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Need for Speed movie casts Mustang in hero car role

Dreamworks Studios, Electronic Arts and Ford Motor Company announced today that the Ford Mustang will play the lead hero car role in the upcoming Need for Speed movie, slated to hit theaters next February. Of course, the Mustang didn't audition for the role like we imagine the film's star, Aaron Paul of Breaking Bad fame, might have. Rather, Ford and Dreamworks struck a partnership deal that meant the Mustang could skip the casting couch. The deal will also see the film's universe populated with other Ford products (gratuitously so, we're guessing), and the automaker will also help the studio promote the video-game-turned-movie next year.
The hero car in question is a special one-off Mustang created by Ford that is making its debut at the E3 video game trade show as we speak. Powered by a supercharged V8 and apparently based on the Shelby GT500, the car's been modified with a widebody kit, 22-inch wheels, larger air intakes and twin hood nostrils. Ford also provided the film's production with an F-450 truck that will be called "The Beast" in the film's story, and a second Mustang to be used during filming as a camera car.
The Mustang's movie career is really taking off, with news of its Need For Speed casting closely following last week's release of the trailer for Getaway, a movie coming out in August that stars Ethan Hawke, Selena Gomez and another Shelby GT500. In addition to Aaron Paul and a modified Mustang, the Need For Speed movie also stars Michael Keaton (cop, we're guessing) and Dominic Cooper (villain, we're guessing), and is directed by Scott Waugh, who directed the Navy SEAL film Act of Valor in 2012.

Hennessey showcases F-250 VelociRaptor SUV

With automakers embracing smaller and smaller crossovers with each passing year, it'd be all too easy to forget about the Ford Excursion. Bigger than the Expedition (or just about anything else on or off the road), the Excursion was based on Ford's Super Duty truck chassis to put even the likes of the Chevy Suburban, Nissan Armada, and Toyota Sequoia to shame. It ceased production ten years ago now, but Hennessey is bringing it back – sort of. Feast your eyes on the Hennessey VelociRaptor SUV. The design calls for a very fullsize, truck-based sport-ute based on the Ford F-250. Only instead of a pickup bed, it's got four proper side doors and a covered cargo bay with a pair of barn doors at the back. Hennessey will fit it with three rows of seats to accommodate seven or eight passengers, and of course it'll offer a range of upgraded engines as well. What starts out with a 6.2-liter V8 producing 411 horsepower can be supercharged all the way up to 600 or even 650 horses. For those who don't want to spend their life's savings at the pump... well, this probably isn't the right choice of automobile, but Hennessey will offer an enhanced 6.7-liter PowerStroke diesel with 440 hp and 880 pound-feet of stump-pullin' muscle. Naturally there'll be other visual and mechanical upgrades on offer as well, but none of this will come cheap – or fast for that matter. Hennessey will take six months to put one together, and demand nearly $160,000 for the conversion.

Ford Police Interceptors dominate Michigan State Police testing

Once again, Ford Motor Company builds the fastest police vehicles. The Blue Oval touted the news in an official release following Michigan State Police and Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department testing. Ford did very well. Except for one acceleration metric – zero to 10 miles per hour – the Blue Oval's Taurus and Explorer-based cop cars were the quickest, with particular praise coming for the EcoBoost-powered models, which bested Chevrolet and Dodge's V8-powered variants. Dearborn's products also posted the fastest average times around MSP's vehicle dynamics course. But it wasn't all positive for Ford. The only four-cylinder in the contest, the 2.0-liter, EcoBoost Ford SSP Sedan, had both the lowest top speed, 120 mph, and the slowest acceleration figures. It was also the slowest in track testing. Ford's products also failed to match the braking and top speeds of its rivals from Detroit and Auburn Hills – the rear-drive Charger Pursuit posted the best braking stats of the entire test, while the V8-powered Chevrolet Caprice hit the highest top speed, at 155 mph. Ford did score a top speed award, among SUVs, but at 132 mph, the naturally aspirated Police Interceptor Utility had to share its award with the equally fast, rear-drive Chevrolet Tahoe. The LA County Sheriff's timing isn't publicly available, but according to Ford, the EcoBoost-powered police cars put on a similarly impressive show for cops on the West Coast. We've assembled a spreadsheet on Google Docs that offers an easy to browse comparison of the different stats assembled by the Michigan State Police, and divided the vehicles between standard V6-powered sedans, high-performance sedans (EcoBoost and V8 models), and SUVs. You can check it out here. Related Video: