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Ford Motor Co said in a statement on Sunday that Ford died of pneumonia at his home. Ford help steer the family business for more than five decades. He bought one of his own, the NFL franchise in the Motor City as owner of the Detroit Lions, a half-century ago.He served as an employee and board member of the automaker for more than half of its 100-year history."My father was a great business leader and humanitarian who dedicated his life to the company and the community," William Clay Ford Jr, executive chairman of Ford Motor Co and Lions vice chairman, said in a statement. "He also was a wonderful family man, a loving husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather. He will be greatly missed by everyone who knew him, yet he will continue to inspire us all."Ford was regarded as a dignified man by the select few who seemed to know him well. To the masses in Detroit, he was simply the owner of the Lions who struggled to achieve success on the field despite showing his passion for winning by spending money on free agents, coaches, executives and facilities.Ford's first full season leading the Lions was in 1964, seven years after the franchise won the NFL title. The only playoff victory he enjoyed was in 1992. The Lions are the only team to go 0-16 in a season, hitting rock bottom in 2008. After an 11-year postseason drought, the Lions improved enough to make the playoffs in 2011 only to lose a combined 21 games over the next two seasons."No owner loved his team more than Mr Ford loved the Lions," Lions President Tom Lewand said in a statement released by the team. "Those of us who had the opportunity to work for Mr. Ford knew of his unyielding passion for his family, the Lions and the city of Detroit. His leadership, integrity, kindness, humility and good humour were matched only by his desire to bring a Super Bowl championship to the Lions and to our community. Each of us in the organisation will continue to relentlessly pursue that goal in his honor." 

Tesla spokeswoman Liz Jarvis-Shean said the fire on Tuesday was caused by a large metallic object hitting one of the battery pack's modules in the pricey Model S. The fire was contained to a small section at the front of the vehicle, she said, and no one was injured.Shares fell 6 per cent on Wednesday as video of the fire surfaced. The shares were down $US8.75 ($9.31), or 4.8 per cent, to $US172.20 ($183.17) in afternoon trading on Thursday. At that price, Tesla's market value has dropped about $US2.5 billion ($2.66 billion) in the past two days.Still, if an investor purchased a share of Tesla at $US35 ($37.23) on January 2, they're sitting on a gain of more than 400 per cent for the year. Deutsche Bank analyst Rod Lache told investors Thursday that he views the fire as an isolated incident and still expects Tesla shares to reach $US200 ($212.74).The liquid-cooled 85 kilowatt-hour battery in the Tesla Model S is mounted below the passenger compartment floor and uses lithium-ion chemistry similar to the batteries in laptop computers and mobile phones. Investors and companies have been particularly sensitive to the batteries' fire risks, especially given issues in recent years involving the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid car and Boeing's new 787 plane.In an incident report released under Washington state's public records law, firefighters wrote that they appeared to have Tuesday's fire under control, but the flames reignited. Crews found that water seemed to intensify the fire, so they began using a dry chemical extinguisher.After dismantling the front end of the vehicle and puncturing holes in the battery pack, responders used a circular saw to cut an access hole in the front section to apply water to the battery, according to documents. Only then was the fire extinguished.The incident happened as the Tesla's driver was travelling southbound on state Route 167 through the Seattle suburb of Kent, said Trooper Chris Webb of the Washington State Patrol. The driver said he believed he had struck some metal debris on the freeway, so he exited the highway and the vehicle became disabled.The driver, who did not return a phone call seeking comment, told authorities he began to smell something burning and then the vehicle caught fire. Firefighters arrived within 3 minutes of the first call. It's not clear from records how long the firefighting lasted, but crews remained on scene for 2 1/2 hours.Tesla said the flames were contained to the front of the $US70,000 ($74,460) vehicle due to its design and construction. "This was not a spontaneous event," Ms Jarvis-Shean said. "Every indication we have at this point is that the fire was a result of the collision and the damage sustained through that."There was too much damage from the fire to see what damage debris may have caused, Mr Webb said. The automobile website Jalopnik posted photos of the blaze that it says were taken by a reader, along with a video.Shares of Palo Alto, California-based Tesla have risen more than 400 per cent this year. But some investors likely were alarmed that the fire could be an indication of a flaw in the company's battery packs, and Tesla shares fell $US12.05 ($12.82) to $US180.95 ($192.48) on Wednesday.  That was still enough to lower Tesla's market value by $US600 million ($638.23m) to just under $US22 billion ($23.4b).Also contributing to the stock's decline was a rare analyst downgrade. R.W. Baird analyst Ben Kallo cut his rating on the stock from "Outperform" to "Neutral," telling investors that while he's still bullish on Tesla's long-term prospects, the company has "significant milestones" during the next 18 months that come with risk.The company's battery system and the Model S itself have received rave reviews, including a top crash-test score from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and a tie for the highest auto rating ever recorded by Consumer Reports magazine.But lithium-ion batteries have raised concerns in other vehicles. Two years ago, battery fires broke out in three Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid cars after crash-testing, but NHTSA investigators determined that the Volt was no more risky than vehicles with conventional gasoline engines.Officials from General Motors and the government believed the fires were caused by coolant leaking from damaged plastic casing around the batteries after side-impact test crashes. At the time, they said there were no real-world fires in any Volts.Still, the fires tarnished the Volt's reputation and cut into sales. Recently, though, sales have recovered. Sales are up about 3 per cent this year, with GM selling about 17,000 Volts through September.Earlier this year, Boeing Co.'s worldwide fleet of 787s was grounded because lithium-ion batteries overheated or caught fire. Flights resumed four months later after a revamped battery system was installed.Under normal circumstances, investigators from NHTSA, the government's auto safety watchdog, would travel to Washington state to investigate the Tesla crash. But with the partial government shutdown, NHTSA's field investigations have been suspended. 

