Ford is to close 14 plants and shed 25 30,000 jobs. Most would seem to be in the USA, but that is bad news for more than just Ford employees in America. Every new car needs tyres, spark plugs and light bulbs, so there will be a downturn among suppliers. When America sneezes, the rest of us catch a cold.

Do not lose sight of this chilling fact, Dubya has borrowed more money than every other President, from George Washington to Bill Clinton, combined. Dubya has turned a budget surplus into a trillion dollar deficit and it is planned to increase. America is borrowing from nations which save their money and it will end in tears. Debts have to be repaid and to do that countries have to sell things. America's two largest manufacturers, Ford and General Motors, are facing bankruptcy. If they were not who they are, where they are, neither would be in business.

Before the end of 2006, Toyota will have overtaken The General to become the world's most prolific maker of vehicles. GM is basically bankrupt and, unlike Ford, has yet to address its problems. It used to be said that what is good for General Motors is good for America and that was probably true, but the downside is what is bad for General Motors...

Despite this, I have seen it suggested, on another website, that GM should consider Formula One as part of its revival strategy. This would be like trying to douse a fire with petrol. Besides, what name would be used when you have a choice of Cadillac, Buick, Chevrolet, Saab, Holden, Vauxhall and Opel?

Ford has factories everywhere and it also owns roughly a quarter of Mazda (the Ford Cougar coupé used a Mazda platform, the result was dire). The Ford Puma coupé of 1997 was designed in Britain, on a Fiesta platform, and made in Spain. The engines however, needed a special treatment and, since the production was only 5,000 units a year, all the engine blocks were shipped to Yamaha in Japan, then shipped back to Spain.

Ford still makes a profit in Europe, and in South America, but it is failing in North America. Fuel and steel prices are rising, partly because China has entered the world market in a big way. American customers are turning away from large engined trucks and SUVs because, increasingly, they do not make economic sense. Furthermore, cars made for the North American market rarely have an application elsewhere.

Ten years ago Chrysler introduced its Neon saloon to the UK. On paper it looked a bargain, it had all the bells and whistles at a keen price. On value for money, it was swell, but it bombed because it had no virtue as a machine to drive. It was fine on an American freeway, with a 55 mph speed limit, but damn all use where I live, where the roads have corners and lots of them.

Pitpass is about motor racing, and as I keep saying, motor racing is not fuelled by petrol, it's fuelled by money. Ford has been the most creative contributor to all branches of the sport for more than 40 years. Le Mans, Indianapolis, F1, F2, F3, Formula Junior, saloons, various and manifold, let's not forget the great Ford/BMW battles of the early 1970s, plus rallies and, of course all the various Ford formulae. Ford has been great for motor sport and motor sport has been great for Ford.

At the beginning of 1959 you could still buy, in Britain, the Ford Popular, which looked like a Gothic chapel on wheels. Its specification was from an earlier age: sidevalve engine, beam front axle, cable brakes, three speed gearbox (with a throw measured in feet) and vacuum operated windscreen wipers. The wipers were swell, they worked okay on the flat at a constant speed, but if you came to a hill, you had to drop a gear and take a run at it. The harder you pushed on the loud pedal, the slower the wipers went, until they stopped. This was not what you needed on a dark and wet night with headlights that hardly got beyond the front bumper.