Seriously? $275,000 for a Ferrari...Book!

We're used to hugely-expensive Ferrari models, but a book that cost more than an actual sports car from Maranello is a first. It's called “The Official Ferrari Opus” and it retails for $275,000 in its most expensive edition. Publisher Opus Media Group calls it “the most exclusive book in the world.” It might be, at least as far as the price is concerned.

The 852-page Ferrari bible weighs 82 pounds and measures 19.6 square inches. Printed on heavy-duty paper, it contains 2,000 photos and 200,000 words covering every Ferrari road car and race car ever produced, as well as every professional driver to race for the company since 1947.

The book is offered in various editions, ranging in price from $4,100 to $275,000. The “Enzo” edition for instance is limited to 400 copies, with each being “personally signed by all living Ferrari world champions on an individually numbered, silver-foiled signature sheet.” Each book comes in a carbon-fiber case and is priced at $37,500.

More affordable is the $7,500 “Cavallino Rampante” edition, with each of the 500 copies personally signed by “Ferrari greats, past and present.” Finally, the most affordable edition is the “Classic”, limited at 4,100 copies and priced at $4,100. For this kind of cash however, buyers will only receive the signatures of current Ferrari F1 drivers Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa.

As for the $275,000 edition, it is called “Enzo Diamante” because of the 30 diamonds that adorn the Prancing Horse logo sitting on the cover. Only 400 copies of this book will be available, but not more than one in each country. Which is kind of odd, as there are 193 internationally-recognized sovereign states in the world. Anyway, buyers of this edition will be entered into a drawing for a replica of the Formula 1 car driven by Michael Schumacher. The copy No. 1 will be auctioned, with proceeds going to charities. Scroll down to see an official presentation of the Official Ferrari Opus.

By Dan Mihalascu

Source: New York Times

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Anderson Germany Treats the Ferrari GTB Fiorano with Subtle Power and Styling Upgrades

There’s so much you can do to improve a supercar like the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano, but tuning specialist Anderson Germany believes it has some goods to offer with its new program for the Italian model.

In stock form, the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano leaves the factory with a 6.0-liter V12 engine delivering 620 ponies and 608 Nm (448 lbft) of peak torque. A new sports exhaust system from Hamann adds an extra 30HP for a total output of 650-horsepower with Anderson Germany claiming that the increase helps improve the standard car’s 0-100km/h (62mph) sprint time of 3.7 seconds, though the company did not release any numbers.

Next up on Anderson Germany’s list is the exterior that is finished in black with red pin stripes and matching alloy wheel designs. A new bodykit -again- from Hamann Motorsports is also part of the package.

The tuner did not release any pricing info.

Source: Anderson Germany via Autoblog.nl

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VIDEO: James Glickenhaus’ Ferrari P4/5 Competizione Hits the Nurburgring Track

After commissioning a one-off Enzo-based Ferrari P4/5 from Pininfarina, American millionaire James Glickenhaus wanted a similar car for racing, and that’s how the P4/5 Competizione was born. Similar in shape to the road-going Pininfarina model but different mechanically, the racing version shares many components with the Ferrari 430 Scuderia and the 430 GT2. The P4/5 Competizione features a 4.0-liter V8 engine pushing out 450HP and 600 Nm of torque (442.5 lb-ft), and a carbon-fiber body that helps keep the weight down to 1,230 kg (2,712 lbs).

The main event for the car this year will be the Nurburgring 24 Hours race on June 25, with the Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus team performing intensive tests this year. The latest test session for the P4/5 Competizione took place at the Nordschleife, where all the team's drivers (Mika Salo, Fabrizio Giovanardi, Nicola Larini and Luca Capellari) got some time behind the wheel.

Scroll down to see a spectacular onboard lap in the P4/5 Competizione plus another video revealing the sights and sounds of the fabulous Ferrari.

By Dan Mihalascu

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Ferrari FF vs Kerb: Car Magazine Finally Posts a Picture

Last week, Car Magazine’s road tester Jethro Bovingdon became a household name after he drove a brand-new £230,000 Ferrari FF into a kerb during the press launch of the supercar in Italy. Following the release of an in-car video of the incident, the British publication has now published a photo on its website along with a short explanation from Bovingdon (see here).

“There was no kerb to begin with, and then one suddenly appeared halfway round this tight corner,” said Jethro. The intimate encounter with the kerb resulted in two dented alloy wheels.

