Ferrari has blocked production of a modern-day reinterpretation of an iconic 1970s rally car, the Lancia Stratos.

A one-off version of the new Stratos was designed last year by renowned Italian design firm Pininfarina for a wealthy German historic car collector and driving enthusiast, Michael Stoschek.

The concept was created using the basis of a Ferrari F430, including its 4.3-litre V8 engine, but a statement on the official New Stratos website says its plans to build a limited edition run of the wedge-shaped sports car have been halted by the Italian supercar company.

“Over 40 prospective buyers from Europe and abroad have notified us of their interest in acquiring the New Stratos,” says the site.

“Pininfarina, however, has advised us that they will only carry out construction of a limited run with the express permission of Ferrari.

“Despite Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo’s excellent assessment of the New Stratos after his test drive at Fiorano, Ferrari does not consent to construction of the planned limited run by either Pininfarina or any other Ferrari-dependent suppliers.

“Given this situation, creation of additional vehicles seems possible only via companies that are not dependent on Ferrari.”

Pininfarina has designed numerous Ferraris over the decades, including the F430 on which the New Stratos is based. The F430 has since been replaced by the 458 Italia.

The Lancia brand is owned by Ferrari’s parent company Fiat.

The original Stratos – short for stratosphere – was created to give Lancia a rally-winning machine in the 1970s. It also borrowed some components from a reluctant Ferrari – using the Dino’s 2.4-litre V6.

Only about 500 Stratos road cars are believed to have been built.

Ferrari hasn’t commented on the matter.

Why do you think that Ferrari blocked the production of the Lancia Stratos?

Join the discussion. Please leave a comment.

Check me out on Twitter: http://twitter.com/FerrariDreams and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/FerrariDreams.

Please Share this article with your friends on Facebook and tweet on Twitter by pressing the buttons below the pictures.

Thank you!

Source: stuff.co.nz

If you weren’t shopping for a Gucci wallet on Rodeo Drive last weekend, you’ll want to check out this well-done video from the big Father’s Day concours in Beverly Hills. From Fiat to Ferrari, some of the most magnificent cars on earth were parked together to create several blocks of automotive heaven. This year, the concours paid tribute to Italian design.

Martin Kasindorf, a retired reporter for USA TODAY, put together this 8-minute (long, we know, but worth it) video from a stroll down the famed stretch of asphalt. He found 100-year-old Fiats, Italian-designed Cadillacs and Chryslers from the 1950s and what appears to be the stunning black-and-yellow Bugatti owned by Rodeo Drive clothier Bijan Pakzad, who died in April.

Kasindorf interviews owners and even notes some of the more unusual personalized license plates gracing Ferraris. Our two favorites: VVA ENZO and 4RARI. Ciao!

What do you think about the video of the Father’s Day concours in Beverly Hills of Italian cars?
Join the discussion. Please leave a comment.
Check me out on Twitter: http://twitter.com/FerrariDreams and Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/FerrariDreams .
Please Share this article with your friends on Facebook and tweet on Twitter by pressing the buttons below.

Thank you!

Source: content.usatoday.com

Italian brand Ferrari will enter the Indian market by January 2011. “We’ll open in India in January 2011,” said Ferrari Chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo. He made the announcement about entering the Indian market at the recent ongoing Paris Auto Show. “Despite the crisis, we’ll close the year better than last year, close to record levels in terms of economic results,” Montezemolo said.

Asked about new markets, Montezemolo said the carmaker was currently present in 57 markets, adding the company was doing well in China.

Fiat Spa currently owns 85 percent of Ferrari and sells its own brand in India in association with Tata Motors.

What do you think about Ferrari opening in India in 2011?

Join the discussion. Please leave a comment.

Check me out on Twitter: http://twitter.com/FerrariDreams and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/FerrariDreams .

Source: cartradeindia.com

Ferrari 458 Italia

 The increasing appetite of Indian consumers which made the country’s automotive market explode over the past few years is ringing quite some bells in Europe, with more and more carmakers either expanding or setting up operations there.

