Jim Farley, president and CEO of Ford, has just qualified 13th. It's 2pm and we're at the 81st Goodwood Members' Meeting, where the Ford Mustang 289 V8 that Farley is sharing with Britain's Steve Soper, the former BTCC ace, has finished in the top half of a stellar 30-car field in qualifying for the inaugural Ken Miles Cup. It's a special one-make event staged to mark the 60th anniversary of the Mustang's launch.
Farley's lap times are a second or so behind Soper's and he isn't pleased, despite the fact that this is actually prodigious performance. At 62, Farley is driving an unfamiliar and very potent car on a very fast track that he has tackled only once before. And although he loves racing, Farley really doesn't have much time for it, given that his day job is to steer a £180 billion Detroitbased company whose 177,000 employees build 4.4 million cars a year.
The following day, in a 50-minute, two-driver race, the Farley/Soper car will cross the line in 13th place in a congested and action-packed contest full of current and former greats, without a single mark on its gleaming blue bodywork, even though most of the notchback Mustangs around it have had some kind of 'tap'. Again, it's a creditable performance.
Today, however, sitting behind the pits in a folding chair, comfortable in his driving gear, Farley's mind is very much on the Mustang's commercial aspects and especially its future. He is deeply proud of the fact that the model has been such a backbone of Ford progress ("not many things in this industry last 60 years") and especially of the fact that a risky decision to globalise Mustang sales, made around 2015 at the start of Farley's own two-year stint as president of Ford of Europe, has resulted in much more prominence and success for the traditionally American pony car.
ãã®èšäºã¯ Autocar UK ã® May 01, 2024 çã«æ²èŒãããŠããŸãã
7 æ¥éã® Magzter GOLD ç¡æãã©ã€ã¢ã«ãéå§ããŠãäœåãã®å³éžããããã¬ãã¢ã ã¹ããŒãªãŒã9,000 以äžã®éèªãæ°èã«ã¢ã¯ã»ã¹ããŠãã ããã
ãã§ã«è³Œèªè ã§ã ?  ãµã€ã³ã€ã³
ãã®èšäºã¯ Autocar UK ã® May 01, 2024 çã«æ²èŒãããŠããŸãã
7 æ¥éã® Magzter GOLD ç¡æãã©ã€ã¢ã«ãéå§ããŠãäœåãã®å³éžããããã¬ãã¢ã ã¹ããŒãªãŒã9,000 以äžã®éèªãæ°èã«ã¢ã¯ã»ã¹ããŠãã ããã
ãã§ã«è³Œèªè ã§ã? ãµã€ã³ã€ã³
THE DRAMATIC ITALIAN THAT MARKED THE END OF AN ERA
When the Huracán bowed out, the curtain fell forever on Lambo's V10
HOW EV MAKERS CAN WIN THE RACE TO 5.0MPKWH
Manufacturers are honing every detail to close in on big efficiency goal
MASERATI MC20
We bid a sad farewell to a handsome supercar that was easy to live with
The quickening
Instant acceleration is part of the appeal of an EV, but is it all getting a bit much for unwary and inexperienced drivers? JOHN EVANS investigates
Inside track
Watching an F1 race with live access to engineers and telemetry is the stuff of dreams for racing fans. ALEX WOLSTENHOLME makes a day of it
WHOLE IN ONE
The Volkswagen Golf has been all things to all motorists for half a century. At the wheel of a classic Mk1, VICKY PARROTT charts the eight-generation history of one of the world's most successful cars
DACIA DUSTER
Mk3 model gains digital tech, ADAS, slicker looks... Is this mission creep?
MAZDA CX-80 PHEV
Another look at Mazda's hefty SUV, this time in plug-in hybrid form
VAUXHALL GRANDLAND ELECTRIC
Newcomer looks to ease the average family SUV driver into EV motoring
BMW X3 20 XDRIVE
Fourth generation of brand's best-seller arrives with base petrol engine