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Ferrari

Ferrari has more in store for the Nürburgring

New Ferrari store opens at Nurburgring

Ferrari opened its first retail store in Germany last weekend. The store forms part of the new Nürburgring complex which aims to turn the track into a year-round entertainment and business centre.

The 240 square metre store was opened by Formula One drivers Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikonnen prior to the 2009 German Grand Prix.

Ferrari say the store will allow customers to “truly embrace the Ferrari experience”. I’d rather embrace the Fezza experience by screaming around my favourite mountain pass in an F430, but there you go.

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Ferrari News

On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair

Ferrari California

…warm smell of policemen, rising up through the air.

Media outlets in Western Australia are reporting the story of a brand new Ferrari California being impounded under anti-hoon laws. The car is one of just two in the country and is part of Ateco Automotive’s press fleet, in WA for media testing.

According to Perth Now the lure of opening up the California’s 338kW V8 was too much to resist for Financial Review motoring hack Rob Easdown. It is believed Mr Easdown was clocked speeding at 231km/h. According to reports the offence took place near Toodyay, in the Western Australian wheatbelt.

WA Police have impounded the $470,000 Calfornia for seven days. Oops!

[Source: Perth Now & WA Today | Thanks to Matt for the tip]

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Ferrari Motor Shows

Ferrari at the Goodwood Festival of Speed

Ferrari Scuderia Spider 16M at Goodwood FoS

Ferrari showcased three of its latest supercars in the Sunday Times Supercar Runs at the Goodwood Festival of Speed—the Ferrari California, the 599 GTB Fiorano with HGTE package, and the limited edition Scuderia Spider 16M. Under gorgeous blue skies throughout the weekend, Ferrari fans were thrilled by the distinctive growl and bark of the V8 and V12 engines scorching up the famous Goodwood hillclimb course.

In a remarkable demonstration of driving finesse and incredible agility, the Scuderia Spider 16M completed the 1.16 mile hillclimb in an incredible time of 59 seconds. After the jump you can watch a video of this astonishing drive (so astonishing in fact that a missed gear change has been captured as well!).

In addition to the vision of the 16M tearing it up the hillclimb are two videos of the California and one of the 599 GTB doing likewise. All can be enjoyed after the jump.

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Ferrari Oh the humanity

Oh, the humanity – part 2




Earlier this month we brought you the demise of a McLaren F1. As if one supercar going up in flames wasn’t bad enough, here is some smoking footage of a Ferrari Enzo in Canada that is sure you bring a tear to your eye.

[Source: Jalopnik]

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Ferrari

Californication

Ferrari California

More than a year after making its internet debut the Ferrari California has landed on Australian shores. A bit of a shame, then, that there’s only easy access to left hand drive images.

When images of the California were first revealed I called the car ‘beautiful’. On reflection I think went a bit early. Some aspects of the car are quite striking, the bold bonnet with the old skool squared off scoop is one example. The simple side profile another. But the swooping rear lines over the door are fussy and too complex. Likewise the whole rear end, which is disappointingly incoherent.

None of this will bother the Australian customers who will be taking delivery of their new wheels later this month, of course. For their $472,000 the new owners will be getting their hands on Ferrari’s first mid-front mounted engine road car. That sounds a bit complicated, but the explanation goes the engine is front mounted, but behind the front axle—hence, mid-front mounted.

The engine in question is an all aluminium 4.3 litre V8 sending 338kW and 485Nm through a 7-speed dual clutch transmission. Ferrari reckon the California can sprint to 100km/h in under four seconds and reach a rather rapid 310km/h.

The other unique feature for a Ferrari is its retractable hard top. More aluminium has been employed to save weight and you’ll need to allow 14 seconds to tuck the roof away out of sight.

As with other modern Ferraris these days there is a whole world of electronic trickery under the skin and rather than try and fit all the highlights here you can read the official press release, along with a few extra images after the jump.

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Carmageddon Ferrari

The most expensive car in the world

Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa

This stunning 1957 Ferarri 250 Testa Rossa can lay claim to being the world’s most expensive car after an anonymous bidder paid a world record auction price of €9 million (AU$16.2M). The winning bidder, bidding by telephone, boldly told the world ‘You know where you can stick your Global Financial Crisis’ as he, or maybe she, outbid three others. The auction was run by RM Auctions and took place at Maranello last weekend.

This sale beats the previous world record for a car sold at auction by €2 million. That car, a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California, was bought by UK radio personality Chris Evans. Shame he’s such a wanker.

Anyway, back to the beautiful 250 Testa Rossa, there were just 22 of these curvaceous machines made and the one on offer had been raced extensively through the Americas.

Highlighting that there is still plenty of folks ready to flash some cash was a rare Ferrari 330 P4. The car was passed in at €7.25 million, in excess of the previous world record. That’s just being greedy, don’t you think.

Extra pics and a full press statement, including background on the 250 Testa Rossa can be read after the jump.

Update 19 May: A tiny teaser about the experience of driving this car has been posted on Jalopnik.

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Ferrari Formula 1

Ferrari joins Toyota in F1 quit threat

Ferrari is threatening to make its withdrawal from Formula 1 permanent. So far in season 2009 the prancing horse has been trialling a quasi departure from F1 by running its cars towards the back of the field. Happy with this lack of progress and wildly unhappy at the planned budget cap due for introduction in 2010 the lads at Maranello look set to join Toyota by taking their bat and ball and going home.