Already present in the other Asian star market, the neighboring China. Italian manufacturer Ferrari is currently considering starting a dealership network in India. The company’s president Luca di Montezemolo said in an interview with BBC, cited by Business Standard, that the first Ferrari dealerships in the country will be opened in the next six to eight months.

Business Standard says the most likely locations for the dealerships will be New Delhi and Mumbai with the latter most likely to be the first one. In Mumbai, the dealership will most likely be located in South Mumbai. The Italians’ operation in the country would be managed through Tata Motors. The move would make sense both economically and on a more personal level, as Ratan Tata serves on the board of Fiat Auto. In fact Ratan Tata also drives the only known Ferrari California in existence in India.

Ferrari sold 68 vehicles in China for the January-April period, meaning it managed to double its sales in the country compared to 2009. Although a similar growth in India might be bit of a stretch, the carmaker can be hopeful it will leave its mark.

Ferrari’s entry into India comes at a time when other supercar manufacturers are making a beeline into India. Bugatti recently appointed its dealership together with distributor for India while Aston Martin too has appointed two dealers, both in Mumbai and New Delhi. A whole host of other supercar manufacturers too have shown interest in India so stay tuned to the latest information.

What do you think about Ferrari opening it’s first dealership in India in six to eight months?

Join the discussion. Please leave a comment.

Share the article on Twitter by retweeting it by pressing the button below.

Source: bsmotoring.com via autoevolution.com

Maserati Spyder

Ferrari SpA, the maker of the $228,000 California, is seeking to idle production and eliminate 9% of its workforce after sister brand Maserati reduced orders for engines.

Workers walked out for four hours today because Ferrari wants to cut 120 office positions and 150 factory jobs in exchange for the last payment of a 2009 bonus due last month, CGIL union official Giordano Fiorani said today in a telephone interview. The sports car maker employs about 3,000 people. 

Ferrari, Fiat SpA’s most profitable brand, plans to idle a factory in Maranello, Italy, by laying off about 600 workers for a week starting May 17, Fiorani said. Ferrari is scaling back because of fewer orders from Fiat’s Maserati brand, for which Ferrari makes engines, said Ferrari spokesman Stefano Lai, who confirmed the plans  to lower headcount and idle production.

“Even though Ferrari’s margins are very high, they wanted to do better,” said Massimo Vecchio, an automotive analyst at Mediobanca SpA in Milan. “The recovery is moving very slowly.”

Ferrari is slashing 2010 production targets to 11,000 vehicles from 20,000, CGIL union’s Fiorani said. Ferrari never planned to make 20,000 cars this year and will maintain production at about 6,000 vehicles, similar to last year’s output, Lai said.

The company intends to outsource some jobs to local companies and offer some employees early retirement, Lai said.

Ferrari made engines for about 4,500 Maseratis last year, down from almost 9,000 in 2008. Lai declined to say how many Maserati engines will be made this year.

In an emailed statement, Ferrari said that the company is focusing its resources on activities such as product development, technological innovation and reaching new customers and has decided to outsource “non-core” operations. This will allow the carmaker to maintain about 100 contract workers, Ferrari said.

“Ferrari has to respond to market demands that rise and fall in an ever less-predictable fashion,” it said.

Fiat Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne unveiled a new five-year plan for Ferrari and Maserati April 21, along with new targets for all the group brands, calling for the two luxury carmakers to almost double revenue to about 4 billion euros by 2014 by adding products and widening model ranges.

Ferrari’s first-quarter trading profit declined 28% to 39 million euros ($50 million), the company said April 21.  Sales of the new 458 Italia model, which is priced 197,000 euros, provided a limited contribution in the period, the company said. Trading profit for 2009 fell 30% to 238 million euros as sales dropped 7.4% to 1.8 billion euros. Ferrari sold 6,294 cars last year.

