Autoblog

When buying a used car, no matter what kind, a major crash is usually a big deterrent. In this case, however, it was its claim to fame. Try though you surely have to forget, you'll likely recall actor/comedian Eddie Griffin's lamentable crash of a Ferrari Enzo into a concrete barrier while promoting his then-new movie Redline. Most figured the exotic was a write off – or an accounted-for marketing expense, as some contend – but it has been given a new lease on life thanks to Matt Groner.

The Texas broker deals in wrecked luxury and sportscars, and usually sells them as is. With the Redline Enzo, however, Groner decided to put in the effort to restore the vehicle. Since the Enzo's chassis is composed of separate carbon fiber sections bolted to the center tub, Groner had simply to call up the factory and order the replacement parts. Well, not so simply, as it turns out, because the parts cost $300k and took months to arrive. But the restoration has been completed, and the car is up for sale for a $1.3 million sum that's sure to cause as much whiplash as Griffin's crash did in the first place.

Head on over to Jalopnik for more information, including photos (before and after), a first-hand account from the restorer and a video news segment detailing the saga. For our part, we'll be lobbying Hollywood to include "no exotics were harmed in the making of this film" disclaimers in the credits.

[Source: Jalopnik]

click above to view more images of the 1980 Ferrari Pinin show car

Ferrari won't be building a four-door model now – that's what the Maserati Quattroporte, developed under Ferrari's tutelage, is for. But there was a time when Enzo himself considered the prospect. What spurred his interest was what you see above: the Ferrari Pinin show car, unveiled by Pininfarina on its 50th anniversary at the 1980 Turin auto show.

In the end, the rumored discussions between Enzo Ferrari and Sergio Pininfarina didn't yield a small production run of four-door Pinins, and only this one prototype was ever built. It's been sitting in the private collection of noted Ferrari collector and racer Jacques Swaters, who is putting it up for sale at the upcoming second annual "Leggenda e Passione" event run by Canadian auctioneers RM Auctions. The Ferrari and Maserati auction is scheduled to take place on May 18 at the Fiorano race track in Maranello.

Only a one-off as unique as the Pinin could manage to relegate this pair to "also ran" status: not one, but two Ferrari 250 California Spyders will also be up for auction, each estimated to fetch in the neighborhood of $5 million (give or take a mil). S/N 0923GT, a red 1958 long-wheelbase version (like the one Ferris Bueller crashed), was once owned by Hollywood actor James Coburn, and s/n 2377GT is a black 1961 short-wheelbase model. Only 100 examples of the 250 California Spyder were made, making them one of the most sought-after Ferraris out there.

[Source: Argentina Auto Blog and RM Auctions via Italiaspeed]

Ferrari is looking to decrease its carbon footprint by 40% in time for stringent new European CO2 laws that come into effect in 2012, and even the Enzo replacement could receive a downsizing. We broke the news a couple months back about Ferrari looking into a twin-turbo V8 to replace the Enzo's 6.0L V12 powerplant, and Ferrari technical director Robert Fedeli told AutoWeek that the Italian automaker is developing both a V8 and a V12 to cover its exotic options.

The Italian automaker states that it is not interested in advancing the power wars, and that driving dynamics will take precedence over brute force. If our sources were right about the new force-fed V8 pumping 900 horses at the drivetrain, then we would be all for a four-cylinder diet for the top-end Ferrari. If Ferrari manages to keep the weight to 2,200 lbs. using technology hinted at with the FXX Mille Chile concept, then even the vaunted Veyron could have more competition than it can handle. Lets just hope featherlight weight and 900 HP comes with driving lessons, because otherwise we'll be doing a lot more Ferrari crash posts come 2012.

[Source: Auto Week via Winding Road]

Ferrari may only produce about 6,000 supercars per year, but the Italian automaker still wants to help control global warming by reducing its CO2 emissions by 40-percet. That's a substantial savings when one considers that Ferrari will need to reach their goal by sustaining and likely improving overall performance. General Manager Armedeo Felica told Reuters that Ferrari intends to reach this goal in 2012 by improving the efficiency of their engines and bringing down the weight of its already trim supercars. While the 40-percent reduction in fossil fuels won't come close to the proposed 120 grams/kilometer that the European Commission is looking to for 2012, it will at least put a dent in Ferrari's atrocious appetite for benzina.

While $3 per gallon gas likely doesn't have much of an impact on Ferrari owners, everybody needs to pitch in to clean up our act. It's nice to see that innovative and exciting companies like Ferrari are doing what it can to help, and a 24mpg F430 sounds good to us.

