In 1909, Henry Ford the original had a new car bearing his name that he believed was strong enough to conquer a cross-continent tour of the United States, which then boasted next to nothing in terms of improved roads. After 50 days and more than 6,500 miles, one of his Model Ts crossed the finish line of the first transcontinental automobile race held in the United States, which meandered from New York City to the gate of the Seattle World’s Fair. Ford is reprising that Atlantic-to-Pacific journey now, under considerably less punishing conditions, to introduce its all-electric Mustang Mach-E crossover to a waiting buying public. Very appropriately, this year’s route included a show-field stopover at Amelia Island, where electric vehicles of the past were one of the featured concours categories, and a bevy of manufacturers ranging from Lucid to Porsche were displaying new EVs (with Porsche also granting test drives) to attendees.
So if you’ve yet to spot a Mach-E in the flesh, this is it, the photo representing one of the few moments the vehicle didn’t have a bunch of people pressed against it, requiring the nice gent in the blue cap to wield his polishing cloth yet again. Mustang purists who came of age when the Dave Clark Five were still a big deal may be appalled by this in some cases, but from this view, a whole lot of Amelia visitors, who by definition are pretty serious car people, were sidling up to the Mach-E and giving it serious attention, enough that it took some time to get a clear view of the car for photo purposes even though it wasn’t 9 a.m. yet. That’s saying something, given the locale. Mach-E deliveries commenced in December and the line’s next model, the Mach-E GT Performance Edition, can be reserved right here before it arrives in Ford showrooms this fall.
Jim Donnelly On Wheels 