New New York taxi

[Crackpot]

I noticed that as well. Still it was a competitive bid.

[Jay Tea]

Where were the previous fleet of cabs built?

[Crackpot]

Ontario

(....for the most part that's where the Crown Vics are built)

[quaddriver]

of course we could realize that this contract is to replace, on an as needed basis the current fleet of 13000 cars over 10 years, with electrics delivered by 2017.

why would any manu see this as a gold mine? 1300 cars per year average? isnt that about the number of F150s sold in 'hot pink'? Please note that ALL 3 finalists are models not sold in the US at present and 2 were essentially the same model.

[Jarlaxle]

As QD said, Crown Vics were built in Ontario, Lincoln Town Cars were, until recently, built in Wixon, Michigan...the last few years, they were built alongside the Vics.

Though I recall seeing that Ford was going to build Transits in the US starting this fall.

[loCAtek]

When Nissan gets contracts like that, they build more factories in the US and increase local jobs.

The Ford transit looks similar;



...but Nissan has a longer history of designing compact, efficient cars for congested areas.

[Jarlaxle]

The Transit has been sold in Europe for years...and all the mechanicals were lifted straight from the Focus.

[Gob]

So common is the Transit in the UK, they became a phenomena.

"White van man" is a usually pejorative stereotype used in the United Kingdom to describe drivers of light commercial vehicles such as the Ford Transit. Such vehicles are commonly painted white in order to facilitate easy sign-writing on the panelled sides. The stereotype represents the drivers of such vehicles as having poor driving skills and / or an aggressive and inconsiderate manner. The stereotypical "white van man" is often self-employed or the owner of a small business such as builder, carpenter, or plumber.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_van_man

[loCAtek]

None-the-less, the Japanese have been doing it far longer...

[dgs49]

Ironically, the Japanese and Europeans have much more experience in building fuel-efficient cars because their respective political "leaders" long ago chose to load taxes onto the price of motor fuel, to help fund their welfare states. Gas costs no more to produce in Europe than it does in the U.S., but the pump price has traditionally been twice as much.

It gas ("petrol") had been $1/gal in the U.S. in 1960 and onward, we never would have experienced the GTO, Roadrunner, 442, etc., and our best selling vehicle over the past 30+ years would not have been a 5,000lb pickup truck. And it might not have taken our car companies 50 years to make a decent four-cylinder engine.

[dales]

Yes, I fondly recall all the "state of the art" autos being churned out by Detroit during the 1970's.

During the first so-called "energy crisis" in the early 1970's we had the Pinto, Vega, and Gremlin from which to choose.

Automotive d' elegance, to be sure.

[Jarlaxle]

My father in law has a Pinto (1974 wagon), it drives pretty well, decent ride, would keep up with traffic (originally had the 2300cc 4-banger & 4-speed) even with A/C on, enormous cargo area, good brakes, and a pretty good handler (first US-made car with rack & pinion steering).

And now, with an EFI turbo 2.3 with about 300HP, it hauls ass.

[dales]

I hope he beefed up the brakes, suspension, transmission, etc.

I LOVE sleepers.

[Jarlaxle]

He has street rod front brakes (from Baer Racing or SSBC, I forget), V8 Mustang front springs & swaybar, de-arched rear springs (wagons already had stiffer rear springs)...the trans is the T5 from the same Turbo Coupe the engine came from.

Though the Pinto can't match James Huber's Mustang. Veteran of (and with trophies from) three Hot Rod Drag Weeks, Huber's wicked 1979 hatchback yanks the front wheels a foot in the air, runs low 9-second 1/4 mile times (and Huber DETUNES it for pump gas on Drag Week...it's an 8-second car on race gas), puts about 1000HP down, and yet is docile enough to run 1500+ street miles and pulls down over 25MPG. It has a turbocharged 4-banger, only 2.3 litres.

The real kicker: he runs in the "small-tire, small block-power adder" class...but there's no 4-cylinder class. So he just turns the boost up and beats the supercharged, turbo'd, or nitrous-fed V8's! Last year, in addition to winning his class, I recall he had the quickest car outside of the "Unlimited" class. (Which is about what it sounds like: long as it's street-legal and meets safety requirements, anything goes.)