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Did Ferrari block Montezemolo from becoming F1 chairman?

The Formula One Group has appointed a series of new directors to its board. But while ousted Ferrari chief Luca di Montezemolo is among them, the latest reports suggest that he was earmarked to become the group's chairman, but that Sergio Marchionne blocked the appointment. Montezemolo, for those just joining us, served as chairman of Ferrari since 1991, but was ousted just a couple of months ago by Sergio Marchionne, chief executive of parent company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles who took his place at the head of the table in Maranello. During his tenure as Ferrari chief, Montezemolo sat as the team's representative on the F1 board (and also as chairman of the Formula One Teams Association), but despite having broken ties with Ferrari, Luca was renominated to the board as an independent member. That seat on the board, however, could have been at the head of the table, according to circulating reports, had Marchionne not expressed certain reservations, if not blocked the nomination outright. Montezemolo's appointment would have meant that both the F1 Group and the FIA would have been headed up by former Ferrari men, although Marchionne was quoted as saying that if it had been his call, he would have prevented Jean Todt from being elected to the presidency of the FIA as well. The chairmanship of the Formula One Group is separate from the role held by Bernie Ecclestone, who will continue to run the sport's day-to-day operations. Ecclestone has also rejoined the board along with Paul Walsh, the former head of distilling giant Diageo who was also tipped as a favorite to chair the F1 board. That role instead will return to Peter Brabeck, the former head of Nestle, who had previously stepped down from the chair of the Formula One Group.

1971 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona could be world's first great 'condo find' [w/video]

Barn finds are the absinthe of the collector car world right now. They're highly intoxicating and a bit of the 'flavor of the month.' An actual barn isn't necessary, just some form of out-of-the-way long-term storage that involves a car being out of circulation for a long period of time, remaining complete with the time-capsule-like detritus of their slumber-yellowed newspapers, vintage eight-tracks or real pay dirt like a telex printout from Howard Hughes or a receipt from the Playboy Club. RM Auctions has just announced perhaps the first 'condo find' in a 1971 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona coupe that had been stored in a Toronto condominium building for a quarter century. Like any good barn find, this Ferrari is still covered in a layer of thick dust (the removal of which would likely devalue the car considerably) and still has a cartridge entitled "Disco Rock" shoved in its original eight-track player. And while the one and only owner's taste in music may have been questionable, his taste in cars wasn't. The Daytona was the last front-engine V12 two-seater Ferrari produced during the so-called Enzo-era, when founder Enzo Ferrari was still in command of the company. With its 172 mph top speed, a Daytona was famously used by Dan Gurney and Brock Yates in setting a coast-to-coast record of 35 hours and 54 minutes to win the first Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash in 1971. An impulse trip to the Geneva Motor Show in the same year by a Toronto businessman saw him purchase the Daytona where he spent a month touring Europe before sending the car back to Canada on the Queen Elizabeth II. He drove it for eighteen years and put a whopping 90,000 kilometers – 56,000 miles – on the car prior to putting the car up on blocks in a condo garage before a trip to Asia that he anticipated would last just six months. The car remained in that spot until November 14, 2014. The car that originally sold for $18,000 in Geneva, Switzerland in 1971 is expected to bring in excess of $600,000 at RM Auction's Amelia Island sale in March. Carwash not included. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. 1971 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Berlinetta Chassis no. 14385 Body no.

LaFerrari still being honed at N"urburgring

Ferrari might have jumped the gun debuting the LaFerrari hypercar at the Geneva Motor Show, judging by these spy shots. There have already been rumors that the nearly 1,000-horsepower hybrid still needed some finalizing, but it seems really quite odd that we're seeing cars running with camo six months after the official debut.
So here are our theories as to what this might be. First, the likely case is that this car is merely taking part in finalization of the LaFerrari. The two more sensational theories we've brewed up are a bit more unlikely. This could be a prototype of the once-rumored Maserati MC12 successor, with the camo in place to hide sheetmetal specific to a Maserati. The second, and in our minds, least likely scenario, is that this is a prototype of a more hardcore or competition variant of the LaFerrari, along the lines of the Enzo-based FXX.
Admittedly, that last option is really grasping at straws, but the last camo'd car we saw sported a unique exhaust, that our spy noted as being significantly louder than an uncovered model that was running alongside. While the timing seems odd - a mere six months after the debut of a car that isn't even on sale yet - it's not outside of Ferrari custom to release more potent, track-only versions of its hypercars. Take a look at the spy shots up top, and let us know what you think.