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Red Bull's Mark Webber were both punished by stewards after the Spaniard gave the stranded Australian a ride back to the pit lane on the side of his car at the close of Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix. Both drivers received reprimands, though that has more serious consequences for Webber as it was his third reprimand of the season. Webber will receive a 10-place penalty on the grid at the next grand prix in South Korea. Webber's car pulled off the track in flames after an engine failure on the final lap. Rather than having a slow post-race walk back to the pits, he dashed out onto the track, hailed Alonso's Ferrari like it was a taxi and then clambered onto the sidepod for a quicker ride back. Alonso had already finished the race in second, behind Sebastian Vettel. Three cars on their slowdown laps had to take evasive action to avoid Webber and the Ferrari, and the problem was compounded by Alonso driving more slowly than permitted as he made allowances for his passenger. Vettel was in a class of his own under the Marina Bay lights, winning by a massive 32.6 seconds over Alonso and boosting his championship lead on the Ferrari driver from 53 points to 60 with six races remaining. "We are in a very good position. To be honest I am not looking at the championship too much," Vettel said. "I am just enjoying it at the moment. Days like today and yesterday are what it is all about." Lotus' Kimi Raikkonen was third, ahead of the Mercedes pair Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton in fourth and fifth respectively. Starting in pole, Vettel lost the lead at the first corner to Rosberg but took it back as the Mercedes driver ran wide at turn two. Even a safety car period just before half distance, which eroded his 12-second lead, could not prevent another Vettel victory. "The start was quite hairy, Nico had a good start, but fortunately he went a little too deep and I was able to get him back," Vettel said. "With the safety car, it was difficult but we came back ... we had very, very good pace." Red Bull teammate Mark Webber had sharply different fortunes in the race. As the Australian was threatening Raikkonen in the closing stages, he experienced an engine failure that saw him pull off the track with his car in flames. Alonso was in a generous mood after an impressive showing. The Spaniard got a superb start, going around the outside of several drivers to vault from seventh to third after two corners, and capitalised on the emergence of the safety car by pitting for his final stop, taking on a set of the harder tires which he drove for the last 36 of 61 laps. "We knew we didn't have the pace today, we had to invent something," Alonso said. "I had a good start and a different strategy ... it tastes like a victory to us." Raikkonen's participation in the race had been in doubt due to a back injury that affected him badly in Saturday's qualifying, but the Finn sliced his way through the field in the latter half of the race to move up from 10th to a podium finish. "Luckily not too much (pain during the race) but now, afterwards, it's not 100 percent but I have time to rest and get it right," Raikkonen said. "Third place - we could not have expected any more today." Ferrari's Felipe Massa was sixth, ahead of the McLaren pair Jenson Button and Sergio Perez in seventh and eighth respectively, with Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Force India's Adrian Sutil completing the top ten. Vettel's victory was his third in a row in Singapore, his seventh of the season, and 33rd of his career, moving him out of a tie with Alonso and into outright fourth place on the all-time list behind Michael Schumacher, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna. Vettel also won from pole in the previous F1 race in Italy and took the lead on the opening lap of the Belgian GP, meaning he has now led effectively from start to finish in three successive races. With such dominance over his dispirited rivals, only an extraordinary turnaround can prevent Vettel winning a fourth-straight championship, joining Schumacher and Juan Manuel Fangio as the only men to achieve that feat. Ferrari had said prior to the race that the result in Singapore would determine whether to continue development of the car or to turn all resources to the radically redesigned 2014 vehicle. Alonso's second placing will likely be enough to keep Ferrari's mind on this year, but the Spaniard was realistic about his fading title hopes. "The gap is still increasing every weekend and now it's 60 points," Alonso said. "We need to be honest with ourselves. We need a lot of luck every weekend if we are one second (per lap) off their pace."

The lime green Murcielago Roadster is on its way to a Las Vegas body shop for repairs."Yeah, I got it on Saturday and I wrecked it on Saturday," David Dopp told local television. Mr Dopp was videotaped last month jumping up and down and hollering in speechless disbelief when Maverik convenience stores contest officials announced during a college football game that he won the car.Mr Dopp said he was taking friends and family on rides on Saturday evening on the outskirts of town when the vehicle hit ice or loose gravel and started spinning.Read more: https://www.bodyshopbusiness.com/joe-schmo-to-lambo-winner-crashes-prize-supercar-within-hours/