Source: Car Magazine

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Sebastian Vettel Takes Dominant Australian Grand Prix Win

Sebastian Vettel won the inagural race of the 2011 F1 season after a dominating performance in Melbourne. The German driver made full use of his pole-position and lead the race from start to finish, taking his 11th Formula 1 win. Vettel adopted a two-stop pit strategy and finished with a 22.2-second advantage over second ranked Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), who had to race with a detached floor after running wide on lap 33.

Third place went to Russian Vitaly Petrov, the big surprise of the Australian GP, who got off to an excellent start. The Renault driver went from sixth to fourth immediately after the green light, taking advantage of Button and Alonso both running wide in the first corner. Petrov gained another position after the first round of pitstops and kept it until the end of the race, scoring his first ever Formula 1 podium finish.

Fourth-placed Fernando Alonso had a tougher time on the track, with the Spaniard having to deal with a three-stop strategy and a poor start that sent him from fifth to ninth before the first corner of the race. The Ferrari driver then quickly started recovering lost positions, managing to finish fourth. Mark Webber and Jenson Button finished the race fifth and sixth respectively, while Ferrari's Massa had to settle for ninth, behind the Ferrari-powered Saubers of Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi.

However, the two Sauber drivers were disqualified after the race for rear-wing infringements, so Massa got seventh place eventually.

Mercedes GP had a poor race, as both Schumacher and Rosberg failing to finish the Australian GP. The former quit on lap 19 for technical reasons, after suffering a puncture on lap 1, while the latter had to stop after being hit by Barrichello on lap 22. Overall, it was an enjoyable race to watch, although significant rule changes like the Drag Reduction System (DRS) and the reintroduction of the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) didn't seem to have a decisive effect on overtaking.

By Dan Miahalascu

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2011 Formula One Season is On: Vettel to Start Australian GP from Pole Position

Red Bull and McLaren dominated the first qualifying session of the year, with the two teams getting the top four pole positions for Sunday's Melbourne race. 2010 title winner Sebastian Vettel started the new F1 season in style, dominating comfortably all three qualifying stages and sealing pole-position with a 1m23.529s lap, 0.78 seconds quicker than the second fastest driver, McLaren's Lewis Hamilton.

"We have worked hard to get the RB7 where it is and that's down to the factory. It was a pleasure today but at the moment we have zero points like everyone else. The size of the margin is a surprise. We had a good feeling coming here but we didn't know for sure where we would be," said Vettel.

Red Bull was very close to put both its cars on the front row, but Aussie favorite Mark Webber was denied second place by Hamilton, who managed to post a better time before qualifying ended. Webber had to settle for third place, with Jenson Button right behind him on the second row of the grid.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso finished, but the Spaniard was almost 1.5 seconds off the leader's pace, while Felipe Massa only posted the eighth best time, a sign that the Prancing Horse doesn't yet have the speed to challenge the Red Bulls. The biggest surprise of the day however was Vitaly Petrov qualifying its Renault in sixth place, with his teammate Nick Heidfeld taking 18th place. Under these circumstances, one can't help but wonder where would the injured Kubica have put the Renault on the starting grid.

Mercedes GP's best-placed driver was Nico Rosberg, in seventh place, while Michael Schumacher only managed 11th place, missing the final round. Judging by the pace shown in qualifying, Mercedes doesn't seem to have improved much over the last season.

By Dan Mihalascu

Source: Grandprix

2011 Australian GP - Saturday - Qualifying Times

VIDEO: Car Magazine’s ‘Oh F…’ Moment when Journo Breaks Ferrari FF

Automobile accidents can and will always happen, but it’s one thing denting your personal ride and another when you smash a £227,026 [equal to about US$367,000 or €260,000] loaner car from Ferrari. And that’s exactly what happened to Car Magazine’s reviewer Jethro Bovingdon during a test drive with the brand new Ferrari FF when he came in contact with a kerb.

Here’s what the British magazine had to say about the incident: “Car had a small altercation with the scenery when we drove the new Ferrari FF.” As you can see in the video after the break, Bovingdon, who was taping himself at the time of the mishap, used a far more expressive language [NSFW, mind you].

Unfortunately, up until now, we don’t have any photos or a video showing the damage to the Ferrari FF.

