Ferrari Officially Reveals One-Off P540 Superfast Aperta for American Client

Ferrari is back into the business of coachbuilding as the Italian supercar maker unveiled the second one-off special after the P4/5 it built for American collector (and millionaire…) James Glickenhaus back in 2006. The new Ferrari P540 Superfast Ferries Aperta was created for Edward Walson, son of John Walson, the inventor of cable TV.

The wealthy American approached Ferrari in 2008 to produce a modern reinterpretation of the gold-coloured 1965 Ferrari 250GT NART Spyder featured in a 1968 Fellini short film called “Toby Dammit”.

“I had always dreamed of designing sports cars,” Walson explains, “and when I saw this film the decision came of its own accord: one day I would have ‘my’ Ferrari.” And well, he did.

In case you didn’t notice, the Ferrari P540 Superfast Aperta is based on the 599 GTB Fiorano. The car was designed by Pininfarina and built in Maranello, with Ferrari claiming that Walson was directly involved in each stage of its development.

According to the Italians, while considerable effort went into strengthening the chassis after the roof was chopped off, the increase in weight was kept down to just 20 kg or 44 pounds by employing carbon-fibre extensively.

Ferrari said that from the initial sketches to the final, road-legal car, it took just 14 months to complete the project.

Those of you with a strong memory may remember that we first showed you the P540 Superfast Aperta earlier this year, though then, we didn’t know any details about the one-off Prancing Horse model.

Technical specifications

Length 4731 mm

Width 1954 mm

Height 1300 mm

Wheelbase 2750 mm

Front track 1690 mm

Rear track 1620 mm

Engine

65° V12

Displacement 5999 cc

Maximum power 456 kW (620 CV) at 7600 rpm

Maximum torque 608 Nm (62 kgm) at 5600 rpm

Transmission

F1 6-speed gearbox

Tyres

Front 245/35 20″

Rear 305/35 20″

Fuel consumption

Combined cycle 17.9 l/100 km

CO2 emissions

Combined cycle 415 g/km

VIDEO: Chasing a Ferrari 458 Italia in The Netherlands

We don’t know the driver’s affiliation is with the dealer that brought this spanking new Ferrari 548 Italia to the Netherlands – maybe he’s a client, perhaps he’s a salesperson or even the owner – but case is that Youtube member ‘Jorie 2′ spotted the Italian supercar at Kroymans (Ferrari/Aston Martin/Maserati) in Hilversum and decided to follow and film the Prancing Horse model on the road. Not sure how the Ferrari driver felt about that, but you can check out the video after the jump.

Via: Worldcarfans

Simbol Design’s Lavazza GTX-R looks like a high-speed Enzo-Zonda mashup

Simbol Design’s Lavazza GTX-R slaps a Lego-ized version of the Ferrari Enzo’s snout on an otherwise Pagani Zonda-like body made of carbon-Kevlar built atop a tubular steel frame. And since German powerplants have emerged as the new crate engine of choice for niche manufacturers from Spyker and Wiesmann to Gumpertand Pagani, the Lavazza packs a BMW-sourced 5.4-liter V12, picking up Lamborghini’s tractor-origins mantle with an electro-pneumatic transmission reportedly sourced from a bus. Sources differ on the engine’s output – alternately claiming 489 horsepower or 620 – but either way, 0-60 mph times quoted around the four-and-a-half second sound conservative.

Both coupe and roadster bodystyles are apparently in the works, though there’s no word on availability or pricing just yet. Either way, check out the high-resolution images in the gallery below and a video of this supercar mashup after the jump.

Art Center Car Classic celebrates Freedom of Motion

Pasadena, CA can get particularly hot during the summer, so we thought it was an excellent idea when the Art Center College of Design moved its annual car show from July to the middle of October. While the event, which happened last weekend, did escape the heat, it still couldn’t catch a break from Mother Nature. The inaugural autumn edition of the show was hampered by rain throughout the day.

