Ken Block and Ford part ways; is Ford totally out of their minds?

[Razorback]

This isn't the guy that helped test develop the Bronco in Johnson Valley is it?
Dude, did a walk around with the black trail rig a few months back.
Seems like the only guy to speak that knew what off roading was all about. He was real jazzed on the Bronco and the turn trail assist..not like the dopey kids doing Q&A on the white 2DR BL the other day.
Ring any bells to anyone...

I think that was Cameron Steele and Brad Lovell.

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[rtsherry73]

Lots of people in the US care about racing, but most self-described car enthusiasts don't consider NASCAR to be racing for some reason.

Nascar gonna get more interesting. More road courses. New cars will have IRS, single screw-on wheel retain vs lug nuts, bigger diameter wheels, sequential trans vs straight 4 speed...

 

[jaspercasidino]

Per Merriam-Webster dictionary;

Definition of shill
(Entry 1 of 2)

intransitive verb
1 : to act as a shill

2 : to act as a spokesperson or promoter the eminent Shakespearean producer … is now shilling for a brokerage house— Andy Rooney

shill
noun

Definition of shill (Entry 2 of 2)

1a : one who acts as a decoy (as for a pitchman or gambler)
b : one who makes a sales pitch or serves as a promoter


So, according to you, Ken never made a sales pitch, acted as a spokesperson, or served as a promoter for Ford. I would disagree with you and stand by my statement that he was a paid shill, no different than any other.

If you care to argue that the dictionary does not understand the meaning of a word and that whatever you think 'shill' means is more accurate, please feel free to yell at the screen and see if it changes the words in the definition. Good luck with that BTW.

Oh, so you were referring to the second usage of shill rather than primary one. Seems a strange choice given that this is an automotive forum. Common usage of the word and primary definition deal with someone promoting a product and not disclosing their affiliation and vested interest with the product.

Cambridge has the definition as: someone who helps another person to persuade people to buy something, especially by pretending to be a satisfied customer.

Wikipedia, google search and dictionary.com all have similar verbiage. I’m not one to open up a printed dictionary or have a preference in dictionary publishers, but take these sources however you like.

I think you also misunderstood my tone. I was yelling Come on! He has an RS200! not in anger but out of excitement. Im not sure if you clicked the link, but you will see that he has quite the collection of Fords. Also, I am using definition 2a of “collection” as defined by Merriam-Webster, so we are clear.

 

[Crimpcap]

I am sure corporate backing/money is great. But Ken Block has a big following. I think it will be good for him to not be locked into one manufacturer. Any body (Ford, Chevy, Dodge, etc.) could be put on the highly modified chassis he runs in those videos.

I remeber when Carl Renezeder switched from Chevy Silverado to Nissan Titan in Lucus Off Road Racing. His truck had the Nissan Titan grill zip tied to the front. The rest was still Chevy, at least for a while.

 

[395N]

I think that was Cameron Steele and Brad Lovell.

There was only one guy doing the walk around in the video that I mentioned.
Dude had a shit eating grin the entire time. He was very passionate about it.

 

[frinesi2]

Nascar gonna get more interesting. More road courses. New cars will have IRS, single screw-on wheel retain vs lug nuts, bigger diameter wheels, sequential trans vs straight 4 speed...

I went to the Glen in 2018 and that was pretty awesome. I'd love to see the new cars there.

 

[rtsherry73]

I went to the Glen in 2018 and that was pretty awesome. I'd love to see the new cars there.

NASCAR Glen my favorite auto race by far. Love the first corner on a restart!

 

[TNcoupe]

I think the Gymkhana videos were getting dull and repetitive. Ford no longer sales the Fiesta or Focus here anymore and I think he wants to go do some vintage racing with other cars. Saw another video where he was with an original Audi Quattro S1 the other day. He also swapped wheel companies from Fifteen52 to Rotaform or somebody not to long ago. Maybe he's just wanting a change and Ford was too.

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