“Ferrari has proposed to pay the bonuses if we accept the job cuts,” Fiorani said. “We are ready to discuss layoffs and reorganization, as there is a real cut in production, but we don’t understand their rigidity.”

Turin, Italy-based Fiat rose 21 cents, or 2.3%, to 9.53 euros at the close of trading in Milan. The stock is down 7 % this year, valuing the carmaker at 11.2 billion euros.

What do you think about Ferrari cutting jobs and laying off workers from it’s Maranello, Italy factory?

Join the discussion. Please leave a comment.

Check me out on Twitter: http://twitter.com/FerrariDreams and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rick.resch

Source: businessweek.com

Ferrari Enzo

People are eager to see Ferrari’s replacement for its famous Enzo supercar, and more details about the car are beginning to emerge as it moves along from concept towards production. The latest information comes from Ferrari CEO Amedeo Felisa, who indicated that the car will in fact use a direct-injected, twin-injected turbocharged V-8.

Ferrari verified it is working on a ”special series Enzo” set to debut in 2012 at Fiat’s five-year business plan. Other details include the use of lots of carbon fiber and no hybrid powertrain. Amedeo Felisa also hinted that the car is going to use a direct-injected, twin-turbocharged V-8, the opposite of earlier reports of the possibility of a twin-turbo V-6 or twin-turbo V-12. Reports indicate the engine will produce around 700 horsepower and use the vehicle’s lower weight for mind-bending performance.

“There are no plans for a six-cylinder engine today. Ferrari will not build a six-cylinder engine until customer attitudes towards smaller engines change,” Felisa told Autocar. “The perception today is that the number of cylinders equates to the possibilities of the car. That is why we are developing hybrid technology that can be applied to our V-8 and V-10 cars. Hybrid means we can protect the V-12.”

The most interesting aspect of Felisa’s statement is the mention of V-10-powered cars–an engine not found in Ferrari’s current lineup, not even in racing. This demostrates Ferrari is planning a V-10 engine for use in a car in the near future. Given Ferrari’s current lineup and the unveiling of the 599 HY-KERS, the future V-10 engine, if used at all, is likely to power Ferrari’s next large grand tourer, the 612 Scaglietti replacement.

Additionally, Felisa confirmed that Ferrari will use carbon fiber to lower the weight of the Enzo successor. “We will only use carbon fiber on very special cars which have a very low rate of production and which are not for everyday use, such as the new Enzo,” he said.

Besides validating that Ferrari will continue to use copious amounts of carbon fiber in its supercars as it did on the Enzo and F50, this shows Ferrari won’t follow rival McLaren’s example of using carbon fiber in its “everyday” cars. McLaren uses a carbon fiber monocoque in its latest MP4-12C roadgoing car. Both BMW and Mercedes-Benz have committed to using carbon fiber extensively in the future as well.

“The fact is that nobody today has a real understanding of what happens if you damage a carbon fiber structure. After 20 or 30 years of use, who knows what state a carbon fiber structure will be in?” Felisa gave as his reason behind limiting the use of carbon fiber to Ferrari’s exotic supercars.

What do you think about the Ferrari Enzo replacement and what Amedeo Felisa has to say about it?

Join the discussion. Please leave a comment.

Check me out on Twitter: http://twitter.com/FerrariDreams and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rick.resch

Source: autocar.co.uk via rumors.automobilemag.com

2010 Ferrari 612 Scaglietti

Ferrari won’t be pressured into producing a four-door sports saloon, unlike its rivals Aston Martin and Porsche. “As Enzo Ferrari would say, we will never do four doors,” Amedeo Felisa, Ferrari’s vice general manager, recently told Autocar. “We will keep this tradition.”

Although his company has broken into some new (and unusual) territory with the likes of the 599 HY-KERS hybrid and is using fuel-saving stop-start technology on its cars-which it previously has said that it won’t ever do, Felisa points out the European Union regulates emissions and fuel economy–not the number of doors a vehicle must incorporate.