Still, the Art Center managed to put on an excellent event to celebrate this year’s theme, “Freedom of Motion.” The best part of the show has always been the eclectic selection of cars on display, and this year was no disappointment. Everything from the 2010 X-Prize winning Peraves X-Tracer to the new 2011 McLaren MP4-12C could be seen on the grass. The Mullin Museum was gracious enough to bring out the famous1937 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic, and the Petersen brought out a few of its cars as well. You can see all of our photos from the event in the high-res gallery below.

1985 288 GTO lays claim to World’s Fastest Ferrari with 275.4 mph run

We’ve seen a lot of special action from the Bonneville Salt Flats this year, but this just about takes the cake. The guys from P4 by Norwood, a Ferrari tuning shop, are laying claim to the title of the World’s Fastest Ferrari with a record run of 275.4 mph averaged over two sprints. Using a stock-bodied 1985 288 GTO, owner Steve Trafton managed to snag not only the title of world’s fastest Ferrari, but the world’s fastest sports car (AA/BFMS) at the same time. The Prancing Horse beat out the previous record holder by just over 3 mph.

Interestingly enough, Thrafton skipped using a high-dollar Italian mill for this car’s beating heart. Instead, there’s a 540 cubic-inch big block General Motors V8 wedged down into that slinky body. Two Borg Warner 80-mm turbos help shove a full 17 pounds of boost into the eight-pot. Thrafton isn’t saying exactly how much power the car is laying down, but it has to be enough to move a planet on command if need be. Hit the jumpto watch the Ferrari do what it does best on the Utah salt.

Romeo Ferraris leaves Italy, comes back with a 667-hp carbon fiber Corvette

Think of the words Romeo and Ferraris and you’re bound to think of Italian cars, right? Maybe so, but the two together form the name of an Italian tuning house. And while many of their subjects have been Italian themselves, Romeo Ferraris has been scoping out foreign territory as well.

The latest is the Corvette Z06. And why shouldn’t it be? The ‘Vette has a long history of customization at Italian hands. But those have mostly been cosmetic coachbuilding jobs. This is another story altogether.

RF has taken the Z06 and fitted a supercharger to the 7.0-liter LS7 V8. The result? 667 horsepower and 607 lb-ft of twist. The centrifugal compressor, aluminum intercooler, high-flow injectors and custom exhaust help it get to 62 mph in 3.3 seconds and up to 211 mph – assuming you can get all that power down – while 380mm/6-pot brakes up front and 345/4-pot brakes out back help it come back to a stop.

Ferrari World opening date set, ticket prices revealed

The Tifosi are trembling. Ferrari World has announced the opening date, as well as ticket prices, for its Abu Dhabi-based theme park. Get your plane tickets and pack your bags, because gates open October 27th, 2010 at 7PM. Standard tickets cost 225 United Arab Emirate Dirhams (about $61 USD) for visitors over five feet tall, and 165 AED (about $45 USD) for shorter folks. Premium tickets, which provide access to an exclusive lounge with refreshments as well as other as-yet unannounced benefits, cost 375 AED (about $102 USD) for the five foot and up crowd or 270 AED ($74 USD) for more diminutive Ferrari aficionados.

Both ticket levels provide unlimited access to all rides and attractions. Note that the October opening is considered a soft launch, and only exterior features will be available to visitors. A full-blown grand opening will follow this December, when the full park will open up to the public.

Ferrari reportedly investigating 458 Italia fire risk [w/video]

That Ferrari 458 Italia… it’s so hot right now. Nobody but the sickest of pyromaniacs wants to see Ferrari’sexquisite new 458 Italia go down in flames (if that’s you, you’ll want to click on past the break…). Sadly, though, the case of Ferraris on flambé is spreading like.. ahem, wildfire. So problematic is the issue that the Italian automaker itself is now investigating the cause of the conflagrations.

According to various reports, there have been at least three separate instances where Ferrari 458 Italias have burst into flames without being involved in an accident. At this time, Ferrari is assuming that these three cases are unrelated, and it’s not willing at this time to rule out driver error.

