year Winner, which is pretty much standard operating procedure for a truck that won the award in 1997, 2004, and 2009 as well!

   Upon receiving the 2012 Truck award, Ford President of the Americas Mark Fields said, "The 2012 F150 is a no compromise solution that can be tailored to fit virtually every customer's needs, and the Motor Trend Truck of the Year award further reinforces that this truly the best choice for America's
truck owners. We are proud to receive this award, and even more pleased that our F150 customers have additional validation of their top choice". In non-corporate speak, that means Ford thinks its great that you love the F150 and the critics do too.
   The 2012 Ford Focus redesign has been a huge hit at Ricart Ford since they arrived this summer, and the technology you can find in Focus, and across the entire Ford line, meant plenty of Edison Awards for Ford earlier this year, awards that prove Ford's integration of your vehicle into your life is spot on with technologies that enhance the vehicle experience like no other manufacturer, and do it with economy in mind.

   At Ricart Ford, we've sold a whole bunch of Ford cars, trucks, CUV's, and SUV's this year, and will help even more folks get that new Ford they want before the clock finishes striking twelve on December 31st. After that, we'll get started on 2012, winning more awards, making more friends, and doing what we love to do best... making you happy with your new Ford.

My Ford Touch is the most recent drive forward for vehicle entertainment at Ricart Ford



Motorola 5T71 circa 1930

    In 1908, if you drove one of the first Ford Model T's home, you had to be satisfied with the thrill of the wind through your hair, and the open, err, road ahead, and singing or whistling to yourself because (get ready to be shocked) the first radio for use in a car were still more than two decades away!

   Yep, it wasn't until 1930 when Paul and Joe Galvin sold one of the first radios to be installed in a car, under the brand name Motorola. You see, early sound equipment ended with "ola", like Victrola, so the Galvins combined "Motor" (for the car part) and "ola" (for the radio part), and soon everyone was listening to tunes from The Beatles to Lady Gaga... Actually, it wasn't quite that easy. As a matter of fact, the first seek button on a car radio was introduced by Ford in the 50's, and everyone thought that was neater than sliced bread.



Ford Radio with Seek button circa 1956



         So from the first vehicle radios to the advent of the Seek button we went musically from Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, and the Big Band and Jazz greats like Artie Shaw, Duke Ellington, and Glen Miller, through the Age of The Crooner, to Doo Wop and the birth of Rock and Roll.

By the early 1960's, less than 10 years after the Seek button was put in those first Fords, technology for car radios switched from tubes to transistors, and shortly after the rise of The British Invasion of the Beatles, Stones, Kinks and all the rest, the first Eight-Track tape player for the car was introduced, freeing the car owner from listening to only radio, and whistling and singing to themselves. Then in 1969, just in time for Woodstock, the first stereo radio was introduced. Finally, you could play your favorite Jimi Hendrix album all the way through, in your car, in two channel stereo!

   About a year after stereo appeared in the dashboard, the Cassette tape player began showing up, smaller than the Eight-Track, and having the ability to be recorded upon, which led to one of the greatest innovations of the 20th Century... THE MIX TAPE! Who thought your automotive life could get any better? There you were, tooling around listening to Arena Rock bands like Grand Funk Railroad, Starz, Meatloaf, Thin Lizzy, and Boston, or maybe Singer/Songwriters Like James Taylor, Carole King, and Carly Simon, or the SoCal Country Rock of The Eagles, Pure Prairie League, and Poco... or even... Disco songs from The Bee Gees, or KC and The Sunshine Band.

   It seemed at the end of the 70's and into the early 80's that our car audio experience just couldn't get any better. At least until 1984 and the first in-car CD player. Finally, and answer to your favorite cassette tapes being eaten by the darned player again! (And that tape was given to you by your high school or college sweetheart, "whats-their-face"!) And when home recording of discs became feasible soon after, the Mix Disc replaced the Mix Tape with clearer sound, and it was pretty much impossible to get the player to eat your disc, no matter how hard you tried.

   And that's the way things stayed for a few years, until DVD players brought video and gaming to the back seats of vehicles, ending the age-old game of "Are We There Yet" forever. Bigger, more powerful amps and speakers ushered in the era of thump, thump, thump from massive sub-woofers and systems with enough power to shake the ground around your car, if you were so inclined. Next came Satellite Radio, then Ford and Microsoft teamed up to introduce SYNC so you can use voice commands to your MP3 player to play your favorite Grateful Dead, or Lady Gaga tunes through your car... and use your Cell Phone to make and receive hands-free calls through your vehicle... and get a vehicle health update from your car... and get directions to the best Chinese food through your car...

   And now it's My Ford Touch, which ties all the above together and more into a neat, concise package on your dashboard. You can see it today on the Ford vehicle of your choice at Ricart Ford in The Ricart Megamall.

 


My Ford Touch Screen

    So we have come from the original Folk Movement of the 1930's, and the height of American Jazz thru the rise of Rock and Roll,
Disco, Punk, New Wave, Grunge, Euro Beat, Techno and beyond, and the technology in your Ford vehicle has always helped lead the way to today's multi speaker, multi-media systems that keep you connected to your music, family and friends, and the road, easily and more safely.

   You have to admit, its a whole lot cooler than just singing to yourself... which we all still do when our favorite tunes come on, don't we?

