While we knew Formula 1 racing was an expensive venture, leave it to the 2008/2009 edition of Formula Money to spell-out the jaw-dropping finances for us. According to their latest guide, the supporting cast will shell out over $3 billion this year in team resources — with Toyota dropping more than $445 million of it alone. McLaren is a close second at $433 million, while Ferrari rounds out the top three with $414 million coming out of pocket. If you take a look at team resources divided by points scored, each point cost Ferrari $1.9 million in 2007 (while each point cost Honda a staggering $57.2 million during the same period!). With the financial markets around the world roiled in turmoil, many are wondering when the F1 budgets are going to feel the pinch… Thanks for the tip, Keith!

C“We’re not building a cheap Ferrari”. That was the oft-repeated party line from Maranello as the Prancing Horse marque was plainly working on the new California. Well no kidding, not at these prices.

The first example of the Ferrari California was sold during its American unveiling in Santa Monica this week, garnering a top bid of $520,000. The event was attended by a handful of Hollywood celebrities, and even the Governator dropped by. Half a million can buy you a lot of car, and the California is expected to retail for about a third of that amount, but of course that’s not the point: proceeds from the sale will go to the After-School All-Stars charitable foundation.

Ferrari seem to content with cutting the roof off of everything these days. The F430 Spider remains the company’s hottest-selling model, with the new California on the way. A roadster version of the 430 Scuderia is anticipated to make its debut at Mugello in November, and now spy shots have surfaced showing what sources suggest is a convertible version of the 599 GTB Fiorano.

Although the test mule in the spy shots has a fixed roof in place, reports note that the roof appears ill-fitting and mismatched in color to the rest of the body. If that’s anything to go by, Ferrari could be planning a successor to the Superamerica version of the Fiorano’s 575 predecessor and the 550 Barchetta that came before that. The former featured an intriguing Fioravanti-designed glass roof mechanism, however the 599 Spider would, in all likelihood, employ a similar folding hard-top to the clever mechanism found on the new California, to the possible inclusion of the Fiorano’s aerodynamic buttresses. Following the revival of the GTB (grand touring berlinetta) designation on the existing 599, the convertible would likely take on the GTS (grand touring spider) nameplate, while installment of Ferrari’s new quick-shifting SuperFast3 dual-clutch transmission could help mitigate the extra weight. Of course this is all pure speculation, so stay tuned.

The going rate for vintage Ferraris seems to be at an all time high, as evidenced by the record sale of a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder back in May and the incredible selection of million dollar Ferraris at the RM Auction in Monterey this year. All of those are easily topped, however, by the rumored sale of a Ferrari 250 GTO for an incredible $28.5 million. Not much is known about the actual sale, since many of the high-dollar Ferrari transactions are done through private parties and not necessarily through an auction house. However, the knowledgeable members at FerrariChat.com have it on authority that the sale did happen. If anything, it gave us a chance to put together a huge gallery of 250 GTO photos from various concours and vintage racing events.

The lure of the flying car is just too great for Moller International, a company best known for its SkyCar prototype and not actually producing a real flying vehicle for sale despite being around for some 25 years. Its latest tease is adapting the body shell of a Ferrari 599 GTB for use as a flying vehicle. Called the Autovolanter, this 599 GTB that’s freed from the shackles of Earth is capable of vertical take-offs and landings thanks to a hybrid powertrain comprised of rotary engines and electric motors. The vehicle, proposed by a wealthy Russian businessman who’d apparently like to bypass Moscow’s busy traffic with style, has already gone through small-scale testing and Moller seems rather pleased with the results.

Initial goals for the Autovolanter are a 150-mile range on the ground, with 40 of those coming from battery power alone, and 75 miles of airborne flight at high speeds. So the Autovolanter is basically a flying Chevy Volt based on a Ferrari. To make it a reality, the vehicle would need 800 horsepower… no problem, right? Oh yeah, and Moller needs around $5 million for continued development. Word is they’re currently seeking more wealthy Russian businessmen who apparently have no sense.

