PERUSING AUTOMOTIVE NEWS PART 1

THESE DAYS I CONTINUE TO DELIGHT IN PERUSING AUTOMOTIVE NEWS, the industry’s authoritative journal, especially its articles addressing matters beyond the realm of NPR or The New York Times. This current batch of gleanings, in Parts 1 and 2 today and tomorrow, comes from early March up through my latest issue, April 13, 2026. Think of them as interesting perusals as opposed to deep-dives of industry trends (been there, done that for 33+ years).

Ford CEO Gifts Pope Leo a Chicago-Themed Explorer. In Automotive News, March 6, 2026, Nick Bunkley reports, “Ford Motor Co. CEO Jim Farley and his wife, Lia, gave the Chicago-born pontiff a 2026 Explorer custom-built at his hometown auto plant. The one-of-a-kind vehicle includes a number of local touches, including Chicago flag seat tags, center console stitching replicating the city’s skyline and scuff plates showing both the Windy City and Vatican City.”

Images from Ford Motor Co. via Automotive News.

Bunkley recounts, “Farley contacted the Vatican about the idea a few months ago and learned that the pope wanted the vehicle to be a hybrid. So Ford swapped in the 3.3-liter V-6 hybrid powertrain from the Police Interceptor version of the Explorer.”

What’s more, Bunkley notes, “Among the Chicago Assembly employees who worked on the vehicle was Adolphus Harper, a former student of the pope at St. Rita High School. ‘Knowing that the pope who once taught me is now driving something I helped assemble—it’s unbelievable,’ said Harper, a pre-delivery specialist at the plant. ‘I am proud to be part of this. To see someone connected to my own education become part of something so historic — it’s amazing.’ ”

Honk If You Love Democracy. Bunkley also recounts in Automotive News, March 23, 2026, “Weekly protests outside a Tesla store in Ohio for more than a year have raised questions about whether drivers have the right to honk whenever they want to. The city of Lyndhurst installed signs declaring the area around the electric vehicle showroom a ‘quiet zone,’ and police have started pulling over drivers who honk in support of the protesters as they pass by, according to TV station WKYC in Cleveland.”

Protesters rally against Elon Musk at a Tesla dealership in Columbus, Ohio. The city of Lyndhurst, Ohio, near Cleveland, installed signs declaring the area around a Tesla showroom a “quiet zone.” Image by BLOOMBERG via Automotive News. 

“Some of the protesters,” Bunkley observes, “have encouraged passing drivers to audibly show their support, including Ron Brubaker, a retired engineer who made a sign reading ‘Honk if You Love Democracy.’ ”

Bunkley continues, “Lyndhurst officials cited ordinances allowing horn usage only for emergencies and letting the city establish quiet zones. Police have been giving drivers verbal warnings without issuing tickets, WKYC reported. A lawyer, Brian Bardwell, told the station that selective enforcement of ‘quiet zone’ rules against the Tesla protests could violate First Amendment rights.”

I confess that my Crosstour horn gets used enthusiastically during No Kings activities. I’ve not heard of any oppressive action here in SoCal. 

I do pass a Tesla dealer on my Randy Donuts visits. Protesters have been nil at both of these locations.

Bragging at the ’Ring. Nick Bunkley reports, “Ford Motor Co. not-so-humbly declared itself the ‘fastest American OEM’ after a record-setting lap of Germany’s famed Nürburgring,” Automotive News, April 2, 2026. 

Driver Frederic Vervisch celebrates with his Ford Racing crew. Image by Ford via Automotive News.

Bunkley describes, “Ford’s April 1 time of 6:15.977 with a GT Mk IV is the fastest ever for a fully internal combustion vehicle and the third-fastest for any vehicle, behind only the Porsche 919 Hybrid EVO race car and the Volkswagen ID.R. Perhaps most importantly for Ford, the 12.9-mile speed run reclaimed bragging rights over Chevrolet, which topped its archrival last summer with a 1,250-hp Corvette ZR1X hybrid.”

Also, Bunkley notes, “Because the 800-hp GT Mk IV is track-only, the official Nürburgring record for street-legal production cars still belongs to the Mercedes-AMG One. Ford beat Mercedes by about 13 seconds and Chevy by 33 seconds.”

Ford GT Mk IV. Image by Ford via Automotive News.

“The $1.7-million Mk IV,” Bunkley notes, “was the final edition of the second-generation GT hand-built by Multimatic Motorsports for Ford. Only 67 copies of it were made, an homage to the original 1967 Mk IV track car, before production ended in 2023.”

Tomorrow in Part 2, we’ll continue gleaning tidbits ranging from Jaguar’s Formula E victory to an essay on the optimality of EVs—regardless of politics.

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2026