Interestingly enough, though, at least one of these flame-broiled Ferraris caught ablaze in transport to London in a Heathrow warehouse, meaning it was not being driven at the time of the fire. Here’s hoping that Ferrari’s investigation doesn’t turn up any major design flaws. In the meantime, perhaps 458 owners should keep an extinguisher handy… just in case.

Ferrari F40 birthday bash at Concorso

Concorso Italiano threw a party for the legendary Ferrari F40, and the turnout was, well, almost as good as the car itself. Thousands of show attendees were treated to more than a dozen examples of Enzo Ferrari’s final project.

As you probably know, the F40 was named to celebrate Ferrari’s 40th anniversary, and the celebration at Concorso honored the 20th anniversary of the car’s 1990 arrival here in the States. (Let’s not quibble over the fact that Ferrari the company was actually born in 1947, meaning the F40 should have actually arrived in 1987. The show car was first unveiled in 1987 and that’s good enough for us.)

The late arrival of what some still view as the ultimate supercar did nothing to dampen the spirits of the men and boys who fell in love with it at first sight and still carry a torch for it today. The F40 celebration was one great reason to go to Concorso Italiano this year. If you didn’t have the opportunity to attend in person, hit the gallery below to see how the lineup of F40s looked at one of Monterey week’s biggest exhibitions.

How a 60-hour restorative detail brought this Ferrari F40 back to life

Detailing an uber-rare exotic like a Ferrari F40 isn’t exactly like slathering your Corolla with Dawn dish detergent in your driveway. Restoring the paint on a Prancing Horse of that caliber requires equal parts chemistry, experience and patience. Need proof? Look no further than detailing guru Todd Cooperider’s 60-hour job on a 3,500-mile F40. The 43-year-old Cooperider has been obsessed with bringing out the best in paint since he was a kid, but turned to professional detailing just three years ago. Since then, he’s become the go-to-guy for owners of exotic metal of various vintage, make, model and flavor. He even had the honor of being named one of AutoWeek’s top 9 detailers in the U.S last year.

For most of us, getting anywhere near one of the world’s most legendary supercars with a power tool is a recipe for the kind of disaster that’s funny later but expensive now. But Cooperider’s extensive experience allowed him to tackle the big-bad Ferrari with all of the weapons in his arsenal without fret. Even with so few miles, the paint had suffered the effects of 20 years of occasional enjoyment, and as such, multiple scratches and blemishes were present all over the car. Cooperider worked out which polishing compound, pad and sealant to use with this particular car and set to work.

Angry Car Designer dreams up a Ferrari 612 GTO

Just about every time Ferrari comes up with a new variant of one of its supercars – be it the Scuderia, Spider, Challenge, XX or what-have-you – someone takes it upon themselves to imagine what another Prancing Horse from the stable would look like with the same treatment. Some come out looking better than others, but push comes to shove, there is no 458XX, no 599 Challenge and no California Scuderia. Once in a while, though, someone comes up with something truly intriguing.

In this case, that someone is Sasha Selipanov of Berlin, Germany, also known as the Angry Car Designer. Sasha’s idea? The Ferrari 612 GTO. Only the thing is, these renderings don’t depict what the Scaglietti would look like given the same treatment as the 599 GTO. No, this is something altogether more intriguing. More like a mix between the Aston Martin One-77 and the Ferrari 458 Italia, with a few elements from the original 250 GTO thrown in there for good measure. (Ferrari, Pininfarina? Are you paying attention for the 599′supcoming replacement?)

It’s a design study, so there’s little more left to discuss other than viewing the renderings for yourself, so check ‘em out in the large gallery below. And if you like this, check out the source site, where Sasha’s got some other intriguing designs on file. Most of them Ferraris, natch.

Pics Aplenty: Ferrari 599 GTO

The 599 GTO being the fastest road-going Ferrari ever to roll out of Maranello, you don’t stand much chance of seeing one sitting still. Of course, the limited run of 599 examples doesn’t help. But as if an excuse were needed, that does give us a reason to bring you the latest batch of high-resolution images showing the Prancing Goat in all its glory.

