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Ferrari LaFerrari Spider reportedly debuts privately

If the Porsche 918 Spyder didn't fulfill your dream of open top motoring in a hybrid hypercar, look for Ferrari to publicly debut a topless version of the LaFerrari (standard version above) in the near future. The Facebook page for Automotive Passion (D. Benoit) asserts the LaFerrari Spider is finally on the way and backs up the claim with a photo of a carbon-fiber box that bears the vehicle's sharp silhouette (below). Motor1 claims that Ferrari plans to build 150 to 200 examples of the LaFerrari Spider, which is less than half of the 499 coupes, and customers already snapped them all up. The Prancing Horse is reportedly charging a hefty premium over the hardtop's $1.4-million price tag for the droptop. Given the coupe's sales success, we are surprised Ferrari didn't take the LaFerrari's roof off even sooner, and rumors about the Spider go back to at least 2014. The removable top might add a few pounds, but the 949-horsepower 6.3-liter hybrid V12 should still be plenty to hustle the hypercar around. Ferrari debuted the LaFerrari Spider at a private event, according to Motor1. Showing the hypercar suggests development in nearing completion, so expect a public debut and official info sometime this year. Ferrari is bringing out LaFerrari Spider!© Private #laferrari #spider #laferrarispider #ferrari Posted by Automotive Passion (D. Benoit) on Friday, March 4, 2016 Related Video:

Ferrari F12 gunning for GT-R's Nurburgring lap time?

Ferrari may not play the Nürburgring lap time game to the extent that Porsche, Nissan and Radical do, but it has been known to go for some lap times of its own. And now an F12 Berlinetta has been spotted lapping the Nordschleife in an apparent record attempt.
The F12 reportedly had the track all to itself for about an hour and a half, suggesting one of two possibilities: either Ferrari is testing an updated version, or it's going for a lap record with the existing version. While it's impossible to tell what may be going on under the sheetmetal, the communications equipment taped to the roof appear to be the only outward modifications, and would seem to indicate the latter more than the former.
In between warm-up and cool-down laps, the F12 reportedly lapped the circuit in 7 minutes and 48 seconds - which wouldn't be anything spectacular in and of itself, but that lap apparently included 40 seconds of cool-down between T13 and Hatzenbach, suggesting a possible 7:08 lap time. That's the time which Nissan recently recorded in the GT-R Nismo, indicating that Ferrari could be going for Godzilla's top time as the fastest front-engined, street-legal car ever to lap the 'Ring, ahead of the Dodge Viper ACR, Lexus LFA with the Nürburgring Package and Corvette ZR1 (but behind Ferrari's own track-bound 599XX, which clocked a 6:58 lap time four years ago).

Aston Martin hires Ferrari's 'key guys' to challenge 488 GTB

Aston Martin is wasting no time in its aggressive product rollout, and it's putting Ferrari and other supercar makers on notice. At the recent launch of the DB11 V8 in Catalonia, Spain, we caught up with Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer. The Aston chief gave us new details on plans for a mid-engine car to go up against the Ferrari 488 GTB, the McLaren 720S and the Lamborghini Huracan. Palmer says Aston has harnessed a great deal of learning from the $3 million Valkyrie hypercar and plans to apply that to its next mid-engine car, slated to land sometime in 2020 or so. As indicated in part of our conversation below, design plans for that car are developing quickly. Autoblog: You said there will be a forthcoming mid-engine sports car. I still think the Ferrari 488 GTB is one of the best I've driven. How do you compete with that? Andy Palmer: "Well, I agree with you. That's the best car in its segment. And we're going to take it on. And I realize the gravity of that statement, of what that means." AB: So how do you take on the 488 GTB? AP: "Well, to start with, you recruit from Ferrari the head of body structures, and the head of powertrains. I've now got three of Ferrari's key guys. And really, it's a big compliment to Ferrari. That's the defining car in its segment, and it's really, really good. And those three guys now work for me. And you combine those guys with Nick [Lines, chief planning officer, Aston Martin] and Marek [Reichman, chief creative officer, Aston Martin] who you know really well, and you create some great recipes. And now I've got a better understanding of what that car looks like." AB: How far along is that car? Is there a clay model already? AP: "Yeah, there's clay. There's actually eight quarter-scales. And there's one in particular that I'm leaning toward. We've got it pushed out; it's gone to a second studio in Milton Keynes. That studio is different from Gaydon. And I've got a pretty good idea of what the replacement for the 488 is going to be like as well. So, if we're going in that market, we need to be ahead of the 488. And there's no naivete about what that means." View 16 Photos One of the recruits Palmer is referring to is Max Szwaj, former head of innovation and body structures at Ferrari and Maserati. Szwaj has been named vice president and chief technical officer in his new role in Gaydon.