Autoblog

Click above for high-res gallery of this record-breaking Ferrari

This past weekend a new record was set for the highest amount paid for a car at a vintage auction by a 1961 Ferrari California Spyder selling for $10,894,900 after auction fees. The sale was at RM Auction's second annual "Ferrari Leggenda e Passione" auction in Maranello, Italy, and the obviously wealthy buyer was popular British radio host Chris Evans.

While we aren't experts on the classic car market, we can't help but think this sale was the result of a "gotta have it" mentality by Evans with no regard for the actual value of the vehicle. The initial estimate from RM Auctions was nearly half the sale price, and the fact that the car was previously owned by actor James Coburn seems somewhat inconsequential. While there's no doubt that Evans snagged an incredibly beautiful vintage Ferrari, we think he could have got his hands on a California Spyder for much less.

[Source: RM Auctions]

Ferraris are best known for their looks, performance, and exclusivity, but lately, it seems one could add flammability to that list of attributes. The latest case of Ferrari flambé involves a beautiful black 599 GTB Fiorano, which self-ignited at a stop light while being driven by someone who wasn't even the car's owner. Martin Bullen, who works at supercar garage Romans International in Banstead, UK, was at the wheel when he heard a strange sound followed by a brilliant display of smoke and fire. The £250,000 exotic was a total loss, and the 28-year-veteran of the high-end garage had to inform his boss of the Ferrari's fate.

Luckily for Bullen, his employer is a forgiving and understanding man. Garage owner Paul Jaconelli said he wouldn't hold the destroyed 599 against his employee, and that the vehicle was still covered under warranty. That's good news for Bullen, but Ferrari owners the world over must be wondering if their expensive toys will be the next to join the ranks of the carbequed. This isn't exactly what they bargained for when they decided to get a hot car. Head to The Sun for more pics of the latest Fire-ari. Thanks for the tip, Chris!


[Source: The Sun]

No automaker knows how to hock its brand image like Ferrari, perhaps because no automaker has a brand quite worth selling like the Prancing Horse. That stallion has been plastered on the sides of laptops, cell phones, home gyms and even Segways. And wherever the Ferrari logo lands, you can also expect a commensurate rise in cost to follow. Take the Meridian F80, for instance. We told you about this Ferrari red home entertainment system over a year ago. It receives all kinds of radio waves, plays CDs and DVDs, and packs 80 watts of audible power into what we previously described as a "super-sized snow globe shape". Meridian and Ferrari have finally come together on an MSRP for the F80, which at $2,995 is probably the same price per pound as an actual F430.

[Source: Engadget]

Click the image above for more hi-res pics of the Ferrari Concept 2008

We realize that not everyone will agree with us on this one -- passions seem to run highest over the cars that the fewest number of people will drive -- but if the Ferrari California looked like this concept, we'd put down a deposit right now. Once someone else gave us the money to do so.

Sure, from the A-pillar forward is pure Maserati, and there's no way a front intake like that could or should make it onto a Ferrari. Still, it's a good looking front end, and we don't mind design elements going up as well as down. Besides, a couple of keystrokes can get a proper Ferrari nose in place.

But from the A-pillar to the rear... those are the kind of aggressive, subtle lines we like in our Ferraris. Which is not to say we don't like the California -- we just like this a little better... A coupe, please. That color.


[Source: Sefsdesign]

Click above for gallery of the Jerrari

In 1963, Henry Ford II wanted to win Le Mans badly and was all set to buy Ferrari to boost Ford's racing program. Enzo Ferrari pulled out of the deal at the last moment, angering Ford II so badly that he went on to fund development of the legendary GT40 that went on to take many motorsports victories.

A few years later, Mr. Ferrari pissed off yet another powerfully rich American businessman with the outcome being the automotive abomination you see before you. Bill Harrah of Harrah's Casino fame asked Ferrari to construct for him an Italian 4X4 wearing the prancing horse badge. While no one thought to archive the response from Ferrari, we imagine it involved the words 'hell' and 'no'. In Italian, of course.

Undeterred and with more money than taste, Harrah created the Jerrari. Its ass-end is a 1970 Jeep Wagoneer, the nose is from a 1969 Ferrari 365GT. On the day of its birth, this one-of-a-kind offroading Ferrari sported V12 power, but now all four wheels are turned by a 350 V8.

