On Dasher, On Dancer, On A Ford F-250?

26 November 1997
On Dasher, On Dancer, On A Ford F-250?

    DETROIT, Nov. 26 -- When Santa arrives in Detroit tomorrow to
kick off the holiday season, he'll be doing so with the help of one of the
cleanest vehicles on the road.
    Santa's sleigh will be pulled courtesy of a dedicated natural gas Ford
F-250 pickup truck.  Not only is Ford's natural gas F-250 powerful
enough to pull all four tons of Santa's sleigh, it is also one of the lowest
emitting vehicles available.
    Powered solely by natural gas, the Ford F-250 trucks emit 85 percent fewer
smog-forming emissions than most gasoline-powered vehicles on the road today,
and it also is the cleanest pickup truck with a combustion engine.
    "What better way to kick off the holiday season than to have Santa come to
town being pulled by a natural gas-powered Ford truck," said Ross Roberts,
Ford Motor Company vice president and general manager of Ford Division.  "In
fact we think that Santa's sleigh both performs better and has fewer emissions
when pulled by the F-250."
    Introduced earlier this year, Ford's natural gas F-250 pickup and
Econoline van are the first and only internal combustion vehicles in the world
to be certified to California's tough Super Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle
(SULEV) standards.
    1998 marks the 50th anniversary of the powerful, versatile, and tough Ford
F-Series.  Like America's Thanksgiving Parade, they're an American tradition
and a Detroit original.  Ever since the first F-Series pickup rolled off the
line in 1948, they've been part of the American spirit, part of American life.
The F-Series comes equipped with a 5.4L Triton V8 engine and electronic
4-speed automatic overdrive transmission.  Ford also offers the Econoline van
and Crown Victoria as dedicated natural gas vehicles, and produces bi-fuel
versions of the F-Series, Econoline, and Contour.  Bi-fuel vehicles can
operate on either gasoline or natural gas.
    Ford is the leader in alternative fuel vehicles with more than 95 percent
of the market.  In addition to natural gas, Ford offers vehicles powered by
ethanol, methanol, propane, and electricity.  In the 1998 model year lineup,
Ford will offer an industry record number of alternative fuel vehicles.  These
alternative fuel vehicles are sold throughout the United States and are
evidence of Ford's commitment to help improve air quality.

SOURCE  Ford Motor Company