“We stand 60 years and never needed four doors,” he said. “Frankly speaking, no one is asking for a four-door Ferrari. If you want a four-door Ferrari, we have a Maserati.” He said that one of Ferrari’s strong points has been that its products are kept “in the right way.” He said further that while he can’t categorically state that four doors isn’t right for its image, it’s just not part of its heritage.

On that note, look for a few new four-doors in Maserati’s future. During Fiat’s five-year product plan rollout, it was revealed that a new Quattroporte is in the works, as is a smaller sedan, designed to compete with the BMW M5. No time frame was given for either model offering.

What do you think about if Ferrari built a four-door sedan?

Join the discussion. Please leave a comment.

Check me out on Twitter: http://twitter.com/FerrariDreams and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rick.resch

Source: rumors.automobilemag.com and 4wheelsnews.com

Fiat's old Chairman Luca di Montezemolo with his Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano

 After years of grooming, the current vice chairman, John Elkann is stepping up to take a high-profile role at Fiat SpA, the auto maker at the center of the Agnelli family’s sprawling industrial dynasty.

Mr. Elkann, the 34-year-old great-great-grandson of Giovanni Agnelli, who helped found Fiat in 1899, was appointed chairman of the auto maker when Fiat’s board met last Wednesday, Fiat Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne told a news conference in Turin Tuesday, the 20th of April. Mr. Elkann succeeded Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, who told the news conference he will remain on Fiat’s Board of Directors and keep his post as chairman of Fiat-owned Ferrari.

Montezemolo said that he has completed the task assigned him by the “core shareholder” in May 2004-but provided no other reason for stepping down.

Sergio Marchionne is expected to remain as Fiat’s CEO. Marchionne is also the post-acquisition CEO of Chrysler, leading him to work seven days a week most weeks, with frequent trips back and forth between Italy and the U.S. It’s not yet clear what, if any, impact the changeup at the top of Fiat’s structure will have on Chrysler or Fiat’s U.S. plans and operations.

Have you heard of John Elkann or Luca di Montezemolo before?

Join the discussion. Please leave a comment.

Check me out on Twitter: http://twitter.com/FerrariDreams.biz and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rick.resch

Source: online.wsj.com and motorauthority.com

In the middle of a grand restructuring, reports have been announced by Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne at a investor meeting in Turin, Italy last Wednesday. First up was perhaps the most exciting, dealing with product development plans for Fiat’s most prized asset: Ferrari.

According to reports, Maranello currently has a total of six new models or model variants in the pipeline for debut over the next couple of years. The first new variant up for release is the 458 Spider, the convertible version of the 458 Italia that replaces the outgoing F430 Spider. But if that’s not enough to whet your appetite, plans are also underway on project F151, the replacement for the lackluster 612 Scaglietti, a four-seat grand tourer that is destined to feature the first road-going implementation of the company’s KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) hybrid drivetrain.

In 2012 we’ll get to see the most anticipated Ferrari, the next supercar that will build on the Enzo’s fame . Produced between 2002 and 2004 in just 399 units, the Enzo was powered by a V12 engine. No further details have been released about the Enzo successor. The company announced that it will not build more than four standard production models, so that the range will look like today, with the 458, the 599, the 612 and the California. The “new special series Enzo” is considered a distinct model and it is not part of the standard range. In the same year we’re expecting to see a completely new model to replace the 599 GTB Fiorano, code-named F152.

Finally in 2013, Ferrari is anticipated to overhaul the California with a comprehensive update tentatively called the California M, suggesting the difference between the current version and the new one will be similar in scope to the change from the 456 GT to the 456 M and from the 550 Maranello to the 575 MM. Also set for introduction in 2013 will be a hardcore , track-focused version of the 458 to follow in the footsteps of the 360 Challenge Stradale and the outgoing 430 Scuderia which most likely to be named the 458 Scuderia.

Look for both Ferrari and Maserati to make each of their models rather distinct, practically creating sub-brands within the two companies. Sister automaker Maserati is also expected to release two new models, slotted below the GranTurismo, before 2015.

