Enjoy!

The doors will include part of the front wing and will hinge upward, a solution that will allow the driver to place his foot directly behind the front wheel. This is an easy and cost-effective solution, according to Ferrari, preferable to the “traditional” gullwing doors.

Check out the patent drawings for yourself:

 

[via Autocar]

The concept, similar to that of the 430 Scuderia, is to make a lighter, more aerodynamic and more powerful 599.

It appears that it could be named the 599 GTO, in honor of the 1960s 250 GTO.

Our friends at MotorAuthority.com say:

The 599’s venerable 6.0-liter V-12 is expected to be pumped up to between 680 and 700 horsepower, and this is to be accompanied by an extensive weight-saving program shedding up to 150 pounds from the car’s kerb weight.

Pictured below, is the “Laboratorio Tecnologico 599xx”, an even more extreme experimental car based on the 599, which is unfortunately less likely to ever see the light.

[via MotorAuthority]

2010-ferrari-gtb-599xx-live-shots-001_100203451_l

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In Maranello at the “Ferrari Leggenda e Passione”, a very rare 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa was put up for auction.

And it sold for a staggering $12.1 million

This is officially the most anyone has EVER spent on a car.

The previous record was another Ferrari, specifically a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California, that had been bought by british DJ Chris Evans for $10million. The car had previously been owned by actor James Coburn for nearly 25 years!

And that is exactly what happened in the following video: two drivers are cruising along the streets of Sofia, Bulgaria in their Ferrari Californias, when one of the two turns into a corner with an heavier-than-necessary foot (and quite possibly the wrong manettino setting) and ends up crashing his 250k$ convertible. There is also a video of the aftermath showing the full extent of the damage.

The all-new Ferrari 458 Italia has officially been unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
It features a 4.5-litre V8 with direct injection technology. It develops a mighty 425 kW at 9000 rpm (!!). Maximum torque is 540 Nm at 6000 rpm with over 80 percent of which is available from 3250 rpm – perfect for driveability.
The F430 replacement has the same 7-speed gearbox that’s mounted on the California, but with slightly tweaked gear-ratios, in order to deliver the full power of the bestial V8.
Check out the videos of the unveiling and of none other than Michael Schumacher himself talking about the 458 after the break!

The final result of the Monaco GP was not the one expected by the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro at the end of the saturday’s qualifying session.

The two red pilots were ready to lead the group in the starting grid of the race, but while Felipe Massa confirmed his good condition during the whole weekend, the world champion Kimi Raikkonen made a mistake after another.

The finnish pilot was overcame by Lewis Hamilton at the start of the race, and had later more problems than Massa in the central part of the competition, characterized by alternating rain and by many accidents, finishing 9th, that means without points, because of an unbelievable mistake that lead him to hit the car of Sutil, youngster who was in that moment dreaming of an unexpected 4th place.

At the same time, Massa kept on fighting against Hamilton, who won this historical GP for his first time, and Kubica, who finished second, confirming the great beginning of the season for the BMW team.

The inexperienced driver’s mistakes made by Raikkonen led the english pilot to the first place in the Drivers’ Championship, with Kimi as second and Felipe third; Massa was the one who partly saved the day for Ferrari, gaining six points that let the team to keep 16 points over McLaren-Mercedes in the Constructors’ Championship, waiting for Montreàl GP in June.

Spanish week-end turned into a real triumph for Scuderia Ferrari: the Red cars dominated the Friday’s free practice sessions, Kimi Raikkonen gained the pole position in the qualifying session on Saturday, and the second consecutive one-two for the team on Sunday.

The finnish world champion started perfectly the race, keeping the first place gained with a marvellous lap the previous day. Felipe Massa overcame Alonso at the start, making him understand he was going to have a bad day: infact Alonso dropped out halfway through the race, lefting disappointed a big number of spanish fans, who had to see Ferrari winning as last year, when Massa came first at Montmelò.

Anyway, barring the perfect Ferrari’s race, the day was characterized by the presence of the safety car, caused by the terrible accident involving McLaren pilot Kovalainen after 22 laps: the finnish young driver had a terrifying crash because of a breaking at the front left wheel, that fortunately doesn’t seem to have bad consequences.

Going back to the Scuderia Ferrari’s success, it was to be expected that things would end up like this, but Alonso’s and Heidfeld’s problems helped the team to win back the classification leadership.

“We are very happy for this result” said Stefano Domenicali, Ferrari Director “it is the best we could gain here! We have very strong enemies this year, so we need to focus on the goal, and keep on working as we have done this weekend here. We are leading both rankings, so we have to continue in this way.”

Kimi Raikkonen said: “I had a good start, keeping the first position, and even if the safety car gave us some problems, the team made a perfect job, so everything was great, it was very difficult to do better than this. I’m also glad to know that Heikki (Kovalainen, edit) is feeling good, this is the most important thing!”