Source: Car Magazine via Jalopnik

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Ferrari Shows us How it Made the FF Promotional Video

The impressive video of the Ferrari FF has garnered close to 750,000 views on YouTube in one month, thanks to its spicy ingredients such as a new Ferrari model, spectacular scenes shot in scenic parts of the world and a majestic soundtrack.

Now Ferrari released another video that gives us a behind the scenes look at how the promotional footage was made. So if you've ever wondered how did they did it, now’s the chance to find out. After watching the video, we believe some Hollywood movies might have been cheaper to make than the FF short film. Check out the ‘Making of’ video along with two more official clips of the FF right after the break.

By Dan Miahlascu

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Dr. Dre Tweets About Totaling Ferrari 360 for "I Need a Doctor" (with Video)

The one and only Dr. Dre recently tweeted a little about a Ferrari 360 getting absolutely totaled for his latest video. Below is a behind-the-scenes shot from the music clip for "I Need a Doctor", the latest confirmed track on Dr. Dre's highly anticipated album, Detox.

Enjoy (or condemn) the video after the break, as it's not every day you get to see a snazzy blue Ferrari get tossed along a hillside road like a plastic bag. Add to that Dre's priceless reaction, and you've got yourself about seventeen seconds of entertainment.

By Phil Alex

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VIDEO: Corvette ZR1 ALMS Ad Belittles BMW, Ferrari and Porsche, but Ends up Losing to M3s in Sebring…

Just before the season opener of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) at the Sebring International Raceway in Florida this past weekend, GM aired an aggressive commercial touting its 638-horsepower-strong Corvette ZR1. The ad claims that the firm’s engineers had to reduce the stock ZR1’s LS9 engine output by 168HP in order to compete in the race and “just to be fair against Porsche, Ferrari and BMW”.

For one, the Corvette ALMS racers are actually powered by a V8 loosely based on the Z06’s LS7 engine (see the second video after the jump). Perhaps most importantly, the Corvettes finished third and fourth in the GT class in Sebring behind two BMW M3 GTs… Videos follow after the break.

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Ferrari’s Website Celebrates Italy’s 150th Anniversary with Special Wallpaper

Internet users visiting Ferrari’s official website today were greeted by a modified home page with a special wallpaper featuring a green FF, a white 458 Italia and this year’s F1 race car in red, which combine to make a motoring version of the Italian flag. This is Ferrari’s online way of celebrating the 150th anniversary of Italy’s unification. In addition, the automaker said that the window displays in the forty Ferrari Stores spread around the globe were decked out in the colors of the Italian flag.

“Representing Italy on the race tracks and the car markets around the world is a reason for all the men and women who work at Ferrari to feel proud,” commented Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo. “We chose to dedicate the name of our Formula 1 car, the 150° Italia to this anniversary and this makes all of us feel even more motivated as we go about our daily work. We hope that everyone in our country is living through today in the same spirit.”

Link: Ferrari

1965 Shelby Cobra 427 vs 2011 Ferrari 458 Italia in a $400,000 ¼ Mile Race Bet; Can You Guess Who Wins?

A no-nonsense, classic American muscle car from the 1960s going head to head with a high-tech, thoroughbred Italian supercar in the ultimate quarter mile race. What more could you ask to make this battle more interesting? Well, how about a $400,000 wager?

The story has it that Dan Bilzerian, owner of a ‘tricked-out’ 1965 427 Shelby Cobra, placed a bet that his American muscle car can beat his friend Tom Goldstein's 2011 Ferrari 458 Italia in a quarter mile race.

On March 9, 2011, the two men brought their cars down to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway racetrack and put their money where their mouth is. And no, we won’t spoil the surprise by telling you who won the bet. Video follows after the break.

Link: Clubcobra

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Indian Firm Whips up a Ferrari F430 Replica out of a Toyota Corolla

Here at Carscoop we’ve shown you Ferrari F430 clones based on all sorts of sports cars ranging from the oh-so popular Pontiac Fiero to the Toyota MR2 and even the Toyota Celica. Now it’s time to show you an F430 doppelganger of even more humble origins as this creation is reportedly based on a Toyota Corolla.

The company responsible for the transformation is called Executive Modcar Trendz, and is based in Mumbai, India. There are very few other details about the replica, which is a 2+2 seater, but the price of the conversion said to be around 10 lakhs that comes to around US$22,200 at today’s exchange rates. Scroll through the jump for the complete gallery.

Thanks go to Satish for the tip!

Source: Executive Modcar Trendz via Indianautoblogs

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