With news that Ferrari held a special gathering for extra-special owners at Pebble Beach to show off the Ferrari 599 roadster slowly leaking out, we tapped our top Ferrari source to find out if it’s true. It is.

Here’s what our anonymous tipster with intimate knowledge of the event told us:

• The concept was shown over the course of two days.
• Attendees had to turn their phones off and give them and cameras to security.
• The plan is to make 100 cars worldwide… maybe 40-50 for the U.S.… possibly less.
• Expect the car to show up Q2 2011 for the US.
• Price will be GTO price + premium
• Under the hood, expect the same engine as the GTO.
• Snap-on fabric top…but pretty easy to take on and off.

Attendees also received a letter — this one courtesy of our friends at Luxury4Play — thanking them for their attendance and interest in the next drop-top out of Maranello.

The letter, which appears to be on authentic-looking Ferrari North America stationary, thanks the user for attending the 599 Roadster presentation, and describes the information they collected from potential customers as “first feedback.” “I am sure our Ferrari engineers will deliver a unique, superlative and memorable supercar,” the letter reads. Assuming the letter is authentic and not a mean-spirited photoshop, it would seem Ferrari is still tinkering with the 599 Roadster—in which case, it’s not surprising we haven’t seen it yet. As for why we haven’t heard more about what those potential customers saw (or even whether there was a prototype there), it’s possible Ferrari made everyone sign a non-disclosure agreement(NDA). And if that’s so, well, we have to hope for the sake of our friendly leaker that posting this letter (you can see it below) doesn’t violate the NDA. But we bet it kinda does.

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Source: jalopnik.com and 0-60mag.com

Ferrari 458 Italia

 Ferrari is recalling its new 458 Italia model after several vehicles were reported to have burst into flames.

A Ferrari spokesperson told CNNMoney.com the luxury supercar is being recalled in order to make modifications to the wheelhouse assembly.

Ferrari is recalling all its 458 Italia vehicles after five fires were reported in California, Switzerland, China and France.

Deliveries of the car in the U.S. began this summer. It has a 4.5-liter 8-cylinder engine, 7-speed automatic transmission, 570 horsepower and has a base price around $230,000.

Ferrari said the company is asking owners of the cars produced before July 2010 to bring them in to have the glue replaced with mechanical fasteners.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released a statement saying Ferrari’s Italian headquarters had told its North American division about the recall. NHTSA warned that if the adhesive ignites it could “render the vehicle inoperable and possibly result in a crash.”

The NHTSA statement said 303 vehicles are being recalled, and owners could be eligible for reimbursement for if they spent money on repairs related to the problem before the recall was announced.

Ferrari North America will start notifying affected customers within two weeks, NHTSA said.

Last week, Britain’s Sky News site said drivers of the 458 Italia were “fearing they are jinxed after 10 of the vehicles crashed or caught fire within three months … It is not thought that the 458 design has a fault, just that the owners have been unusually unlucky.” 

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Source: money.cnn.com

Marco Mattiacci is the new CEO of Ferrari North America Inc.

The new CEO of Ferrari North America Inc. hopes to boost U.S. sales with the new lineup of models coming soon. Marco Mattiacci took over the position on January 1st, replacing Maurizio Parlato, who was fired after seven years of leading the North American operations.

Mattiacci was placed in charge in a middle of a sales slump in the U.S. Volume fell 14% in 2009 to 1,467. In a response to the situation, Ferrari has stopped the delivery of cars to dealers. Instead, the cars will be built only for customers who possess signed contracts. In addition to giving this report, dealers have pointed out also that the late arrival of the new California coupe that was scheduled for early 2009, was delayed and arrived only in midsummer. As a result, it was missed an opportunity to increase sales in the prime selling season.

The 458 Italia that was revealed at the Frankfurt Motor Show last September is already getting rave reviews from critics. Deliveries for this car have just started, replacing the older 430 version, which many dealers have referred to as their bread-and-butter seller.

Ferrari saw a drop of more than 7 percent in revenue last year to 1.78 billion euros. The employee strength was cut by 182 last year to 2,835. Mattiacci expects that the two new models should do well in the market. He expressed confidence in the brand’s heritage and product lineup. Having been the head of marketing under Parlato until 2006 when he became CEO of Ferrari Asia Pacific, he knows the American market well enough to turn things around.

What do you think of the new lineup of models from Ferrari?

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Source: nitrobahn.com

Buying a Ferrari is not cheap, but if you are dreaming of getting a hold of the new 458 Italia, you’d better know what you’re getting yourself into, and this is our first real indication. Thanks to a leaked document in Dutch has found its way on to a Ferrari fan forum ( http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=260024 ), the new V8 supercar will start in Europe at 162,900 euros, before any taxes are taken into account. At today’s exchange rates, that figures to about $240,000 in U.S. dollars, around halfway between the price of the outgoing F430 and the 430 Scuderia.

Of course, that’s not an official figure-Ferrari North America has yet to confirm pricing for the U.S. market-and the long list of options sufficiently demostrates that the $240k starting price is exactly that: a starting price. On to that you can add leather everything, special paint finishes, upgraded wheels and more-most if not all of which you can already check out in the online configurator on the Ferrari website.

Considering the 458′s newer, more promising racing-derived performance technologies, and its splendor-dare we say passionate-classic Pininfarina design, it’ll likely all be worth it in the minds of prospective buyers.

What do you think about the price of the Ferrari 458 Italia? Is it too expensive and out of your price range?

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Source: autoblog.com, topgear.com and wot.motortrend.com