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Ford enters the luxury van market with oversexed mommy mobile
Ford has collaborated with Galpin Auto Sport (GAS) to bring consumers (or at least attendees of the New York Auto Show), their version of a “private jet on wheels.” GAS specialises in customization and remodeling of vehicles, and was the shop featured on MTV’s Pimp my Ride during the later seasons.
Dubbed the Skyliner, Ford’s attempt at luxury comes off more like an oversexed, and sized, mommy mobile. Naturally, the beast comes with a built-in bar, theatre set-up, and retractable conference table, for all of your office needs.
The Skyliner is also equipped with electronic “throne” chairs, enabling swanky billionaires to live out their Westeros inspired storm trooper fantasies (suit not included). On the tech side of things meanwhile, there are a few perks, but nothing we haven’t seen before.
The entire van, aside from the steering, is controlled via iPad (think electric chairs, projector, windows). But let’s get real, Bluetooth has been around for a while now. The three iPads are mounted on deliberately situated magnetic pedestals around the vehicle. The multimedia sound system is relatively cool. It boasts a 300 blu-ray disk carrying capacity, although who really uses disks anymore?
Perhaps the most (only) elegant feature is the wooden flooring. We might also be partial to the white leather padded walls, but that’s it.
Under the hood, the Transit Skyliner packs a 3.5-liter turbocharged V-6, complimented by 365hp, 420lb-ft of torque, and a six-speed automatic transmission. With a speculated price of US$500 000, no one really cares that the fuel economy sucks.
Image via NY Times