Ford to rebrand SVT as 999?
09-22-14, 10:41 PM
#1
Ford to rebrand SVT as 999?
Ford operates a number of performance divisions around the world. There's SVT in the US, Team RS in Europe and Ford Performance Vehicles (FPV) in Australia. But the Blue Oval has been steadily integrating its performance operations into one unit, and here we might have our first indication of what it will be called.
A reader at Jalopnik sent in a survey in which respondents were asked to gauge the name for a new performance brand from a "major automotive manufacturer," and while the identity of that automaker was not disclosed, according to the survey, the automaker is considering the name 999 for its new go-fast unit.
As our compatriots point out, the 999 was Ford's first racecar, a rudimentary chassis with a 19-liter inline-four campaigned by Henry Ford around the turn of the 20th century. (Ford also used the number to designate a Fusion fuel-cell racer a few years back.) That could prove the tie-in Dearborn is looking for in rebranding its performance operations worldwide, replacing the letters SVT, RS and FPV globally under one name.
Of course that doesn't mean that models like the upcoming Shelby GT350, F-150 Raptor, Focus ST or FPV Falcon will necessarily be rebadged 999 as part of their nameplate, but if the customer clinics prove positive, the number 999 could come to stand for Blue Oval performance wherever Fords are sold.
A reader at Jalopnik sent in a survey in which respondents were asked to gauge the name for a new performance brand from a "major automotive manufacturer," and while the identity of that automaker was not disclosed, according to the survey, the automaker is considering the name 999 for its new go-fast unit.
As our compatriots point out, the 999 was Ford's first racecar, a rudimentary chassis with a 19-liter inline-four campaigned by Henry Ford around the turn of the 20th century. (Ford also used the number to designate a Fusion fuel-cell racer a few years back.) That could prove the tie-in Dearborn is looking for in rebranding its performance operations worldwide, replacing the letters SVT, RS and FPV globally under one name.
Of course that doesn't mean that models like the upcoming Shelby GT350, F-150 Raptor, Focus ST or FPV Falcon will necessarily be rebadged 999 as part of their nameplate, but if the customer clinics prove positive, the number 999 could come to stand for Blue Oval performance wherever Fords are sold.
09-23-14, 04:09 PM
#3
Lexus Fanatic
seems lame. Why 999? do they really have to get all historical with the meaning. Anything I have learned from CL is that most "car guys" dont give a damn about auto history. They only care about what has been driven in their life time. I think its a bad idea
09-24-14, 06:14 PM
#7
Lexus Fanatic
Barney Oldfield, one of the country's best racing drivers at the time, made the 999 (and, of course, Henry Ford himself) famous. Henry personally asked him to drive the 999, and Oldfield became the first driver to hit 60 MPH. That may not sound like much to us today, but, at the time, 10-15 MPH was considered speeding. 
The 999, BTW, had a much higher top speed than that......Oldfield himself later drove it at speeds of over 100 MPH.
And Oldfield himself because an automotive institution. For decades afterward, traffic-cops would stop speeding drivers and often ask one of two questions......."All right, where's the fire?", or "Who do you think you are, Barney Oldfield".
The 999, BTW, had a much higher top speed than that......Oldfield himself later drove it at speeds of over 100 MPH. And Oldfield himself because an automotive institution. For decades afterward, traffic-cops would stop speeding drivers and often ask one of two questions......."All right, where's the fire?", or "Who do you think you are, Barney Oldfield".
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