In the name of the P1, the 918 and the holy LaFerrari.
It’s the video we’d all been waiting for. After a bit over two weeks it’s racked up more than 1.2 million views. It’s Chris Harris in three of the most desirable cars ever made.
At almost one hour long the recipe couldn’t get any better. Throw in an empty and excellent Portimao racetrack and, well, yeah, the recipe does get better. And this video is great viewing, it really is.
But is it as good as you were hoping?
You may remember a chap by the name of Arthur Schening who we featured earlier this year. He’s a graphic designer by day and automotive artist by night. Here’s one of his latest releases, the beautiful Porsche 917K in Gulf Racing livery.
Having purchased a couple of pieces already we can vouch for the quality of the prints supplied by Schening and we’re going to find it very hard to resist ordering a copy of this 917 artwork.
For those of you not so inflicted with the Porsche disease perhaps this Ferrari 512M or Alfa Romeo Giula TZ2 may tempt you.
[Source: Schening Creative]
The new host of Top Gear, Chris Evans, will reach new heights of knobbery after he auctions off a lazy 13 cars from his very impressive collection at the Goodwood Revival. Six Ferraris headline the list, joined by a trio of Jags, a Mercedes, a Fiat, a Daimler and a Chitty Chitty Bang Bang replica.
Included in the list is this gorgeous Ferrari 275 GTS Spyder (pictured). We’d quite like it, but despite our ongoing efforts to win OzLotto we don’t have the required £1.6 million to secure the deal.
The full list of Evans’ inventory is listed below, including the predicted sale prices:
Bonhams will be handling the auction duties and you can see the full catalogue HERE.
[Source: Goodwood]
The Dino 246 GT is one of the best looking sports coupés ever made. And now Ferrari is planning to revive the Dino name and this time it will be a fully fledged Ferrari model. The test mule above, using a heavily modified 488 GTB body, is believed to be one of the first sightings of the new Dino.
Like the original, the 21st century Dino will be powered by a V6 and peak power is predicted to be around 375kW (500hp). Expected to sit beneath the 488 the new Dino will weigh less and be more compact in size.
Sergio Marchionne, Fiat Chrysler boss, confirmed the Dino last month in an interview with UK newspaper the Telegraph: “It’s a when not an if. We know that it [Dino] is an underused resource, but that’s why we need to get it right.”
[Source: Car]
This is an undisguised Ferrari F12 Speciale. It was spotted in Maranello and gives us an early glimpse of what to expect from the lightweight front-engined V12 supercar.
From this photo you can see the ducts on the rear wheel arch which presumably aid air flow towards the car’s heavily revised rear bodywork. It’s hard to see, but we’re guessing there’s a pretty impressive rear diffuser in place.
The F12 Speciale is expected to be 200kg lighter than the F12 berlinetta, while gaining an extra 22kW (30bhp) in peak power. The motoring world is expecting the F12 Speciale to be launched at the Geneva Motor Show next March.
[Pic: Cavallino Rampante]
The Ferrari F12 berlinetta is a beautiful thing. It’s stupidly fast, it drives like a dream and it’s stunning to look at. Thankfully, Ferrari reckons they can make it even better.
First, Ferrari plans to strip a massive 200kg from the F12 and then give it an extra 30bhp. That would give the mighty V12 a peak power output of 760bhp (566kW). The net result will be the F12 Speciale.
It’s expected the model will only be limited by the number of people willing and able to buy one. A launch date could be as soon as the Geneva Motor Show next March.
A heavily revised aero package may restrict the Speciale’s top speed compared with the berlinetta, but the Speciale will get there quicker.
Could this be the last normally aspirated Ferrari V12 ever made? Regardless this is going to be a very special car indeed. Start buying those lotto tickets people!
[Source: Autocar]
Ferrari has given us this single image of its new 488 Spider. Based on the 488 GTB, the new Spider will make its public debut at the Frankfurt Auto Show (17–27 September).
The 488 Spider uses the same 3.9 litre twin turbo V8 as the GTB, good for 492kW/760Nm. Just like the old 458 Spider, the new model features a retractable hard top roof. You’d better hold on to your toupée because this thing can match the 488 GTB on the way to 100km/h in three seconds flat. And it needs just 8.7 seconds to hit 200km/h, only 0.4s slower then the GTB.
Ferrari’s press release and a brief video can be seen below and you can also see more at the Ferrari website. For now, there’s no official image showing the 488 Spider with its roof up. You get a bit of a sneak peek with the unpainted bodywork in the videos on the website, but that’s all at this stage.