What do you think about the new Ferraris coming out?

Join the discussion. Please leave a comment.

Check me out on Twitter: http://twitter.com/FerrariDreams and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rick.resch

Source: autoblog.com, autoevolution.com, worldcarfans.com and wot.motortrend.com

The green 599 that is on at the Geneva International Motor Show is technically a concept. The hybrid powertrain is called-somewhat amusingly-HY-KERS. The ‘HY’ stands for hybrid and ‘KERS’ refers to the Kinetic Energy Recovery System Ferrari used during the 2009 Formula One racing season and was dropped because it was deemed too expensive, troublesome and not effective enough. Ferrari says that the F1 authorities will be reviewing the role of KERS in future seasons and that it is recovering its development costs by fitting it to the road car. The KERS is used to recover the braking and decelerating energy in a state-of-the-art lithium-ion battery.

The electrical energy is converted into about 650 volts, which gives an additional 100 hp that is used to supplement the acceleration of the six-liter V12 petrol engine and also run the engine’s air conditioning and power-steering pumps.

It was reported that Chairman Luca di Montezemolo (who is also Chairman of Fiat Motors, majority owner of Ferrari) aims to apply the hybrid system displayed in the 599 HY-KERS show car to all of Ferrari’s production models.

“To see a green Ferrari is something unusual,” he admitted.

But Mr. di Montezemolo was at pains to reassure Ferrari buffs that the carmaker has not gone all tree-huggy.

“It’s not a bourgeois Ferrari,” he said in an interview.

“This is a first step of a long project,” he said, “and we want within three years-maximum four-to have a hybrid Ferrari car ready for every single product of our range. In three years, we aim to cut emissions by a minimum of 35 percent.”

Mr. di Montezemolo recalled how outraged some Ferrari aficionados were in the 1970s when the company introduced automatic gearboxes. Now virtually all new Ferraris are automatics. They are not ordinary automatics, but rather gearboxes actuated by paddles next to the steering wheel like a Formula One racer.

Mr. di Montezemolo’s point: hybrid Ferraris will also be true to the Ferrari legacy.

Emissions, in fact, have much to do with the Prancing Horse’s push for hybrid vehicles. By 2015, European automakers’ fleets will have to emit an average of 130 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer or better. The equivalent target for small-volume manufacturers like Ferrari hasn’t been announced yet. In the U.S., all cars are required to meet the minimum fuel consumption rate of 35 miles per gallon(mpg) by 2020. Currently, the most fuel efficient car produced by Ferrari, the new 458 Italia emits 307 grams of CO2 per kilometer, and delivers 11 mpg in the city and 15 mpg on highways. Ferrari engineers all agree on the fact that hybridization is the only possible answer to meet the new emission standards set both in the U.S. and Europe. Any failure to follow the set of rules would force Ferrari to pay hefty fines or even worse, stop manufacturing cars all together.

Supercar manufacturers are addressing this in different ways. Lamborghini feels it can survive by building lighter cars made with more carbon fiber and smaller engines, while Ferrari-along with Porsche-is taking the hybrid approach. The HY-KERS system shown in Geneva allows the 599 to run solely on electricity during the EU urban cycle, but during longer runs-or if the driver should stomp on the accelerator pedal-the V12 comes to life.

Ferrari says the 599 HY-KERS cuts emmissions by 35 percent-right where the company is aiming to be when 2012 comes.

Ferrari also unveiled a start/stop system for its California model. This systems goal is to save fuel by switching the engine off at road junctions and traffic lights and reducing pollution in the process.

What do you think about the Ferrari 599 HY-KERS?

Join the discussion. Please leave a comment.

Check me out on Twitter: http://twitter.com/FerrariDreams and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rick.resch

Source: telegraph.co.uk, rumors.automobilemag.com, wheels.blogs.nytimes.com, nitrobahn.com, allcarselectric.com