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Christian Bale quits Enzo Ferrari biopic over weight gain

Christian Bale has an unusual but rational reason for dropping the role of Enzo Ferrari in the upcoming biopic of that same name, Variety reports. The actor, famous for his role in the Dark Knight trilogy and American Psycho, apparently felt that he couldn't gain the weight necessary to start filming this spring quickly enough without putting his health in danger. As we reported last year, Bale was to play Ferrari during a dark year for the company, when 11 people died during an accident involving one of the company's race cars during the 1957 Mille Miglia, a race in Italy held on public roads. The crash led to the cancelation of the Mille Miglia entirely. The script itself is based on a book written by famous automotive journalist Brock Yates, "Enzo Ferrari, The Man, The Cars, The Races." While the director, Michael Mann, now has to scramble to find a new lead actor, Robert de Niro is reportedly developing a movie in which he will play il Commendatore over a wider span of the man's life. Nonetheless, the idea of two Enzo biopics in the offing should make gearhead movie lovers doubly happy. Related Video:

Ford 1.0L takes third-straight International Engine of the Year award

Ford's 1.0-liter EcoBoost is proving to be The Little Engine That Could, and it continues to acquit itself well, finding favor as one of the best powerplants in the world. To confirm it yet again, the tiny mill just won the International Engine of the Year award for the third year in a row, likewise also nabbing the title in the Sub 1.0-liter category.
Packing 123 horsepower and 148 pound-feet of torque with overboost (125 lb-ft normally), the tiny engine combines impressive power in a size small enough to be a carry-on item for a commercial flight. US buyers only got a taste of the award winner in the 2014 Fiesta, while the 1.0 EcoBoost has been available throughout the Ford lineup in Europe for a few years now. American sales have reportedly been strong, however, and next up in the US, the mill will find its way into the 2015 Focus.
The panel of 82 jury members from 34 countries also named the Mercedes-AMG 2.0-liter turbo found in the A45, CLA45 and GLA45 AMG models with 355 hp and 332 lb-ft as the best New Engine for 2014. The electric powertrain from Tesla won Green Engine prize, and the 4.5-liter V8 from the Ferrari 458 Italia took home the honor of top Performance Engine yet again. You can check out all the winners below, and scroll down further to read Ford's celebratory announcement of its award.

Are you the Enzo-succeeding Ferrari F150?

We've brought you no end of spy shots and rumors surrounding the new Ferrari hypercar, often referred to as F150, that is destined to succeed the Enzo as the Italian maker's top offering. Now, one new and highly speculative rendering has come to light whose origins are interesting, even if the final product is still pretty much a stab in the dark.
The rendering you see here was created by an organization called goldRush Rally, which published the image on its Facebook page. The claim is that this rendering was based on a "snapshot of a plaque with a sketch of the new supercar." We certainly won't speculate as to what kind of "presentation" a luxury-rally throwing company like gRR would be invited to - to say nothing of why there was a plaque bearing the image of a supercar that has been so well cordoned off from public eyes - but we'll roll with it because we love the internet.
Even if the story is completely true (big if), we're fairly certain the details of the rendering miss in some places relative to the real deal car. The front wheel wells, for instance, seem comically thin around the top, and hold wheels that are way out of proportion with the spy shots and videos we've seen so far. More promising, however, is the detailing of the door and sill of the F150 - portions of the car that have consistently been covered in spy shots.