UPDATE: Huzzah, six new pics have been added below!
Ferrari assembled 40 owners of the immensely desirable F12 berlinetta and took them to the Nürburgring Nordschleife for a private track day. It was the largest gathering of F12s in Germany.
These photos and brief video can’t really begin tell you how much fun that would have been. They can’t put you in the moment.
They can’t replicate the experience of first nervously exiting the TF gates and shooting towards the famous Bilstein bridge at Antoniusbuche. It can’t make you feel your heart flutter as you decide when to lift the accelerator at Quiddlebacher Hohe so you can make it around Flugplatz. Or the thrill and sensory delight of firing down Füchsrohre.
But they’re the best we’ve got. And hopefully those words helped more than the rather modest video from Ferrari. They took 40 F12s to the Ring and that’s all they could come up with?!
Today is Daniel Ricciardo’s birthday. Happy birthday Dan, would you like to drive for Ferrari in 2016?
Ricciardo has spoken candidly about his future ahead of this weekend’s British Grand Prix, so, let’s see what the man himself has to say.
“I won’t go into too much detail, but first and foremost, not talking about contracts, but what I want is to win and I guess that is a lot of my frustration this year as we are not in a position to win,†Daniel said.
“Obviously with contracts it is not as easy as saying ‘I’ll go to Ferrari and that is that’, there are things in place and from my understanding of contracts it is not likely that I can get out.
“But at the same time I really feel that Red Bull can make a change for next year and can get back up the front. We have the people in the team and the ingredients to do it, it is just making that next step.
“On the Ferrari thing it is nice to be recognised by a team like that, I guess I’ll take it as a compliment and see what happens.
“I will probably never rule anything out completely, because I don’t have experience with contracts. I haven’t been in F1 all that long. I am sure things can change; anything can change.
“Dietrich (Mateschitz, Red Bull owner) said some things in the press as well, and you never know what is going to happen. As I said, it is unlikely but yeah …â€
The question about a move to Ferrari was posed to Daniel following ongoing speculation that Maurizio Arrivabene, Ferrari Team Principal, is ready to dump Kimi Raikkonen at the end of this season.
Sensing the apparent departure it’s been reported several drivers have approached Ferrari to offer their services. When Arrivabene was asked if a potential shortlist of drivers included Daniel Ricciardo he said no, but added: “Perhaps he does not have my number.”
Was that a subtle invitation to Daniel there? Either way we can’t imagine his bosses will be overly happy with Daniel’s willingness to talk about leaving Red Bull before his contract expires.
And no surprises for guessing that Sebastian Vettel is very happy with his current (under performing) teammate.
[Source: Fox Sports]
Straight from the race’s official YouTube channel here’s a collection of videos bringing you the highlights from yesterday’s 24 Hours of Le Mans won by the #19 Porsche 919 Hybrid.
The first clip, a 20 minute special, includes podium celebrations from all four classes as well. Everyone’s a winner!
When Ferrari threw its bash for the press launch of the 488 GTB they saw fit to throw the keys to more than just Chris Harris. So we’ve had a snoop around and found what a few of the usual suspects had to say…
Jethro Bovingdon, Evo: More impressive still is that the chassis not only copes with the power but actually allows you to exploit all of it whenever you so choose. Traction is staggering (the roads were dry for our test) and like the 458 Italia the GTB’s balance is so responsive and yet so calm that you feel free to really enjoy exploring its massive limits.
Steve Sutcliffe, Auto Express: Bottom line, the 488 might be turbocharged and mightn’t sound just as spine tingling as before, but in all other aspects it represents yet another giant leap forwards for Ferrari. It also make you wonder what on earth they are going to come up with next.
Matt Prior, Autocar: The 488 GTB is among the most docile-handling mid-engined cars I’ve driven. It has an astonishingly forgiving chassis, with hardly a hint of understeer early in a corner, and extremely fast but communicative steering, and when it breaks traction, which it does gladly, it adopts a hopelessly easily controlled attitude and then regains grip cleanly and communicatively.
After the break there’s video reviews from those three plus a clip from James May, remember him! Actually, the picture quality of May’s clip is comically bad. The Evo clip is a highlight, starting with a 458 Speciale and F40 for added context.
So, get ready to sit back and enjoy the 30 minutes of 488 waiting for you below.
Chris Harris has been let loose behind the wheel of the stunning new Ferrari 488 GTB and we’re all the better for it. Watch as Harris talks us though the finer points of the 488 and marvel at how good that turbocharged engine must be. We’re very jel.