2013 Ferrari California Base Convertible 2-door 4.3l on 2040-cars

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Haas pens partnership with Ferrari

Gene Haas is undertaking quite the initiative by starting his own Formula One team instead of simply buying an existing one. And he's making it even harder on himself by laudably insisting on quartering the operation at his home base in North Carolina. But to get onto the grid by 2016, he's going to need some help.
Fortunately that appears to be just what he's getting thanks to a new partnership with no less accomplished an outfit than Ferrari - which, despite not having won a championship since 2008, remains far and away the most successful team in the history of grand prix racing, with sixteen constructors' championships, fifteen drivers' titles and 221 grand prix victories to its name.
Haas Automation, the CNC machine manufacturer over which Gene Haas presides and which funds his various racing activities, has just signed a sponsorship deal with Scuderia Ferrari that has already seen the Haas logo appear on the F14 T that Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen drove in the British Grand Prix this past weekend. More than a sponsor, Haas Automation has become an official supplier to the Maranello squad, but is expected to lead to even closer cooperation that will help get the American F1 team up and running in time for the 2016 world championship.

Bid on Floyd Mayweather's Ferrari Enzo in New York

Floyd Mayweather has a bit of a thing for supercars. Heck, he bought 100 cars from one dealership alone. While his Ferrari Enzo is just one of many impressive cars in his collection, it's certainly special. And it's for sale. The 295th example in a run of 400 was done up in Rosso Corsa over black leather and sold new to a buyer in Dubai who barely ever drove it. Mayweather bought it from its original owner last year and put it in his collection, alongside so many other Ferraris and Bugattis. He only drove it some 200 miles, though, leaving this as one of the lowest-mileage Enzos around with just 560 miles on the odometer. Now that Mayweather is retired, he's putting the Enzo up for auction, consigning it to RM Sotheby's for its upcoming Driven By Disruption sale in New York next month. The record for the highest price paid for an Enzo at auction currently stands at over $6 million, set at Monterey this past summer by - you guessed it - RM Sotheby's. But that was the very last example, made for Pope John Paul II, with just 111 miles on it. The next highest price (also achieved by RM) was recorded a year prior at $1.925 million. That all-black example had three owners who clocked over 8,000 miles on it. The auction house anticipates that this example will sell for $3-3.5 million. Given the celebrity provenance and low mileage on this example, we won't be at all surprised to see it reach that amount. 2003 Ferrari Enzo Chassis no. ZFFCW56A130135440 Engine no. 79706 Assembly no. 52427 660 bhp, 5,998 cc DOHC 65-degree V-12 engine with Bosch Motronic engine management and electronic fuel injection, six-speed electro-hydraulic computer-controlled sequential F1 transmission, limited-slip differential and traction control, front and rear pushrod-actuated double wishbones with horizontal external reservoir coil-spring damper units, and four-wheel ventilated carbon-ceramic disc brakes. Wheelbase: 104 in. - The 295th Enzo of 400 produced - Just two owners and 560 miles from new - Formerly owned by renowned boxer Floyd Mayweather - Surely one of the finest Enzos extant FERRARI'S 21ST CENTURY SUPERCAR At the Paris Motor Show in 2002, the pressure was on for Ferrari to unveil its latest supercar. The company was back on top after years of struggling both in motorsport and in sales, and it was clear that their next supercar, the successor to the Ferrari F50, would be a monumental milestone for the company.

2016 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix recap: another wild show on and off track

Normally we use this space to provide a lengthy recap of the weekend's Formula 1 race, but we're going to try something different since most folks reading this know what happened at the Shanghai International Circuit on Sunday. Instead, we'll alight on what we saw as the big issues in and around the race. Let us know what you think in Comments. Proper qualifying is back. Thank goodness. It only took a month of embarrassment to fix it. And so is passing! For the third race in a row, big performance improvements at the ten teams behind Mercedes-AMG Petronas and a wider tire selection at this race graced us with opening stints filled with dicing cars. Seeing the McLarens on screen doesn't make us cringe. Manor doesn't only make the global feed when it's being lapped. We've been complaining about parade races for so long that we forgot excitement was possible without rain or wholesale regulation changes. Yes, Mercedes is still the king of the jungle, but there are some other proper midfield beasts on the hunt, too. Malfunctions up and down the grid did help the show in Shanghai, like Lewis Hamilton suffering perpetual troubles, Nico Hulkenberg's runaway front wheel which red-flagged Q2, and Sebastian Vettel's and Kimi Raikkonen's flubbed hot laps in Q3 that let Daniel Ricciardo slip by into second on the grid. Come race day things went all Grand Theft Auto at Turn 1 on the opening lap, sending some of the best cars to the pits. Then came Ricciardo's puncture while leading, then came the Safety Car – all by Lap 5. Nico Rosberg got 38 seconds of airtime on the way to victory – at the start and the finish, and that happened to be his margin of victory, too – otherwise he was a ghost. Everyone else was struggling and juggling. Rosberg's win at the Bahrain Grand Prix put the German at five consecutive victories going back to last year's Mexican Grand Prix. The history books show that any driver who's won five straight contests has gone on to win the championship. With his triumph in China, the German has won the season's first three races, the history books again show that the other nine drivers who've pulled that off have gone on to win the championship. Rosberg, 36 points ahead of his teammate in the standings, is having none of it. He said of the other victors, "But they didn't have Lewis Hamilton as their team-mate." Perhaps Mercedes was right not to make an engine deal with Red Bull last season.