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Shelby Mustang stars with Ethan Hawke, Selena Gomez in Getaway movie

Car movies. We keep watching them, they keep making them. Despite Fast & Furious 6 still blowing up the box office (No. 1 in theaters for the second straight week) and production on Transformers 4 being well underway (check out the Bugatti Veyron and Corvette Stingray as new cast members), there's still room on the marquee for more car movies. Next one up is an Ethan Hawke joint called Getaway, which prominently co-stars a Ford Shelby GT500. The first trailer for Getaway, which opens in theaters on August 30, was released yesterday and can be watched below.
The movie's plot centers around Hawke's character, former race car driver Brent Magna, who must somehow use this car, what appears to be a generation-old Shelby GT500 Super Snake he "commandeered," to save his wife. The movie's third co-star is Selena Gomez, whose character we're told is the owner of said Shelby. A 20-year-old having a car like this seems a bit far-fetched - especially in Europe - and on paper, this plot looks like it cribs liberally from Charlie Sheen's 1994 The Chase. But all we've got to go on is a brief plot description and the trailer below, so we'll withhold judgment until the studio firmly has our ticket money in its grasp.
The Shelby GT500 is, of course, no stranger to acting. Before this jump to celluloid, the most fearsome of all Mustang models starred in the return of Knight Rider to television on NBC back in 2008. That gig didn't pan out for the car, the show lasting only one season and 17 episodes. In fact, with its casting in Getaway, the Shelby GT500 is one of the few actors who escaped that debacle with a future in show biz.

Defying Trump, major automakers finalize California emissions deal

WASHINGTON — The California Air Resources Board (CARB) and major automakers on Monday confirmed they had finalized binding agreements to cut vehicle emissions in the state, defying the Trump administration's push for weaker curbs on tailpipe pollution. The agreements with carmakers Ford Motor Co, Volkswagen AG, Honda Motor Co and BMW AG were first announced in July 2019 as voluntary measures prompting anger from U.S. President Donald Trump. A month later, the Justice Department opened an antitrust probe into the agreements. The government ended the investigation without action. The Trump administration in March finalized a rollback of U.S. vehicle emissions standards to require 1.5% annual increases in efficiency through 2026. That is far weaker than the 5% annual increases in the discarded rules adopted under President Barack Obama. The 50-page California agreements, which extend through 2026, are less onerous than the standards finalized by the Obama administration but tougher than the Trump administration standards. The automakers have also agreed to electric vehicle commitments. Volvo Cars, owned by China's Geely Holdings, said in March it planned to join the automakers agreeing to the California requirements. It has also finalized its agreement. The settlement agreements say California and automakers agreed to resolve "potential legal disputes concerning the authority of CARB" and other states that have adopted California's standards. In May, a group of 23 U.S. states led by California and some major cities, challenged the Trump vehicle emissions rule. Other major automakers like General Motors Co, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV and Toyota Motor Corp did not join the California agreement. Those companies also sided with the Trump administration in a separate lawsuit over whether the federal government can strip California of the right to set zero emission vehicle requirements. Ford said the "final agreement will reduce emissions in our vehicles at a more stringent rate, support and incentivize the production of electrified products, and create regulatory certainty." BMW said "by setting these long-term, predictable, and achievable standards, we have the regulatory certainty that is necessary for long-term planning that will not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions but ultimately benefit consumers as well." 

2015 Ford Edge First Drive [w/videos]

We're routinely told that it's not easy being the middle child. The oldest sibling will always outshine the rest, while the youngest is routinely doted upon. The middle child, meanwhile, is seemingly never able to measure up. You know the drill: Marcia, Marcia, Marcia! But that hasn't really been the case for Ford's mid-kid crossover, the Edge. Sandwiched between its highly successful big brother, the Explorer, and the stylish younger brother, the Escape, the Edge has had plenty of its own bragging rights over the years. It's where the Blue Oval chose to first launch MyFord Touch in 2011, and was one of the company's first applications of an EcoBoost engine in a CUV. For 2015, Ford has given the Edge a brand-new outfit, complete with stand-out sheetmetal and a revamped 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine fitted with a twin-scroll turbocharger and direct-injection. The result is a vehicle that truly stands out from its compact and fullsize siblings while promising to retain Ford's edge in the midsize CUV market. Where many of Ford's cars have opted for a slim, Aston Martin-like grille, the new Edge's face is big and bold. It's around back, however, where the Edge really comes up with its own personality. The slimmer D-pillar forms the edges of a more aggressively raked rear window. It's difficult to spot in pictures, but the result is a decidedly more assertive profile than the outgoing CUV. Beyond that, the rear is home to Fusion-inspired taillights, although unlike Ford's popular midsize sedan, they're joined together by a vehicle-spanning lighting element that prominently features a Ford badge at its center. Ford's work on the Edge's interior is less progressive, though. The owner of a 2014 model wouldn't feel the least bit out of place climbing behind the wheel of a 2015, as it features Ford's same reconfigurable instrument cluster, and a center stack that's been crowned by the latest (and final) edition of MyFord Touch. Meanwhile, more JD Power Initial Quality Study-friendly buttons have replaced the obstinate and unintuitive touch-capacitive controls. The conservative take on the interior design belies the big improvements in material quality. The leather inserts in the doors are more heavily padded and the plastics are far softer. It's a similar story throughout the cabin, where owners will notice softer dash plastics and generally richer materials.