[Source: Reuters]

Hey, wait a minute – we thought you couldn't actually purchase the Ferrari FXX, let alone take one out to cavort on the streets of Switzerland. The way it was originally explained, people with 2.5 million dollars to dispose of could purchase the privelege to plant their hindquarters in the driver's seat for Maranello-sanctioned track events. You've got to have some serious juice to get an FXX to begin with, and then to get it legalized for use in Switzerland takes even more pull. When we say "crazy rich" we don't mean nutty with lots of money. "Crazy rich" in this instance means Scrooge McDuck style swimming in dubloons. Looking in the background of these pictures, you can see lesser vehicles fleeing for their lives. The FXX is keeping a particularly close eye on a tasty Fiat at one point. What's apparently going down in the photos is an FXX getting legally tagged for street driving after being gone over by inspectors in Zurich. The price of the inspection and tags was reportedly around $250,000, a mere ten percent of the initial cost. With an FXX as your personal car, you won't have to worry about blending in, and we must say it's refreshing to see a Ferrari in a color besides Rosso Corsa.

Thanks for the tip, catgirlshyla!

[Source: Final Gear, Photo: Iwan]

Just when we thought we could finally move on from the Enzo-gate affair, word comes from the AP that 27 year-old Trevor Michael Karney, AKA "Dietrich", has been sentenced to 30 days in prison in addition to three years of probation. The jail time is a result of Karney giving false information to the police after his best-bud Bo Stefan Eriksson crashed Enzo's namesake at over 160 MPH on PCH.

So with Eriksson serving three years and his accomplice serving 30 days, can we finally put this business behind us? We hope so. Moving on...

[Source: Associated Press]

Remember Dietrich? He was the mystery German man Stefan Eriksson first said was driving that Ferrari Enzo last year when it crashed. After Eriksson admitted to being the driver, Eriksson said he must have fabricated Dietrich due to the blackout he suffered after the crash.

Los Angeles County sheriff's officers never doubted the existence of Dietrich, however, and after a 17-month search, they say the mystery German is in custody. Except he's not German, and officials say he was a passenger, not the driver.

L.A. sheriff's office says Trevor Michael Karney is charged with drunk driving, resisting arrest, giving false information to a police officer and, could face federal immigration charges. By the way, the DUI is not connected to the Enzo crash, nor are the resisting arrest or false information charges. The immigration violation could be. Karney disappeared after the Enzo crash and, according to investigators, has been laying low in Ireland until recently sneaking back into the U.S. across the Mexican border.

Sources say Karney was videotaping Eriksson's 162 mph run down PCH before that telephone pole jumped into their lane. Trust us, we have all available manpower scouring YouTube for that video.

[Source: Los Angeles Times]

It's what we all aspire to as car guys; to be wealthy enough to indulge any flights of fancy and see our dreams rendered in metal and composite. James Glickenhaus' ultimate custom, the one of a kind Ferrari P 4/5 has earned the right to wear official Ferrari badging, and we don't know of anyone else who's used Pininfarina to carry out the design of their personal ride. In this clip, he expounds a bit on why he actually drives his singular Ferrari, and his reasoning resonates with us -- watch on after the jump to see some great shots of this road-borne flying machine in action.

Have you ever noticed that the vast majority of high-profile Ferrari crashes involve only one person? It's almost as if Enzo designed his Ferraris to be high performance Darwin machines. Well folks, we have yet another Ferrari mishap, this one taking place during some sort of Ferrari parade, and someone caught it on tape. Luckily, this wasn't a high-impact crash and it's likely that nobody was injured, but it sure looks like the driver had absolutely no idea what he or she was doing. The driver of the Italian supercar needed only to turn left and drive slowly down the street, but the slightest punch of the accelerator lead to oversteer and an expensive fender bender. Somewhere out there, Enzo is shaking his head and muttering "Stupido!". Now we know why there's an 18-month waiting list for a Ferrari and you can get a gun after sitting on your hands for 30 days. Hit the jump to check out the video.

How many are we down to? 391, 390? Of the 399 (plus one extra built for the pope to auction off for Tsunami victims, gotta love church auctions) Enzos built by Ferrari, a decent number has been written off as scrap metal. Various accidents have taken from us these special vehicles, and we have yet one more to add to the list. Frank Mountain, a "property tycoon" (FYI: I would quit blogging for that job title) in the UK lost his Enzo when a bus he alleges was taking a corner too fast crossed lanes and made contact. The Enzo then careened into a Volkswagen Golf, which was written off due to the extent of its damage. One doesn't write off an Enzo, though, and Mountain is suing the bus company for £300,000 to cover the cost of repairs, his loss of earnings when he missed work to deal with the accident, and the Ferrari's loss in value since it's now damaged goods. Perhaps after the repairs are done, presumably in Maranello, we'll be able to officially insert this Enzo back into the fold. Until then, the value of everyone else's Enzo just went up again.

Click the Read link to see more pics of the damage.

Thanks for the tip, Kiefer!

[Source: Daily Mail]