So far the only video footage we’ve seen of the new Ferrari California has been either computer animated or sitting still with a giant chin talking. But the fellas over at Autocar magazine in the UK made their way down to Maranello with video cameras in tow for an up-close-and-personal with the newest Prancing Stallion. After the jump you’ll find some focus-changing fun angles of the new California, as well as a brief interview with product development director Roberto Corradi, who amusingly informs us that the car was made easier to drive and more softly styled to accommodate female customers. Seriously. Check it out after the jump… it’s good for a laugh.

Some of the more hard-core tifosi have been whining that Ferrari has gone soft with the new California. It’s pretty hard to justify that a car able to hit 60 mph in the three-second range is soft, but so be it. The nay-sayers point to the inclusion of a folding hard-top as a sign that Ferrari has grown more concerned with pleasing its poseur clientele than developing genuine performance vehicles. Never mind that the innovative rapid-deployment roof, according to Ferrari, actually weighs 5kg less than an equivalent soft-top and still only takes 14 seconds to raise or lower.

However, Maranello has not finished development of the California and intends to pacify those malcontents with some new features. For starters, Ferrari says that about 10% of its customers still demand a manual transmission, and so they will have one ready for the California by the time it actually goes on sale about half a year from now. Around the same time, Ferrari will also unveil a new HGTC handling package, like those offered for the 612 Scaglietti and the previous 575 M Maranello, to tighten up the California’s suspension. A new set of lightweight wheels is also in the works, anticipated to shave some 10-12kg off of the unsprung weight. A 430 Scuderia it is not – that’s why Ferrari makes both – but don’t mistake the California for a lazy boulevard cruiser.

It was an ambitious target to design, develop, shake down and launch an all-new spec car across the series in less than a full year, but that’s what the organizers of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport set out to do. Unfortunately, the first major setback inevitably meant that the series would have to be postponed, and that’s just what happened.

The new car has been under development with Ferrari for the past ten months or so – based on Ferrari’s Formula One racing car design – and things had been going well. However, when test driver Patrick Friesacher was injured after a vital suspension component failed, it was back to the drawing board. The delay means that the start of the fourth season, which was originally scheduled for September 21 at the Mugello track in Italy, will now be pushed back to Zandvoort, Holland, for October 4, which was initially planned as the second race of the season.

Ferrari has teamed up in the wiz-kids at Polyphony Digital who are the aptitude behind the Gran Turismo franchise. They come up with up an adrenaline-pumping virtual fact video of the California racing throughout the virtual streets of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue in the same style as the game’s intro. And now too properties hold the car scanned, it shouldn’t be extensively before you can download the California on your PS3 to press in the game. We hope. Follow the Source link below, click “virtual test drive” and “play film” to look the clip.

[Source: Ferrari]

We’ve currently proven you pics based on information from Gordon McCall’s party and from what i read in the Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance, but today’s indemnity picks up an Italian accent. The Concorso Italiano is one of the highest annual gatherings of all conditions Italian, be it music, cuisine, fashion, tourism, and of route cars. Previously apprehended at the nearby Bayonet Black Horse Golf Course in Monterey Bay, such year’s gathering took place at the Marina government airstrip. Just covet the previous 20-something years, now year’s Concorso brought out a few stunning cases of Italy’s finest, cars calculated provided passione and implemented to be driven con brio. And recently similar to in past years, a few non-Italian cars the current bid the same driving thrill got invited in for the party.

While the tarmac did not supply the same soft picnic grove as the golf course, the organizers tried the most ideal to motivate up for it surrounded by a plethora of shady tents to visit filled in vendors, food and fun. Concorso has presistently been heard a greater amount of laid coming back as opposed to selected of the a larger amount of considered occurreneces for the duration of the week, and that much providing the somewhat a good amount rigid airport setting there was that much a feeling too you got at a good deal more of a car club equate as opposed to a genuine concours. Check out the gallery by clicking one of the images right here and you will hopefully see how we mean. The natural Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Maseratis, and Alfas got joined by a collection of Lancias, DeTomasos, Fiats, and a smattering of “others” the included German, Japanese, American, and British cars. Our prefered prevent was the supercar lineup too featured two MC12s, two Veyrons, an Enzo and an F50. We significantly spotted Valentino Balboni, Adam Corolla and Jay Leno additonally we got there.

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