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First Ferrari 458 Speciale A sells for $900k in Beverly Hills

The prospect of buying a new Ferrari convertible is by no means an affordable one, but prices can vary greatly. The California T, for example, sells for under $200k. The 458 Spider fetches over $250k. The new F60 America is said to have sold out at around ten times that much. But what about the 458 Speciale A?
We may have yet to receive official pricing, but one customer has paid a whopping $900,000 for the privilege of owning the very first one. Ferrari 458 Speciale A #1/499 was auctioned off at Beverly Hills City Hall on the occasion of Ferrari's 60th anniversary in America. The event, where the F60 America was also unveiled, was held in the presence of Fiat chairman John Elkann, Fiat CEO and Ferrari chairman Sergio Marchionne, Ferrari CEO Amedeo Felisa and vice-chairman Piero Ferrari.
Proceeds from the sale will benefit the American chapter of Daybreak, an Italian charity that has worked for the past 25 years to cure rare genetic diseases. The high bid tops that which recently won the first Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat - another extreme eight-cylinder performance machine from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles - although the Challenger itself sells for far less than any Ferrari does.

Race Recap: 2014 Malaysian F1 Grand Prix [spoilers]

The Malaysian Grand Prix is always one of the jokers on the Formula One calendar: you know it's going to rain during the weekend, but you don't know when. This year it began during qualifying, the dammed up clouds over the Sepang track dumping their reservoirs just before Q1 and causing a 50-minute delay.
The conditions helped Infiniti Red Bull Racing close the gap on Mercedes AMG Petronas and split the Silver Arrows cars, Sebastian Vettel lining up in second on the grid behind pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton, ahead of Nico Rosberg. Fernando Alonso recovered from a suspension-damaging incident with Toro Rosso driver Daniil Kyvat to take fourth, followed by the second Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo in fifth, then the off-form Kimi Räikkönen in sixth in the second Ferrari, Nico Hülkenberg in the Force India, star rookie Kevin Magnussen in the first McLaren ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne in the Toro Rosso, and Jenson Button in the second McLaren finishing up the top ten.
After that, though, the clouds decided they were done with F1. Save a few drop at the final corners during the race, the track stayed completely dry. And except for the beginning and the end, for the most part, so was the race.

Apple CarPlay drawing early safety concerns [w/video]

Apple's CarPlay infotainment system hasn't made it into a single vehicle yet, and it's already drawing criticism for distracting drivers among safety advocates. The new tech unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show pairs users' iPhones with the car's dashboard display to make calls, dictate messages and listen to music. Some automakers, like Volvo, also let users interact with the HVAC system from the screen.
"The idea that people want to be on their phones, and therefore let's give them a way to do that -- that's not putting safety first, that's putting convenience and the desire to be in touch first," said Bruce Hamilton, manager of research and communications at the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, to CNN Money.
Distracted driving is a huge concern on modern roads with more vehicles allowing drivers to use their smartphones through Bluetooth and infotainment systems. A Texas A&M study found that drivers' reaction time doubled while dictating text messages, according to CNN Money. The new tech is certainly not making drivers pay more attention.