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FCA to pay buyers $1,700 to swap out of scandal-mired VWs

FCA is trying to gain some sales from arch-rival VW in the competitive European market by offering potential buyers in Italy up to $1,700 to swap into an FCA group car. While the promotion isn't specifically targeted at TDI owners affected by the emissions scandal, it is clearly intended to turn dissatisfaction with VW's defeat device cheat into additional sales, Bloomberg reports. The 500-1,500 euro incentive (roughly $560-1,700, depending on vehicle) stacks on top of any other rebates or deals applicable, and applies if a buyer brings in any of Volkswagen Group's cars – including Audi, Skoda, and SEAT, among (many) others. As Bloomberg notes, it's normal for automakers to offer "conquest" deals – giving a buyer cash for trading in a competitor's vehicle. Those deals aren't usually limited to one company's products, however; FCA's program looks specifically to take advantage of VW's legal and public relations nightmare. FCA isn't the only automaker trying this trick in Italy. Automotive News Europe also reported that Ford is offering approximately $840 in incentives across its entire range to owners of VW vehicles seeking to trade in for a Ford. No word of yet as to whether these incentives will spread beyond Italy or to other automakers.Related Video:

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.

Woman reunited with stolen Mustang after 28 years

An enthusiast Christmas story: Salinas, California resident Lynda Alsip bought a 1967 Ford Mustang in 1984 when she was 17 years old, having saved $800 after a summer of toil at a grocery store. She got a vanity plate that read "LYNDA67," for the year she was born, but she only got to enjoy the car for two years: in 1986, after a night out, someone stole it from her apartment complex. She hadn't seen it since. Then a man – another Salinas resident – tried to register the car at the DMV this year. He said he bought it as a project car in 1991, yet the DMV couldn't find any record of it. The DMV office sent the case of the untraceable car to the California Highway Patrol, where Officer Christopher Menchen dug into the records, and his search paid off. The officer located Alsip's stolen record report from 1986 and connected the Mustang to it's registered owner in 1986, who was Alsip's mother. The CHP found the forest green Mustang in the man's garage, and they figure it's been there since 1991. After waiting through the still-ongoing three-month investigation, the CHP reunited Alsip – now a wife and a mother of two – with her car on December 22. It's undriveable, but her original vanity plate is back on and she plans to restore it. The video above has the story. News Source: USA Today, NBC Bay Area Government/Legal Ford Coupe Classics Videos California stolen car 1967 ford mustang