Maxidyne

There's a sales opportunity there for any of the truck makers willing to put their US/Canada emissions certified engine into their cabover trucks. But with only four truck makers left in this market, they don't want to be bothered...

The only Mack part on that truck may be the cab, which IIRC is made by a tractor cab maker in East Moline... https://grouperpmtech.com/en/about-us

688 should be an Econodyne, perhaps the engine and transmission have been swapped?

Maxidyne.

Looks like the Fed's bailout of Ford sent the wrong message- Ford now fails to comprehend the gravity of their financial situation. Last week I damn near bought a Transit Connect, Ford killed that deal by pulling the 0% financing on that model. Instead of cutting prices to exchange metal for cash, Ford borrows at 9% so they can give out 0% loans, for a 6 year loan that's about a 25% discount that isn't being offered to cash customers, Ford and the Fed thinks that's how you make a profit. Other companies in the industry have noticed this trend, Hertz just missed a debt payment yet seems unmotivated to convert their inventory of 75,000+ late model used cars to cash... With the Fed and soon Treasury standing by with bailouts, why try to save the company? And for Ford, why fill the gaps in their offerings or merge with VW when the government will save you?

Sounds like a "hedging" strategy- If he gets fired Ford stock will probably go up!

The Postal Service trucks had a similar supplemental ID plate, could very well be an Air Force truck which is pretty much the same spec.

Probably not Postal Service, they had Maxidynes in their later MBs and naturally aspirated 673s with a 10 speed in the earlier ones. A USPS MB would also probably have the trailer raising "ramps" on the rear of the frame. BTW, saw a couple new MB tandems in Air Force colors and headed to the Air Force Reserve at the local Mack dealer back in '77, they looked to be the same spec as the USPS MBs except different color and markings. That was before my time at the Postal Service though, so I may have missed a few variants...

Seen that happen here too- minor injuries are pushed to the ER, then surgery whether needed or not. The fact these hospitals have lost a lot of revenue just from delaying elective procedures suggests that they've been doing too many unneeded procedures.

He never said that.

Ford can do amazing things in a crisis... Give 'em a couple months and they could probably come up with a pretty decent Class 8 conventional.

Why accept just a tilt hood when you can get a whole cab that tilts?

Looks like the crisis has brought Hackett back to reality. As long as he's lucid, he can: 1. Bring back the full line of trucks up to class 8. 2. Keep at least two lines of cars available in North America, Maybe a Focus sized with transverse powertrain and a return of the AU Falcon, both available with AWD and wagon variants. 3. Next generation Mustang returns to the size and weight of the original with aluminum/composite body, Ecoboost 4 and V6 engines, AWD options, and 'Vette C8 beating performance for $10k less. 4. Mothball the electric "Mustang" until there's actually a demand for it. 5. Lose the subsidized 0% interest and cut prices to make Ford vehicles competitive. Instead of building $50k pickups that sit on the lot for 3 months before selling for $30k, give the customers what they want in a well equipped $30k pickup that's sold before it rolls off the assembly line.

Interesting that it was largely the Fed that bought up that $8B in Ford Bonds at 9%... Where's the logic in borrowing at 9% so Ford can offer 0% financing? Then again, to bankers that probably makes sense, and maybe they're calling the shots at Ford now?

That engine has a 1300 to 2100 RPM operating range.

Should weight about 2700 pounds bare.

A lot of us fed retirees use the International Fund to diversify our investments. The fund is largely in the FTSE but it makes sense for it to invest in Asian stocks too, no point in avoiding good investment opportunities. Attempting to use the TSP funds to prop up domestic stocks would be foolhardy and cause federal employees to lose confidence and disinvest from the TSP funds.

What drugs are Ford leadership on? Seeing the pandemic coming I sold a bunch of stocks and have enough cash lying around to buy any Ford short of the GT, cash. Instead of offering me a healthy discount for cash, Ford offers me 0% financing while they're borrowing money at 8-9%! And as sales drop to 20% of normal volume, that 100 day supply of new vehicles Ford and their dealers are carrying is now over a years supply, then add to that $30B or so of inventory all the loans Ford Finance is carrying... Maybe Ford is "bulking up" on $$$ for "golden parachutes" when the bankruptcy gets officially filed? Or is Ford management too stoned to pull even that off?

Thanks for posting the article on Ford's increasing debt- With Ford paying 8-9% interest rates, it would make more sense for them to raise capital by cutting prices and selling off the half million vehicles in stock instead of paying those high interest rates so they can offer 0% financing!

The KanBan JIT concept works in Japan where the factories are fairly close together, but not so well here where factories can be thousands of miles apart. I can remember the St.Paul Ford plant shutting down for days because a trailer load of dashboards went in the ditch in Indiana...

Another shining example of why Just In Time inventory and single sourcing is an unacceptable risk in a huge country with an active climate like this.

Might be a recognition that the Transit has become almost as big a franchise as the F series, especially with COVID-19 increasing demand for last mile delivery services. As for "partnering", VW and Ford don't have a lot of overlap in their product lines...

Here's your stats for NY- NYC metro has 62% of the states population and pays 82% of the income taxes!

Nebraska's biggest taxpayer is an old guy named Warren and he lives in a nice big city called Omaha. I've seen the figures for my home state, Minnesota, and in fact the metro is subsidizing much of the rural part of the state. For example, my city of less than a thousand like many out here get's half it's revenue from the state. It comes down to property tax base and income- median house value here is under $100k vs. $200k+ in the metro, median family income here $50k vs. 65k in the metro.

NYC is where the highest tax base and income are.