Ford Truck Month at Ricart Ford: It really is an impressive thing!

   It's Ford Truck Month 2011 at Ricart Ford in The Ricart Megamall, and this year, we celebrate 34 years of the F-series trucks being the best selling trucks on the planet. That's right, F-series is the best seller... again!

   Think about that for a second. 34 years as top dog, the Big Kahuna, Grand Pubah. And people thought the Jordan era Bulls was a dynasty, and the Yankees are an amazing franchise because they win the World Series about every fourth year, or The Steelers are amazing for all those Super Bowl rings they have. But when you compare all those feats, as amazing as they are, to 34 years of Ford F-series truck dominance, it kind of puts it all in a different perspective, doesn't it?

   The reasons for F-series domination are many, and varied. Technological advancements, quality of materials and craftsmanship, and a basic understanding of what a truck is, and what it should and needs to be able to do all come in to play along with lots of other aspects. And it's true from the largest F-Super Duty all the way down the line. Heck, we have a Ranger in the Ricart Ford showroom with over 700,000 miles on it, and it's still going strong! That's Built Ford Tough!

   In honor of Truck Month, Ricart Ford has plenty of F-series to pick your new truck from, and Ford is offering Rebates, Bonus Cash, and rates as low as 0% for as long as 60 months, and bunches of combinations for the three.

Knowing all that, and realizing that Ford Truck Month doesn't last forever, now is a good time to visit Ricart Ford in The Ricart Megmall and get your new F-series.

2011 Ford Explorer is North American Truck of The Year!

Ford passes North American Truck Of The Year mantle... actually; the award is staying in the Ford Family, again!

The 2011 Ford Explorer was named the 2011 North American Truck Of The Year at the Detroit Auto Show January 10th, 2011, making it the third year in a row Ford has won Truck Of The Year. Last year the Ford Transit Connect got the award, and in 2009 it was the Ford F150.

One look at the new, 2011 Explorer lets you know that this is a very different Explorer than you have seen in the past, and according to critics and early owners, it's the best Ford Explorer ever!

From the new, strong, and light weight structure featuring high-tech materials, to the Terrain Management System and Intelligent 4 Wheel Drive; to the 2,000 pound towing capacity, MyFord Touch, SYNC, available EcoBoost engine and much more, the new 2011 Explorer is really... new!

A test drive of the 2011 Explorer on Ricart Ford's 6 acre test track should be all it takes to get you to add to the praises being heaped on the new Explorer, and the great part is, you can drive one today at Ricart Ford and see for yourself the value, innovation, quality, and comfort the 2011 Explrer delivers in spades. To set up your test drive, give Ricart Ford a buzz at 866-471-3777.

Haven't you scoped the Ford Fiesta yet?

Sure it's kinda goofy, but Ricart Ford has been bringing the new 2011 Ford Fiesta to the people, if the people can not make it to the Fiesta!

Unless you have been hiding on a deserted island all summer long, you know the new Ford Fiesta is a hit, and are hard to find in various regions of the country... but not in Ohio, 'cause at Ricart Ford, we have a bunch of the new "rock star of cars", not by magic, but because we made sure to get enough from Ford to meet the demand. We knew the Fiesta was a big deal!

Ricart Ford has been hitting the street with the new Ford Fiesta, visiting parks, sporting events, fundraisers, offices... heck, we'll show up for your barbecue Saturday afternoon if you want! (Actually, we don't really have enough people to work at the store, and be at your house on Saturday, but you get the idea).

You've read about the new 2011 Fiesta and all the standard safety features, the equipment Ford put into the Fiesta that other makers wouldn't even dream of, the 40 plus miles per gallon, and all the rest, but to really get the Fiesta, you gotta drive one. So, if you don't see us pulling up in front of your office, or your kids soccer game, or that haunted hayride down the road, get to Ricart Ford in The Ricart Megamall and take the new Fiesta for a spin. That's when you'll get it too!

2011 Ford Mustang. Wow! Just, wow! See why at Ricart Ford.

Just in case you haven't heard yet, the 2011 regular Ford Mustang, you know, the V6 Mustang coupe, now has 305 horsepower. The GT now has 412 horsepower. Oh. and the v6 starts under $23,000 and both have $500 bonus cash... like you'd need convincing if you were asked on a date by a supermodel! And with rates as low as 2.9%, that supermodel is picking up the check at dinner too!

The new, 2011 Ford Mustangs have added their mark to an already amazing vehicle history right out of the gate, with rave reviews for its performance, economy, and reaffirmation of its iconic styling. And speaking of iconic, July 4th weekend will mark the Ford Mustang's entry onto the track in a NASCAR event, at Daytona International Speedway.

You certainly don't have to take our word for it on the new, 2011 Ford Mustangs, with Motor Trend giving you a technical overview, MuscularMustangs.com posting all kinds of 2011 Mustang information, and Ford's own Mustang pages offering you all kinds of neat Mustangy things to play around with. Go and check what they have to offer up on the matter, and then get to Ricart Ford in The Ricart Megamall so you can take one of the 80 or so Mustangs we have available for a drive on our exclusive 6 acre test track, because if there was ever a need to have an exclusive 6 acre test track, the 2011 Mustang is it!