Ford Motors has announced its latest social media initiative that will combine the passionate voices of happy Ford owners and spread the word about the latest part of the Ford Drive One campaign, Fusion 41.

With the success of Ford’s last campaign the Ford Fiesta Movement, the American car maker is proposing a new challenge to eight lucky 2010 Ford Fusion or Fusion Hybrid owners with a flare for social media.

Ford will select eight car owners based on their existing social media presence online. Participants will need to have a minimum of 100 Facebook friends, as well as an active photo gallery.

Ford is taking things one step further with this campaign as challengers will be chosen because of their passion. They will need to have previously been vocal about their 2010 Fusion on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

“Fusion 41 is a fun way to engage customers and get them talking about the all-new 2010 Fusion,” said Jeff Eggen, Ford car experiential marketing manager. “There’s no better way to spread the word about our new products than by putting them into the hands of prospective customers and enabling them to experience our vehicles firsthand.”

The eight contestants will assemble a team of four friends and compete in a relay race that will be documented on Facebook. Ford will provide each team with a 2010 Ford Fusion and complimentary gas and the vehicle will be passed through the team - like a baton - over the three week duration of the challenge.

Each of the challenges presented to the team must be completed within 41 hours and will be another example of offline competition and online sharing coming together for a greater social media experience.

The Fusion owner on the winning team will have their vehicle paid off in full by Ford, and the rest of their team will receive free gas for a year.