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Hot Wheels loses Ferrari diecast contract to Chinese company

If you're anything like this writer, chances are you've got a diecast model or two kicking around the house. And if one of those models replicates a Ferrari, chances are it's made by Hot Wheels. The Mattel brand secured an exclusive contract from the Maranello automaker in the late 1990s, but the latest word from Hemmings has it that Ferrari has ended its partnership with Hot Wheels and awarded it instead to the May Cheong Group. Unless you're an avid diecast collector, you may not have heard of May Cheong, but you may have heard of its brands Maisto and Bburago. Both brands are longtime players in the model car market, but it's the Bburago part of the deal that's particularly interesting. Founded in Italy, Bburago made a name for itself largely due to the scale Ferrari models it made back in the day. But when the Prancing Horse marque awarded the exclusive contract to Mattel, and with increasing competition from the Far East, Bburago collapsed. May Cheong swept in and scooped it up, and now the Italian model brand, along with its onetime rival Maisto, will be producing diecast Ferraris once again. Whether Bburago will use any of its old tooling to resume production of Ferrari scale models or start from scratch with all-new equipment remains to be seen, as does the matter of whether either it or Maisto will be able to produce the same quality of models as Hot Wheels has with some of its higher-end offerings. Like most collectors, this writer's looking forward to finding out. Looks like it's time to buy another display case.

Ferrari recalling 814 models from 2015 for airbag problem

Recalls from small-volume, high-end automakers like Ferrari are fairly rare, but the Prancing Horse issued a safety campaign to repair 814 vehicles in the United States due to a potential problem with the driver's side airbag module. The issue covers the 2015 editions of the 458 Italia, 458 Spider, 458 Speciale, 458 Speciale A, California T, FF, F12 Berlinetta, and LaFerrari. The affected examples have build dates from Dec. 19, 2014, to April 29, 2015, but this isn't every MY2015 vehicle in the country. According to the announcement by the National Highway Safety Administration (here as a PDF), these Italian supercars might have a "relevant combination of insufficient gluing of the leather on the driver's side airbag cover and the possible rotated installation of the driver's airbag cushion in the airbag module." In the event of a deployment, the safety devices might come out turned from where they are supposed to be. This issue could cause an increased risk of injury in a collision. In the NHTSA documents, Ferrari reports that it believes the chances of these rotated deployments are low. For drivers' safety, dealers will still replace the affected airbag module with a new one. Owners will start having their supercars fixed around July 30. RECALL Subject : Improperly Assembled Drivers Air Bag Report Receipt Date: JUL 07, 2015 NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V433000 Component(s): AIR BAGS Potential Number of Units Affected: 814 All Products Associated with this Recall Vehicle Make Model Model Year(s) FERRARI 458 2015 FERRARI CALIFORNIA T 2015 FERRARI F12 BERLINETTA 2015 FERRARI FF 2015 FERRARI LAFERRARI 2015 Details Manufacturer: Ferrari North America, Inc. SUMMARY: Ferrari North America, Inc. (FNA) is recalling certain model year 2015 Ferrari 458 Italia, 458 Spider, 458 Speciale, 458 Speciale A, California T, FF, F12 Berlinetta, and LaFerrari vehicles manufactured December 19, 2014, to April 29, 2015. The affected vehicles may be equipped with a driver side air bag module that was improperly assembled. This can cause the air bag to deploy in a rotated orientation. CONSEQUENCE: In the event of a crash, the deployment of the driver's air bag in a rotated orientation increases the risk of injury. REMEDY: FNA will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front Driver's Side Air Bag Module, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin on July 30, 2015. Owners may contact Ferrari customer service at 1-866-551-2828. Ferrari's number for this recall is 57.

Ferrari celebrates its founder's birthday

Buon cumpleanno, Commendatore! That's what we'd be saying today to Enzo Ferrari if he were still alive. But the founder of the Prancing Horse marque passed away at the ripe old age of 90 way back in 1988. If he were still with us today, he'd be 118 years old. And we can't help but wonder what he'd think of his legacy if he were still around to see it. Enzo Anselmo Ferrari was born in Modena before the turn of the century – no, the previous century – way back in 1898. He started out as a racing driver, but soon found his real talents laid in preparing the racecars, not driving them. After achieving success running Alfa Romeo's factory team, Enzo struck out on his own - initially under the name Auto Avio Costruzioni (due to the terms of his previous contract) and then under the Scuderia Ferrari name. Under Enzo's leadership and those that followed, Ferrari emerged as one of the most successful teams in motor racing. The Scuderia has scored more championships, checkered flags, podiums, pole positions, and fastest laps than any other in the history of Formula One. And though it hasn't fielded a factory effort in the top tier decades, it's still among the winningest constructors at Le Mans, with nine outright wins between 1949 and 1965 – outscored only by Audi and Porsche. It also won the Targa Florio seven times, the Mille Miglia another eight, and Sebring 12 times. After famously rejecting a takeover bid from Ford, Enzo sold half his company to Fiat in 1969. He retained control until his passing in 1988 – upon which Fiat took over another 40 percent, leaving 10 to the Ferrari family. But now the company is independent again, having split off from the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles empire, and floated its IPO on the stock market. Though his son still serves as vice chairman, Enzo's prodigy and successor, Luca di Montezemolo, is gone. The road car division makes hybrids but no manual transmissions, the racing department hasn't won the Formula One World Championship since 2008, the theme park in Abu Dhabi welcomes more visitors than the factory museum, and the company makes a significant portion of its revenue these days from selling branded merchandise. It's a very different company, in short, from the one Enzo founded back in 1947, but it wouldn't be here without him. The factory is celebrating with a raft of social media posts. For our part down here, to il Commendatore at the big autodromo in the sky: happy birthday, Enzo.