Ford Trucks For Sale

Ford Motor Co. formally took over the Romanian plant Automobile Craiova from the Romanian government on Friday.

Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu handed the factory’s key to Ford of Europe President John Fleming, saying that Ford’s investment of about $1 billion would allow Romania to become the biggest car producer in southeastern Europe.

Last year, Ford bought a 72.4% stake in the government-owned company, paying about $88 million and vowing to invest $1 billion to upgrade and expand car production. Ford said it would increase the number of employees from 3,900 to between 7,000 and 9,000.

The Romanian government took over the debt-laden factory in 2006 after the previous owner, South Korea’s Daewoo Motor Co., went bankrupt in 2000.

Chrysler may be losing

Chrysler LLC may be losing money at some U.S. plants where it cut back production to prepare for a slowing auto market in 2008, the Wall Street Journal said.

Chrysler moved to one shift per day at four U.S. plants, and three other factories will change to two shifts from three. The automaker needs to make better use of those plants to meet CEO Bob Nardelli’s goal of generating more cash and returning to profitability, the newspaper said.

Led Zeppelin’s back together. Stagflation and high gas prices have made a comeback as well. And late next year, you’ll be able to complete a 1970s revival with a two-door car that’s all business up front and party out back.

Answering the wishes of fervent fans — and the fears of some critics — General Motors Corp. was to unveil today its plans for a revival of the Chevy El Camino car-truck as a 2010 model Pontiac hot rod. The “sport truck” doesn’t have a name yet; GM will run a contest over the next month asking for submissions at a Pontiac Web site www.pontiac.com/namethiscar, and announce the winner April 15.

Here’s one: “Australiaino.”

Based on the same underpinnings as the G8 sedan and upcoming Chevrolet Camaro, the un-Camino will be built in Australia, where GM has centered engineering efforts for rear-wheel drive cars. It’s a risky strategy for GM, as Australian-built models have never sold well in the United States, and a weaker U.S. dollar threatens the business case for any imports.

But without its Australian arm, GM would not likely have enough resources to give Pontiac new models.

In addition to the mini-truck, GM also was to unveil today a version of the G8 sedan with the Corvette’s 402-horsepower engine that is to come to showrooms in the next year.

Australia has the longest history with so-called utes, since they were invented there by a Ford engineer in 1934 who got the idea from a farmer seeking one vehicle for church on Sundays and the pig market on Mondays. Ford brought the idea to the United States in the late 1950s, and GM followed, with the Chevrolet El Camino growing to define the segment.

GM’s U.S. production peaked in 1973 at nearly 72,000 El Caminos and GMC Caballeros. By the early 1980s, tighter fuel rules for cars had made small pickups more competitive, and GM ended production in 1988.

And by then, the El Camino and its ilk had become a punch line. President Bill Clinton told workers at GM’s Louisiana truck plant in 1994 that he owned an El Camino in the ’70s: “It was a real sort of Southern deal. I had Astroturf in the back. You don’t want to know why, but I did.”

Abandoned in the United States — save for some unsuccessful stabs at a comeback such as the Subaru Baja — the utility market flourished in Australia, where Ford and GM’s Holden have continued to build several models.

The G8-based vehicle will come only with the 361-horsepower V8 offered in the G8 GT paired with a six-speed automatic transmission. It will haul more than 1,000 pounds and tow 3,500 pounds — as much as some small pickups.

Some vehicle owners think that after they have treated their vehicle’s surface and underside with simple wax or even costly corrosion-inhibiting and car fabric protection products, the rust problem is solved. This is not true. Underside panels are very vulnerable too. It’s them that you need rustproofing for.

Whether you live inland or on the coast, in the hills or on a plain, in a huge city or a town, whether you own a new or a used vehicle; corrosion is always a very serious problem. All vehicles are subject to at least one of the following rust provoking factors; rain, snow, salty or humid air, rocksalt, sleet, home garage mould, atmospheric or man-made chemicals, washing detergents - all of which speeds up the corrosion of your vehicle radically!

As my friend Jonathan from KROWN rust checking centre explains, rust prevention is basically the process of applying rust-inhibiting materials, sealers and persistent waxes to all corrosion-risky areas on the underside, topside and inside of the vehicle’s body. This is quite similar (although not identical) to undercoating which treats only the underside of the vehicle. The essence: rust proofing is something that every vehicle deserves and needs!

After approving a motion to buy a Dodge Charger police car last month, the Silver Lake Town Council heard from Dave Cox of Kerlin Ford Tuesday.

Cox told the council that he was disappointed that they did not decide to purchase a Ford vehicle from the Kerlin dealership. He said it was upsetting that the town did not choose to buy locally.

After Cox’s presentation, the board said they would take the issue under advisement and make a decision at a later date.

In other business, the council:

n Approved a motion to spend $1,200 to hire Bob Murphy to conduct a community survey to help the town receive low- to middle-income federal grants.

n Opened bids for the town’s trash collection and approved a motion to have Stafford Solid Waste pick up the town’s trash for $31,416 per year. Other bidders were Veolia at $52,800 per year and Waste Management at $61,564 per year.

n Looked at three possible layouts for the town’s new Web site from The Green Banana. After choosing their favorite layout with one change, they learned that the site will be up by the beginning of April. The site’s address is www.townofsilverlake.com

n Approved a motion to pay G&G Tree Trimming Service $1,100 to cut down and remove a dead tree in town.

n Tabled two motions. The first motion was a request to replace a bumper and paint the town’s small Ford truck. The motion will be revisited next month when snow and sand are no longer needed for the roads. The second motion pertained to the employee Health Savings Accounts. Council members will decide how much money to put in the accounts next month.

n Approved a motion to give one month’s sewer credit to resident John Wolfe at the request of the sewer department. Because of the location of his sewer pit, the sewer department believes that he has lost more than a month’s sewer service over the years. Wolfe is close to the lake, and many times water in his sewer pit will prevent town workers from restoring his sewer service for a few days at a time.

n Approved a motion to spend $12,736 on phase monitors and surge protectors for the pumps in the town’s well houses. Last month a three-phase pump in the north well house burnt out after something caused it to switch to one phase for an extended period of time. The monitors and surge protectors will prevent the same thing from happening in the future.

“Protection is always better than failure,” said Josh Naibauer, water superintendent.

n Signed a permit application to close Ind. 14 for Silver Lake Days in June.

n Approved Ordinance 03-01-07, which codifies all the town’s ordinances into one book. The binder that contains all the ordinances is available in the town offices.

n Approved a motion to give a water and sewage adjustment to Shannon Hyden, who had a water leak.

n Heard that the town received a letter from Brenda Wadkins requesting documents.

n Set an executive session for 5:30 p.m. March 27 at the town hall. The meeting will be to discuss annexation litigation with Vern Landis, the town’s attorney.

n Heard that Town Superintendent Phil Shalley plans to hand in his letter of resignation April 8.

Silver Lake Town Council members are Gale Owens, president; Ronald Jones and Linda Baker. Clerk-Treasurer is Angie Glass.

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