It is being reported that sales of the Ferrari F430 may be banned in the U.S. by late 2006 due to the supercar’s airbags being unable to protect a small number of female occupants and children who are buckled into the car’s passenger seat.
Ferrari has filed a petition with the NHTSA to be granted a waiver to continue selling the cars in the States until late 2008 when a “newly designed eight-cylinder model” will replace the F430. The lustrous Italian marque claims is has tried everything to get the car to comply with NHTSA standards but has failed.
Inside Line reports that the NHTSA suggested Ferrari accelerate F430 production before the September 1st deadline in order to stockpile cars until the replacement debuts in two years, but Ferrari’s workers are already toiling at full tilt trying to meet demand for the car.
What this means for Ferrari isn’t clear, as the F430 is a major portion of it’s U.S. sales. One would think, however, that a company capable of building the Enzo and some of the best F1 cars in the world could figure out how to fix an airbag.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mark @ Jan 16th 2006 9:55AM
???
If I owned a Ferrari, I think I'd take the airbags out, because if I crashed it I would WANT to die.
jason in boston @ Jan 16th 2006 11:14AM
hey, i sympathize, since it really is a one seater for most owners. but, what the heck...you claim to be the best engineering in the world, and you can't meet the safety requirements that a KIA engineer can work with? if you want to sell your cars as street legal, this is not a new set of laws now, make your car survivable in a 35 mph crash, okay? it's disappointing to read this from a ferrari fan perspective. i guess the lambo is the way to go!
John Bryans Fontaine @ Jan 16th 2006 12:09PM
Is this Karma payback for Ferrari deciding not to produce the new Dino? Or all those ( really dorky ) next-gen Ferrari designs??
Ken @ Jan 16th 2006 12:40PM
I agree with #1.
Speed Racer @ Jan 16th 2006 4:09PM
"One would think, however, that a company capable of building the Enzo and some of the best F1 cars in the world could figure out how to fix an airbag."Ha! Don't count on it.
Buzz @ Jan 17th 2006 7:30AM
"If I owned a Ferrari, I think I'd take the airbags out, because if I crashed it I would WANT to die."
I'm sure you meant this as a joke, but why would you say you would want to DIE over the crash of a damn car, even a Ferrari? I've owned exotics and they're JUST CARS. Now I could understand wanting to die if something happened to my WIFE (as I felt when my first one died years ago) but a car is a car...even when it costs six figures.
Mark @ Jan 17th 2006 11:09AM
Buzz, that's easy for you to say since you can apparently afford to buy not just one, but multiple exotics. For poor schmoes like me who can only dream of one day owning a Ferrari (or better yet an Aston Martin), you better believe that it would not be "just a car."
Yes, I was being facetious when I said I'd want to die if I crashed my Ferrari, but only slightly. For those of us who don't have enough money to view luxury items as essentially disposable, it would be pretty upsetting to lose something we'd put years upon years of effort and savings into, even though it's insured.
jason in boston @ Jan 17th 2006 11:59PM
buzz...that was the most heartfelt and sweetest thing i've read on any blog. sorry about your loss, fella. guess you know what really matters in life, and thanks for sharing...jason
marisa draeger @ Jan 26th 2006 1:00AM
If you're looking for safety, I suggest getting a Volvo- under what speeds were these tests even performed? However, i do agree with the notion that a Ferrari fatality should only occur under extreme speeds, otherwise-what's the point.
marisa draeger
Joe @ Feb 14th 2006 12:45PM
This is by far the best country in the world, yet we have all these laws in place that prohibit the sale of so many great cars. There should be a waiver you can sign acknowledging the risk and let you buy whatever you want. You can buy a motorcycle and accept the risk, so why not a car without airbags if you want?
No TVR, no great small cars, no European super-diesels???
This is a free country and I should be able to buy whatever I damn well please.
Kurt @ Feb 15th 2006 6:16PM
I agree with #1... Like come on your in a Ferrari..who cares. But then again if you had you kid or wife next to you, you would want to know that he/she has a chance at surviving if you crashed. But they should just let them sell it anyway, everytime some one dies they can blame it on the fact that they were speeding since that's what they would probally be doing anyway...