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Chevy Camaro is a good sport, wishes Ford Mustang Happy 50th

It was 1966 when Chevrolet launched its challenger to the wildly successful Ford Mustang, the Camaro. While the competition between the two brands was already healthy, the arrival of the Camaro set off one of the most intense, model-to-model rivalries in the industry.
That competitive spirit hasn't stopped Chevy and the Camaro from wishing Ford's iconic muscle car a Happy 50th Birthday as the Ford's April 17 anniversary rolls around. These two cars have been linked over the years, and while the rivalry took a break for a few years in the 2000s, today's competition between the Camaro and Mustang is as fierce as it's ever been.
You might recall that this friendliness when it comes to major milestones isn't too rare. Ford put on quite a display for General Motors' hundredth anniversary back in 2008. As the Camaro's fiftieth birthday approaches in 2016, we wouldn't be surprised to see the Mustang sending its best wishes to its Bowtie rival.

Automakers want to stop the EPA's fuel economy rules change, and why that's a shortsighted move

With a Trump Administration looming, the EPA moved quickly after the election to propose finalizing future fuel economy rules last week. The auto industry doesn't like that (surprise), and has started making moves to stop the EPA. Ford CEO Mark Fields said he wanted to lobby Trump to lower the standards, and now the Auto Alliance, a manufacturer group, is saying it will join the fight against cleaner cars. The Alliance represents 12 automakers: BMW, Fiat Chrysler, Ford, GM, Jaguar Land Rover, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi, Porsche, Toyota, VW, and Volvo. Gloria Bergquist, a spokesperson for the Alliance, told Automotive News that the "EPA's sudden and controversial move to propose auto regulations eight months early - even after Congress warned agencies about taking such steps while political appointees were packing their bags - calls out for congressional action to pause this rulemaking until a thoughtful policy review can occur." The EPA was going to consider public comments through April 2017, but then said it would move the deadline to the end of December. That means that it can finalize the rules before President Obama leaves office. The director of public affairs for the Consumer Federation of America, Jack Gillis, said on a conference call with reporters last week when the EPA originally announced its decision that it is unlikely that President Trump will be able to roll back these changes. Gillis also said on the same call that any attempt by the automakers to prevent these changes would be history repeating itself. "These are the same companies that fought airbags, and now promoting the fact that every car has multiple airbags," he said. "These are the same companies that fought the crash-test program, and now are promoting the crash-test ratings published by the government. So, it's clear that they're misperceiving the needs of the American consumer." There are more reasons the Allliance's pushback is flawed. Carol Lee Rawn, the transportation program director for Ceres, said on that call that the automotive industry is a global one, and many automakers are moving to global platforms to help them meet strict fuel economy rules around the world.

Hennessey unleashes 2015 HPE700 supercharged Ford Mustang

Thanks to the 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat there is a new magic number in the muscle car world - 707. To raise eyebrows these days in the power war, a vehicle needs to match or preferably exceed that palindromic figure. The tuners over at Hennessey took a look at it for their 2015 HPE700 Mustang and decided to go one better. Well, ten actually, because they bestowed their latest creation with 717 horsepower and 632 pound-feet of torque.
The HPE 700 Mustang takes the standard Mustang GT with its 5.0-liter V8 and turns up the power a few hundred notches with a Roots-type supercharger running at 7.25 psi. Hennessey claims that this boosted 'Stang can rocket to 60 miles per hour in about 3.6 seconds and cover the quarter-mile in 11.2 seconds at 131 mph. For those keeping score at home, those figures are very similar to Challenger Hellcat.
To cope with all of the added boost, the engine gets a high-flow throttle body, upgraded injectors, new fuel pump, stainless steel exhaust and Hennessey's calibration for the engine management. Pricing for the package is $59,500, including the base 2015 Mustang GT, but the company is limiting production to 500 units for the 2015 model year. Founder John Hennessey told Autoblog that he has already received about a dozen orders for them.