At this coming week's 2010 North American International Auto Show, automakers are expected to try to put the dismal past year behind them and move on to whatever futures await.

Two of the U.S. auto industry's largest and oldest players, GM and Chrysler, tumbled into bankruptcy last year and required a handout from from the federal government to save them from liquidation. Was it worth it? Investors, analysts, and car enthusiasts will be looking for answers this week.

Ford Motor (F) has been on all the right tracks lately. The only U.S.-based automaker to not take a government handout and who had been making cars and trucks customers actually want, Ford now rules the roost for domestic cars and trucks. Even its eco-friendly stance has been in high gear with sales of its hybrid vehicles and commitment to greener automotive technology.

That is, when it isn't in some macho face-off with the still-floundering General Motors. Americans love their large V8 engines, and with GM's Camaro selling very well (an unusual high point for the company), Ford will be responding by introducing larger and more powerful V8 engine into its Mustang line to meet Camaro's challenge. In other words, the same one-upsmanship challenge that exists for decades.

When you sell something as a "limited edition," you better mean it. But it turns out that a recent limited edition of the Ford (NYSE: F) Mustang was not that limited after all. And now a group of angry Mustang buyers are taking legal action against the troubled automaker.

Ford claimed that only 100 of the 2007 Roush Stage 3 BlackJack Mustangs would be made in 2007, and fans snatched them up as they went on sale. The car, which cost $59,000, was continued in 2008 and another 100 were made by Ford and Roush Performance Products. That fact didn't sit well with those who had purchased the 2007 model. (I remember the Chevy Camaro and Ford Mustang fanatics of the 70s and 80s -- and fans of both can be quite intense and still dote on their treasured vehicles to this day.)

in the end, though, "limited" doesn't really mean anything -- the number can refer to 10 or 1,000. The lawsuit states that the value of each of the 2007 Mustangs was harmed by the additional 100 cars made in 2008. But is this what true fans are really worried about? I doubt it -- it's hard to think of these vehicles as long-term investments. Their attraction comes more from being something unique. Perhaps it's a bit of both. The lawsuit, though, is claiming more than $12 million in damages. Doing the math, 100 vehicles times $59,000 equals just over $5.9 million. Multiply that by two and you get something close to $12 million. Apparently, the entire value of all 200 Mustangs from 2007 and 2008 are at issue here.

Could it really be just about money? Or is it more a matter of bruised egos? Either way, it could be expensive for Ford, which can't afford to lose another penny.

Shares of Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) are soaring today after the automaker reported the best kind of earnings -- an unexpected profit.

The automaker earned $100 million, or 5 cents a share, compared with a loss of $282 million, or 15 cents, a year earlier. Wall Street had expected the company to lose money. Revenue was $43.5 billion, up slightly from a year earlier. Excluding discontinued operations and one-time items, profit was $525 million, or 20 cents.

"The results of this quarter are encouraging, particularly our outstanding performance in Europe and South America," said CEO Alan Mulally in the earnings release. "We believe this is an indication that our
efforts to leverage Ford's global assets across the world will bear fruit."

Cost cutting certainly helped. The company's North American Automotive business had a pre-tax loss of $45 million, down from $613 million a year earlier, as it slashed $1.2 billion in costs. But that's still not enough, and the company knows it. More layoffs are looming, according to the Detroit Free Press.