You can check ‘em all out in the gallery below. That is, assuming you haven’t seen enough from theseemingly endless stream of videos that have circulated since the supercar’s debut. Yeah, we didn’t think so.

Ferrari Challenge at MMP: The sights and sounds of the Ferrari 599XX

Without a doubt, the highlight of our trip to Miller Motorsports Park for the Ferrari Challenge this past weekend was seeing the brand new 599XX on track. This is only the second and last time the cars will be in North America for 2010, so it was a special treat to see the cars driven in anger. We gushed earlier about how beautiful the cars look in person, but there’s nothing like seeing a 599XX fly down the front straight then hearing the transaxle pull off successive downshifts before the car dives into turn one.

Audio and visuals aside, part of the intrigue of watching the 599XX is knowing how much incredible technology is in the car. For example, there are fans in the back of the car that pull air from the underside and out of ducts near the taillights to increase downforce. How much? The 599XX produces 1,389 pounds of downforce at 186 mph, and after looking through our photos we could actually see the rear spoiler at work, turbulent air swirling up behind the car. There are nine different traction control settings, the 6.0-liter V12 can rev to 9,000 rpm and the new sequential gearbox can bang off shifts in a mere 60 milliseconds.

Of course, we knew we could never get away with just showing you photos (which we have plenty of in the gallery below). So we brought out a video camera to capture some footage of the 599XX on track. Turn up the volume and follow the jump to enjoy the wail of a Ferrari V12.

Ferrari ‘forced’ to add hybrid, emissions concerns not ‘real’

By now, you’ve likely seen the various hybrid vehicles shown off by Ferrari, both for racing and for street-legal models in concept form. Purists might be more than a bit put off by the idea of a supposedly eco-friendly vehicle wearing the famed Prancing Horse badge, and it seems that Ferrari head Amadeo Felisa commiserates with them.

Speaking to Autocar at the recent Beijing Motor Show, Felisa had some rather interesting remarks on the future of his company, notably regarding the powerplants needed to meet future emissions and fuel mileage requirements. Says Felisa:

Our customers are looking for the essence of Ferrari – the emotion, the performance, the technology and so on. The way in which we fix emissions is not their problem but ours. If we are not able to fix it, only then will it become a problem for them.

That’s rational, we’d say. But here’s the point where Felisa’s comments seem sure to garner a few raised eyebrows amongst the environmental set:

[Hybrids will come in] 2015, if we are forced to by the [government] regulations. The issue of emissions for Ferrari is more a political one than real one. Lowering emissions of every Ferrari will not save the planet, but it will cost us a lot of money… In the next five to 10 years, hybrid technology will develop and maybe something else will come up. Maybe it’ll be hydrogen, but for our cars only hybrid is ready.

So, hydrogen isn’t ready for Ferrari (or vice versa) and the only reason the sportscar manufacturer is even looking at hybrids is because the various governments of the world are making them. Oh yeah, and nothing with more than two doors. At least that much we can all agree upon.

Casino valets give Ferrari F430 to wrong owner, let him drive away

As if we needed another reason to steer clear of valets everywhere, a report from The Herald Sunclaims that a casino in Australia has handed over an F430 to someone other than the owner. This week, professional poker player Van Marcus stopped into the Crown Casino with some friends for a little recreation. Adam Ramsey was there at the same time, though when it came time to leave, Ramsey approached the valet stand claiming that he had lost his ticket. The guy points to the drop-head Ferrari F430 in the parking lot and says it’s his. The valet crew asks the gentleman to fill out a form with his personal information, which he does, and hands him the keys to the Prancing Horse.

When Marcus discovers his car is missing, he’s none too happy, and calls the police. It took the law a mere six hours to lay its hands on the car after Ramsey stopped for fuel. Now, typically, we look down on car theft in the biggest way possible. After all, you just don’t mess with another person’s vehicle. But you’ve got to admire the cajones on good Mr. Ramsey. He’s currently pleading guilty to charges of vehicle theft.

Meanwhile, Marcus claims that the car doesn’t even feel like his anymore. There was no damage to the vehicle. Thanks to everyone for the tips!

