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May
9
2008
1:35 pm
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Tony

Ferrari GT Site

From the good folks at CarScoop (who are really living up to their name this time) comes word that rumored-for-awhile-now Ferrari GT will be debuted online, and right soon at that.

This link, “FerrariGTCountDown”, has just popped up live, and soon (they say) it will show what the new Ferrari GT will both look like and be named (both of which have been kept under heavy lock and key).

Of course, they won’t just put it out there all at once, oh no, they have to, being Italians, do it with a little more flair and showmanship. They will begin to reveal the new model little by little before its public debut at the Paris Auto Show this coming October.

First up will be the GT’s engine, followed by the first photographs of the sportscar itself and finally its name will also be revealed.

April
15
2008
12:28 pm
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Tony

Ferrari Nose 1
Ferrari Nose 2

Well, what have we here?

Ferrari have been rumored to be working on a radical new nose for their F1 car, and a few days ago, they let it out of the R & D dept. and onto the track at Spain.

To me, it seems pretty obvious what Ferrari is trying to accomplish with this new nose.

Essentially, if you have the duct in the nose situated just aft of the trailing edge of the front wing, it will perform two tasks:

1 - it will relieve air pressure from the top surface of the wing, where the trailing edge of the wing and the underside of the nose start to meet, and

2 - by passing air streaming off the wing itself out the vent, it will create a low pressure area just aft of the effective surface of the wing.

This low pressure area will act like a cliff at a waterfall, it will draw more and more into it, and exhaust it through the vent on the top of the nose.

The more lower pressure generated just aft of the front wing will help pull more air under the wing.

The more air that flows under the front wing, the more down force it will produce.

The nose vent, working in conjunction with the way air is drawn through, and expelled out the front brake fairings (the disc on the outside of each front wheel) as a whole serve to generate a low pressure area just aft of the trailing edge of the front wing.

Air flows from high pressure towards low, like water flowing down a hill.

What Ferrari have done is effectively increase the slope of that hill.

Very clever.

April
14
2008
12:10 pm
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Tony

1958 Ferrari 250 California Spyder

Normally, I’m not into car auctions; I think they are to cars what art auctions are to art: a cancer.

But this auction sure is interesting.

Every so often, there is a Ferrari only auction held at the factory in Maranello. titled Leggenda e Passione, the next one is coming up on May 18, 2008 and is being run by RM Auctions. The list of cars up for bid is, to say the least, very impressive. When cars like Enzos and Daytona Coupes come across as ho-hum, you can guess how impressive the stars on the list are.

Cars such as Fantuzzi bodied Dino Spiders, not just one, but TWO 250 California Spyders (a ‘58 & a ‘61), a 1999 Ferrari 333SP sports racer, a gorgeous 1971 Ferrari 512M Le Mans prototype, and one-two-three-FOUR F1 cars (a 1995 Ferrari 412 F1 car, a 1996 F1, a 1997 F310B and an F1 2000).

As usual, I need more capital and more garage space … Chris, let’s talk about raises.

A full list & contact info after the jump.

Continue Reading…

April
7
2008
5:00 pm
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Tony

DaytonasTrack2

It’s a good weekend to be Ferrari (and what weekend isn’t?). Not only did Massa & Raikkonen kick ass and take names at Bahrain this weekend, but it’s also the 40th anniversary for the great Ferrari Daytona .

Back in the late 60s, this car was it. Yes, yes, I know, Lamborghini’s Miura was a very capable car (and not to mention that it was mid-engined), and not a ride to be easily dismissed. Lamborghini was also a new comer, and Ferrari was THE top of heap (still are) and this was, in many ways, their last shot at a “traditional” grand tourer.

The engine, a multi-carbed V-12 natch, sat up front and drove the rear wheels, they way God and Enzo intended it (not necessarily in that order). The whole thing was clothed in the finest of Pinninfarina bodywork and could get down the road at a then record top speed of 175 miles per hour,

And so, to celebrate all this still way cool goodness, Ferrari had an anniversary party & get together at Mugello (no, I wasn’t invited).

There’s more cool photos & the press release after the jump.

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March
24
2008
1:38 pm
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Tony

Napoleon

OK, first there were rumors that Jean Todt, he of Ferrari team & upper company management, was going to get the boot (it’s really long and convoluted, but it has to do with the retiring of Schumacher, and a long running battle with Luca di Montezemolo). And then it turned out that those rumors are true.

And now things get even … man, I don’t even know what the word is … imperial I guess.

Because the folks at GrandPrix.com have just put it out there that Jean Todt might end up running The FIA, because Max Mosley thinks he’d make a dandy president of the organization.

Of course, not everyone agrees with Max. As GrandPrix.com put it “There is likely to be much opposition to Todt in FIA circles although the move may not be greeted with much enthusiasm in the F1 world.”

Which is a very understated way of saying: “The British teams will have full blown conniption fits”

Popcorn please!

Oh, and in case any of you uncultured Saracens are wondering what the picture is, it’s Napoléon Bonaparte in the coup d’état of 18 Brumaire by François Bouchot.

March
19
2008
5:15 pm
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Tony

Ferrari F2007 Nose on track view

Oh really?

This has been floating around for a couple of days, and I’ve got to say, at least it’s a step in the right direction.

Sure, the handling “physics” will be cartoony, and there will be no damage or fatigue models (to be spun with the same tired old excuses of “the manufacturers blah blah blah,” and “It goes against the beauty of the render engine blah blah blah”), but at least Polyphony has an actual F1 car in the game. I have no idea what the performance map will be drawn from, but I bet they’ll at least they get a half way decent engine note from the thing (yeah, I know, it’ll be one sample drawn from one RPM and then just pitched up or down based on throttle position; lazy, lazy, lazy).

Why hasn’t Forza done this?

Hell, why hasn’t Forza come up with some downloadable spectrum of real race cars?

Better yet, how come I haven’t gotten off my butt and gotten Forza yet?

Oh yeah, cause I don’t have a xBox (someone send me one, OK?).

More shiny shiny pictures after the jump.

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