Lately, in part because of the first problems of the year for Fernando Alonso, there has been an increase in rumours about the real chance of the Spanish pilot to pass to Scuderia Ferrari in 2009, after only one year since his Renault comeback.

The statements of Dietrich Mateschitz, Red Bull’s owner, are just the last evidence that indicates this possibility for Ferrari’s future. He declared that his team didn’t even try to sign Alonso last year, after his breaking with Mclaren, because “his condition was difficult, being free just for one year”, suggesting that he should already have an agreement with another team, looking at Ferrari as the first suspect.

“In this so short period of time we had no chance to show him our abilities. I consider Alonso one of the best Formula 1 drivers, but we could not give him the car he was eager to drive, so that signing him for only one year would have been a wrong decision” said Mateschitz.

The possibility of the 26 years old driver’s move from Renault to Ferrari next year is thus gaining consistence, considering that Alonso himself confirmed just a week ago that he wants to drive for a winning team, and so Ferrari is an option he’s considering.

Passing from the future to the present, Michael Schumacher is ready to go back to test Ferrari F2008 next wednesday in Barcelona.

The German champion was invited by Scuderia Ferrari to Circuit de Catalunya, and so it will be the second time he will be testing with the team this year, after his first laps in F2008 on 25th of February.

A Ferrari F1 spokeperson said: “Michael Schumacher will be testing with our team on Wednesday. He will mainly focus on the development of slick tyres – the tyres that will be used in 2009. Felipe Massa will be testing on Monday and Tuesday while Kimi Raikkonen will be in the car on Thursay.”

Ferrari Dino is one of the most important car models created by the Ferrari company.

There have been rumours for some years now about a new Dino model, and even if CEO Luca Cordero di Montezemolo keeps on denying this possibility, the new Dino should show off its face before the end of this decade.

The following picture shows just an example of many possible projects considered by experts:

Many articles have been written about the new model, but to understand the significance of this car, we have to think back to its history in the past, and not only the 40 years since it was first produced.

Enzo Ferrari, founder of Ferrari and a great pilot himself with Alfa Romeo, continued driving until the birth of his first son, in 1932, Alfredo Ferrari, called Dino. He was an excellent mechanical engineer, supposed to be the main designer of the 1.5 L DOHC V6 engine for the Formula 2 races. We came to know later that he just helped and encouraged the engineer Vittorio Jano to plan and improve the V6 and V8 engines, that were later basic in the development of many road cars, as the ones who took his name, “Dino”.

Dino Ferrari could not continue his work on this engines because he was hit by muscular dystrophy, and died at the age of 24 in 1955, but he was fundamental for the development of this kind of engine.

The month of october 1965 can be considered, in the

abstract, as the date of birth of the first Dino, because

at the Paris Auto Show was presented the first prototype

of the “Dino Berlinetta Speciale“, with a red exterior and

a coachwork by Pininfarina. (pic to the right)

The following two years saw the multiplication of Dino prototypes, with different interiors and many different exterior colors, with a Dino 206 S showed at the 1966 Turin Car Show that was very similar to the final one.

Finally, in the 1968, we have the first known production of a official Dino, the Dino 206 GT, that appeared in the july of the same year in the factory sales brochure. The 206 GT had a 2.0 L V6 engine, that let it reach the maximum speed of 146 mph (235km/h). It was characterized by soft edges and curving lines typical of earlier Italian cars. The estimated production of this first model has been of 152 cars, of which 99 only in that first year.

The reason of this limited production was the official introduction of its successor, the Dino 246 GT, at the Geneva Auto Show in the month of march of 1969. It was a fixed-top GT coupe, but since february 1972 Ferrari started producing an open Spyder GTS. The engine was developed in a 2.4 L V6, and it was different from the previous one also because of 2 rows of 7 vent holes in the engine compartment lid, one more vent hole than the 206 GT. The Dino’s 2.4L V6 engine was then fundamental in many other Italian cars, as the Lancia Stratos or the Fiat Dino.

The Dino 246 GT was undoubtfully the most successfull of its family, considering the period, with a production of 3,761 cars in the 5 years it has been built by Ferrari.

Since 1973 until 1980 Ferrari produced the 308 GT4 (pic to the right), initially branded as Dino, which had to find the perfect mix between the sport car and the possibility of having a capacity of 4 people.

It was designed by Bertone, and not by Pininfarina, and the difference was obvious looking at the strange angular lines, entirely different from the classical and curvaceous forerunner, the Dino 246 GT.
This controversial styling made this model have less success than the previous, but anyway the Ferrari in 1975 started producing the 208 GT 4, with a depowered engine.

Both models were important because they represented the first production Ferraris to feature the mid-engined V8 engine, and were sold on the whole 3,761 cars.

Ferrari Dino made the history of the Italian brand, and it is still a legend, as showed by many books that have been written about it, and by the existence of a website dedicated only to this magical car: www.dinoregister.com