Ford

The Monterey Car Week auctions left the collector car world in a state of shock. Sales totals were expected to be similar to 2018 when 850 cars sold for US$370 million but when the hammer fell for the final time in Monterey, just 770 cars had fetched $245 million – a shortfall of 80 cars and $125 million, or 34 percent down. Here's a car-by-car glance.

Last year, Volkswagen expanded its iconic California camper van lineup with the Grand California. This year Ford is following suit in growing its Nugget lineup with a larger Big Nugget. The new 19.7-foot (6-m) concept camper van converted by Westfalia gives road-trippers more room to stretch out.

Take one Ford Transit Custom, give it to a pair of Ford-approved vehicle modifiers, and you can make yourself a sporty-looking luxury camper like this thing, commissioned by obsessive Ford fanatic Steve North of the UK, for a total budget of £77,000 (US$96,000).

​​Ford has rolled into this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speedwith a special edition GT supercar built exclusively for the track. The Ford GT Mk II travels a little lighter and lower than its street-going sibling, and also packs considerably more punch for a life off the leash.​

Ford has released final power and torque specs on its most powerful street-legal car ever - and it's even beefier than expected. The 2020 Mustang Shelby GT500 will make a whopping 760 horsepower and 625 lb-ft (847 Nm) of torque.

The best-selling vehicle in North America is a pickup truck. The world might roll their eyes at that American fact, but there's good reason for it. Americans like big, capable, and luxurious. The 2019 F-150 in its Limited package sets the benchmark for all of those things.

​Advances in robotics are a constant, but every now and then the ingenuity of researchers crystallizes in maneuvers that are as awe-inspiring as they are terrifying. Here's some recent examples that will do the sleeping habits of those fearing a robotic apocalypse more harm than good.

Storyteller Overland launches a rugged, versatile 4x4 camper van in Mercedes Sprinter and Ford Transit flavors. With multi-use furniture, the Mode 4x4 van reconfigures on the fly to adjust around the changing needs of driver and campers, working something like a rolling, habitable multitool.

The Ford Ranger left the North American market about 10 years ago. Since then, it’s lived on in other markets, however, with most manufacturing and development happening in Australia. Now the Ranger is back on US soil.

​In the near future, delivery truck drivers may be replaced by autonomous vehicles or drones that can take a package right to your door. Ford is looking to this future with a parcel-delivering robot called Digit.​

As work on self-driving cars continues, Ford is making use of a new self-driving factory robot that can deliver parts quickly and efficiently, modify its routes based on obstacles in its path, and free up about 40 hours of time per day for employees to get on with other tasks.

Welsh tuning firm MS-RT has put its rally racing leanings to work on the Ford Transit Connect's inside and out, for a run of performance-inspired panel vans that are likely to turn a few heads.​