The eBay auction for this abomination includes numerous pieces of documentation, like a 1971 review of the car by "Road & Track." Another is a letter from a previous seller in 1984 that indicates there could be more than one of these hideous creations out there. Maybe that's what's been starting all these rumors.

Watch a walk-around video of the Jerrari after the jump, and check out an extensive gallery of photos below.


[Source: eBay, Left Coast Classics via CarScoop]

It's been photographed for months and referred to alternately as Dino and F149, but for now at least, the newest stallion from Maranello goes by the generic moniker, Ferrari GT. Today, the automaker launched www.ferrarigtcountdown.com where the car will be gradually revealed during the runup to the Paris Motor Show this September. Ferrari promises to feed us technical details, sound files and photos of the car between now and Paris. Right now you can see a few teaser images and hear the engine sing its sweet, sweet song as it starts up, runs up and down through the gears, and screams by at full tilt. The countdown timer on the site currently shows 10 days and 22 hours until something else is revealed. Looks like we can put those Dino-branded rumors to rest for good; whatever this car is officially named, it is most definitely a Ferrari. See you in ten days, when the next puzzle piece hits the web.

[Source: Ferrari]

Click above for a gallery of Ferrari's Project F149.

With the debut of the Ferrari 149 GT California (or something like that) just around the corner, new shots of the Ferrari mule have surfaced at Autogespot, revealing a few more details about the entry-level Fezza. Unlike some spy pics we've seen that obscure everything from the B-pillar back, these newest images show a steeply raked rear windscreen that terminates into an artificially elongated trunk, rumored to house a folding hard top. The front clip is sporting a large radiator intake and the hood stretches back in true Ferrari style. As reported before, Project F149 is rumored to be powered by a 4.7-liter V8 producing 480 to 500 hp. More details are expected soon. We're standing by.


[Source: Autogespot via Jalopnik]

Somewhere, a father in Melbourne weeps. There were 16 Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradales imported to Australia and New Zealand. There are now 15. A proud dad gave his son the keys to his so-rare-it's-almost-extinct Ferrari, and his son got a little too frisky with the audacious redhead. She didn't appreciate his advances, he lost control of the situation, and that little redhead introduced him to a pole... at a high rate of speed by the looks of it.

And as if that didn't beat all, the kid had to call home. While news crews watched. And filmed. Only to have newspapers and blogs spread the story around the world. No word on what his father said, but it probably rhymed with "Why I oughta @#%$*&%!"

Police say the driver was speeding, which means he must not have seen these commercials. But now, at least, he has a theme song, so sing along: "To you other kids all across the land, take it from me, parents just don't understand..." Thanks for the tip, Patrick!

[Source: Sydney Morning Herald]

Click for more images of the Pininfarina Sintesi

Pininfarina has confirmed the three new shareholders who will take stake in the company as part of its 100 million euro capital increase. As we reported previously, Piero Ferrari, son of the late Enzo Ferrari and vice-chairman of the eponymous Maranello sportscar firm, and Alberto Bombassei, chairman of the Brembo brakes company, will take shares, in addition to the Marsiaj family at the helm of Italian seatbelt manufacturer Sabelt.

The increased capital will finance the development and production of the upscale electric minicar Pininfarina will produce together with French industrial group Bollore and Indian automaker Tata. The car is expected to begin production in 2010 with 2000 units, ramping up to a full capacity of 15,000 units by 2012 with sales in the United States, Europe and Japan. Although the size of each new shareholder's stake has yet to be confirmed, the shares will come out of the Pininfarina family's 55% ownership.

[Source: Automotive News Europe - Sub. Req.]

Pininfarina and Ferrari have had an intertwined relationship for decades, and according to a report from Reuters, the families are set to intermarry. Piero Ferrari, Enzo's son, is expected to join three other "prominent figures of the Italian automotive industry" that will take a stake in Pininfarina. The news comes shortly after Tata announced plans to throw some money into the Italian design house, which includes a 100 million euro stake in the firm. Part of that cash infusion will help to create the new electric car Pininfarina is developing with Bollore, while simultaneously reducing the shares that the Pininfarina family currently holds.

[Source: Reuters, Photo by DAMIEN MEYER/AFP/Getty]