Ferrari idling engine plants and laying off workers?

All is not well in Maranello. It would appear that the ripples of the global recession have finally reached mightyFerrari. According to Bloomberg, the Italian supercar manufacturer has decided to cool production and send a healthy handful of workers packing amidst the announcement that production targets have been nearly halved for 2011. The report points the blame directly at Maserati. Ferrari’s sister company has scaled back its orders for Ferrari-built engines, leaving both companies’ coffers light.

Ferrari is contemplating drastic moves in order to maintain its profitability, including nixing 120 office positions and 150 factory jobs. The company also wants to idle its production facility for a full week – effectively laying off nearly 600 workers in the process.

Needless to say, the announcement has led to unrest, and workers walked out in protest for four hours yesterday. But numbers are numbers, and Ferrari has said that it will cut production from 20,000 units this year to 11,100. For what it’s worth, last year, the company built 4,500 engines for Maserati – exactly half of what it built for 2008.

Wimmer RS Shows Off Spiced Up Ferrari F430 Spider at Essen

Joining the insane 827HP Porsche 911 GT2 Speed at Wimmer RS’s booth at the 2009 Essen Motor Show is the Ferrari F430 Scuderia, a subtly tuned version of the F430 Spider model. Performance modifications include a power pack that comprises of an upgraded ECU and a hand-built, sport exhaust system featuring remote controlled valves that allow the driver to choose between a nearly stock and racing note from the quad tail pipes.

The kit slightly boosts the 4.3-liter V8′s power from 490HP to 528HP with Wimmer RS announcing the Italian thoroughbred goes from zero to 100km/h (62mph) in a claimed 3.84 seconds, to 200km/h (124mph) in 11.03 seconds and to 300km/h (187mph) within 34.9 seconds.

The tuned F430 Spider is said to top out at 321 km/h or 200 mph.

The German firm’s sport package also includes a KW HLS suspension system that allows the front-end of the car to be lifted by 45mm at a push of a button to safely navigate obstacles such as parking ramps or speed bumps without damaging the vehicle.

The tuner finished the package with 19-inch lightweight alloy rims from BBS shod in 225/35 R19 Dunlop tires up front and 305/30 R19 tires at the rear.

Crackpot: Greek Asks $800,000+ for Unfinished Ferrari Enzo Replica…

Link: eBay , Via: TopSpeed

This year, we’ve seen people asking some crazy sums for their cars on eBay including $250,000 for a modded 1988 BMW 635CSi and almost a million dollars for a car that exists only on paper, the Plymouth Road Runner Concept, but this Enzo replica may very well be the king of all jokers. Dubbed the 2010 Ferrari Enzo prototype (don’t tell di Montezemolo), the hand built car was designed by Dimitris Papanagnou from Greece.

The Enzo replica is said to be equipped with an Audi-sourced 3.7-liter V8 engine that pushes out 300HP in Stage I, 500HP in Stage II and 900HP in Stage III. It also comes with an all-wheel drive system – and get this- ” it is fully created with materials as carbon fibre – aluminium – and iron titanoum alloyed tubes”, whatever that means.

The Italian “beauty” measures 4,800mm in length, 2,144 in width and 1,240mm in height while it rides on 19-inch alloy wheels on 255/35 ZR19 Pirelli tires up front and 335/25 ZR19 at the back.

The designers says that the car is about 97 per cent ready and that if you want to save a few bucks, you can ditch the handmade seats for some pesky… Recaro carbon fiber buckets.

And all this could have been yours (if Papanagnou hadn’t remove the ad from eBay today), from a mere $800,000 and upwards (that was the starting price).

Don’t get us wrong, we respect anyone who spent the time and money to build a car all by themselves, but tossing four crappy photos and a silly description on eBay for a replica priced at a minimum of $800,000 is like asking for a one way ticket to the loony-bin, or as Athenians might put it, the Dafni.

And just for the record, a quick search on eBay revealed that there’s a 2003 Ferrari Enzo -the original- with 9,000 miles on the odometer up for sale with a ‘Buy it Now’ price of $998,000 or best offer.