2004 Ford F-350 2x4 Extended Cab Pick Up Truck on 2040-cars

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Entertainment Weekly gets a peek into the 'Ford vs. Ferrari' film

The 20th Century Fox film "Ford v Ferrari" is scheduled to open Nov. 15. The movie tells a story enthusiasts can't get tired of, and that Ford has turned into two profitable automotive revivals: the double-cross that led to the no-expense-spared revenge that spawned the Ford GT40 and four successive victories at Le Mans. Entertainment Weekly spoke to the primary actors in the piece and got shots from the set. Matt Damon plays Carroll Shelby, the man Ford recruited to run the GT40 program after the race car performed poorly in its first year of international racing in 1964. Christian Bale plays Ken Miles, an English version of Shelby who could build and drive winning cars. Miles was so good that when racing one of his "Miles Specials," a Cooper-Porsche he improved and drove for California Porsche dealer Johnny von Neumann, he beat the factory Porsches so often that the Stuttgart automaker took Miles' car away. The movie focuses on the first year of the GT40's winning run, in 1966 after the car had become the GT40 MkII. Bale calls the story a "David vs. Goliath vs. Goliath" battle, because Shelby and Miles had to fight Ford as well as Ferrari. "It's these two friends figuring out how do you deal with these a–holes in suits who know nothing about racing," he said. And even though the cars won the fight on track, the two men didn't always win the fights with their paymasters. The three-way finish Ford staged at the end of the race cheated Miles of victory. Miles had been laps ahead of the second-place GT40 driven by Bruce McLaren at the time, but slowed down to let the car catch up. After the three-abreast finish, race organizers said McLaren's car started the race behind Miles, and by finishing with Miles had covered 60 feet more than Miles during the race. They declared McLaren and Chris Amon the winners. The story of how they got to that point — which director James Mangold called "Butch and Sundance in the world of racing" — promises more twists and turns than the Le Mans circuit, and some open flame; video on YouTube shows Damon-as-Shelby being set on fire in one scene. We admit to a bit of concern when Mangold says, "This is much more of a relationship movie and less a historical document." Yet it sounds like he's done his best to get the racing right, so all won't be lost no matter what. Head over to EW to check out the full story and more photos.

2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid

No Prius Killer
As much as we enthusiasts like to rail on the lowly Toyota Prius as the harbinger of death for all we hold dear, there's no denying the machine's absolute and interminable grip on the hybrid hatchback market in the United States. Toyota has so thoroughly sunk its teeth into the segment that you can clearly hear the automaker's incisors clacking against one another with the conclusion of each financial quarter. And there's little wonder why. Buyers can plop down less than $25,000 and have a runabout that can return up to an estimated 51 miles per gallon in the city, leaving every other entry on the market with precious little gristle to gnaw on.
Enter the 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid. With its claimed 47 mpg combined, the funky little hatch from Europe already falls behind the 48 mpg city offered by the Prius, but that marginal sacrifice in fuel economy could be a small price to pay for buyers who want a credible alternative to the stalwart Toyota. Unfortunately, like the Fusion Hybrid, the C-Max Hybrid had trouble even approaching its Environmental Protection Agency estimates during our time with the car.

Ford spotted testing new Focus RS at the Nurburgring

Ford is expected to be launching a revised version of the Focus ST soon, but the latest snapshots from our spy photographers at the Nürburgring suggest that the Blue Oval is already working on an even more potent example: the new Focus RS.
Though the partially disguised test mule is wearing an ST badge (along with a Dewey sticker that makes us wonder what adventures Huey and Louie are up to and what manner of duck-tail rear spoiler they may be wearing), there are several tell-tale signs that something else is afoot here. There's a larger front air dam, bigger brake calipers, dual exhaust tips (instead of the central exhaust on the ST) and a reshaped wing protruding from the trailing edge of the roof.
That may all be well and fine, but what's under the hood? We don't know yet for sure, but word has it that Ford is preparing to port over the 2.3-liter turbo four offered in the new Mustang, where it packs 305 horsepower and almost as much torque - potentially retuned to produce even more for the top-of-the-line Focus, which could channel it all to the front wheels like the last model or pack an all-wheel drive system. The Global C platform on which the Focus is based does, after all, also underpin AWD models like the Ford Escape and Lincoln MKC.