Makes a change from a few weeks ago when Ferrari were talking of giving up on this season and starting plans for their 2010 car.

Of course, the nature of F1 dictates there is still an ocean of water to pass under this bridge before any of these announcements become set in stone. Still, makes for the most exciting F1 season in years, with both the on and off track action reaching similar peaks.

Oh, if you want to take Ferrari’s threat seriously you can read their full statement HERE.

[Source: guardian.co.uk & Telegraph.co.uk]

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Ferrari

Ferrari.com website launches

Ferrari.com

The Prancing Horse has a new website (or it will when the northern hemisphere ticks over to 29 March). In typical Ferrari fashion, the launch of Ferrari.com ties in with the opening race of the Formula One season here in Australia.

The new website has all the bells and whistles and from the stills provided looks like offering hours of entertainment to the world’s tifosi.

Check out the press statement and more images below.

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Ferrari Formula 1

Felipe Massa debuts Ferrari 2009 F1 car

Felipe Massa debuts Ferrari F60 Formula One car

Most F1 fans will be up on the news that Ferrari launched their new 2009 F1 car, the F60, a few days ago. Video footage has recently surfaced showing Felipe Massa driving the F60 around Mugello. TheYouTube clip, along with a few photos, are shown below.

The cars looks will quite different in season 2009, with the return of slick tyres and radical changes to the aerodynamic regulations. Just check how narrow the rear wing looks on the F60 for an example. And, with the introduction of the KERS regenerative braking system all F1 teams are working their backsides off to make it to the starting grid for the Australian Grand Prix in late March.

Massa undertook a relatively light practice session of around 100km, and explained the steep learning curve ahead, “The car is completely different to what we were used to up to last year.

“Today was not the day to do 100 laps and post times because when the rules change so greatly from one year to another, like KERS, for example, you have a completely different feeling for driving the car. In the end, we used it a little to start with and gradually increased the power and this is very positive.

“At the moment, we are at the start of a different cycle in Formula One and it won’t be an easy experience,” he said.

Don’t forget the video footage can be viewed after the jump.

Source: FerrariWorld and GrandPrix.com.au

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Ferrari News

Cristiano Ronaldo’s fortunes take a dive

Cristiano Ronaldo is a prat

Cristiano Ronaldo. He earns eleventy squillion dollars a minute, has a stable of auto exotica that would make any captain of industry blush and has the world’s best footballers at his mercy. But plenty of people say he is a prat, and worse, they say he is a filthy diving cheat. If you happen to think that is the case, then you’re probably indulging in a touch of schadenfreude and relishing this chance to get one up on a guy who seems to think he can do no wrong. For he has done wrong, very wrong, by writing off his new Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano in a Manchester tunnel. (What is it about these cars?)

Of course, like any good footballer it wasn’t his fault and he is protesting his innocence to the ref by claiming there was oil on the road that caused him to lose control.

Ronaldo was on his way to a training session for Manchester United when the crash took place. He was uninjured in the incident and given a lift to United’s training ground by teammate Edwin Van der Sar who was following Ronaldo as he put the Ferrari into the wall. Apparently Ronaldo was all smiles as he drove home in his Bentley Continental GTC.

I think those people could be right (looks like they read guardian.co.uk).

Source: Telegraph.co.uk

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Ferrari Formula 1 Renault

Alonso could have finished Kimi’s Ferrari career

Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa - teammates in waiting?

According to a report from Diario AS, a Spanish newspaper, Fernando Alonso was offered Kimi Raikonnen’s seat at Ferrari for the 2009 Formula One season. However, Alonso’s loyalty to Renault saw him turn down the opportunity to drive alongside Felipe Massa, the report claims.

The Spanish newspaper says Ferrari’s interest came too late and Alonso did not want to leave Renault without a lead driver just three months from the start of a new season. It is believed Alonso wanted an offer from Ferrari by mid-November last year. Rumours have suggested for some time that a contract already exists for Alonso to join Ferrari for the 2010 season, after his Renault contract has expired.

The article goes on to claim that Ferrari are worried Renault will finish above them in 2009 and Ferrari’s tifosi will start asking why Alonso wasn’t secured sooner.

Source AS.com via autoblog (Picture via FernandoAlonso.com)

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Ferrari

Ferrari celebrates with sweet 16M

Ferrari Scuderia F430 16M

Lewis Hamilton may have snatched the Formula 1 World Drivers Championship, but Ferrari took home the constructors’ gong. To celebrate their F1 World Constructor’s Championship, Ferrari’s sixteenth overall, they have released the Scuderia Spider F430 16M. The 16M was revealed at the World Finals in Mugello and will be limited to 499 examples, all marked with special badging and build plates.

Showing that the 16M has as much horse as it does prancing, the limited edition Spider is the fastest open top ever around Ferrari’s Fiorano test track.

The 16M tips the scales 80kg lighter than the regular F430 Spider and the lazy 510hp (380kW) V8 propels the car to a top speed of 315km/h while taking a mere 3.7 seconds to go past 100km/h.

More words and images below…