Convertible 4.3l Nav Cd Rear Wheel Drive Locking/limited Slip Differential Abs on 2040-cars

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Listen to the Ferrari 488 GTB for the first time

We've received the initial information, seen it on the floor of the Geneva Motor Show and even played around with the online configurator. The one thing we haven't seen (or heard) just yet is the new Ferrari 488 GTB actually firing up. (Well, that and driving the thing, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.) Fortunately some paparazzi with a video camera have caught the new mid-engined, eight-cylinder Ferrari undergoing testing – still under wraps despite having already been unveiled – in Maranello, entering and exiting the factory. And in case you were worried that the twin turbochargers would muffle the exhaust note, it seems the boys in red have invested some time making sure that wouldn't be an issue. Not only that, but we appear to have here our first glimpse at the convertible version, expected (in accordance with traditional Ferrari nomenclature) to be dubbed the 488 GTS – that S standing for Spider instead of the B for Berlinetta. Expect a similar folding hardtop mechanism to that found on the outgoing 458 Spider. Then again, the last time the GTB handle was used on this line was with the F355, where the GTB was the coupe, GTS was the partial convertible with the removable roof panel, and the full convertible was called the F355 Spider. (The more recent, twelve-cylinder 599 GTB Fiorano only led to the limited-edition 599 SA Aperta, as Ferrari doesn't typically offer twelve-cylinder roadsters in "regular" production.)

Xcar goes analog with the Ferrari F40

We will forever be in love with the Ferrari F40. From its blunt-force appearance to its 2.9-liter twin-turbocharged V8 engine living and breathing perilously close to the driver's head, the F40, the last model designed and built with input from Enzo Ferrari himself, has been and likely always will be the Ferrari of Ferraris for automotive enthusiasts who grew up in the 1980s.
All of this raises an interesting question: is the Ferrari F40 the best supercar of all time? A case can certainly be made, and after watching - and, just as importantly, listening to - all 17 minutes of blood-red Italian glory from Xcar, you're going to have to try long and hard to convince us that anything could be sweeter than this particular Prancing Horse.
Watch the video above, aptly titled Analogue Animal. You owe it to yourself. So go ahead, sit back, turn up your speakers and click play.

Jock Clear, Lewis Hamilton's race engineer at Mercedes, moves to Ferrari

The HR office at the Ferrari Formula One team has been exceptionally busy this year, and the churn hasn't ceased. Just this month under new team principal Mauricio Arrivabene – the third team principal in 2014 – lead designer Nikolas Tombazis and engineering director Pat Fry were let go, and tire performance expert Hirohide Hamashima will leave the team at the end of the year. Now there's another batch of HR paperwork to be completed, but this is a new hire to join Sebastian Vettel and Esteban Gutierrez: Jock Clear, Lewis Hamilton's performance engineer this season at Mercedes AMG Petronas. Clear will take over Pat Fry's vacant role as head of engineering, and brings a Driver's World Championship pedigree with him, having helped Hamilton to his second title and Jacques Villeneuve to his sole title in 1997 with Williams. He hasn't joined the Scuderia yet, though; Ferrari is still negotiating with Mercedes to "secure his services as soon as possible." Clear will work in a totally revamped engineering department and report to technical director and ex-Lotus F1 man James Allison. The last time Ferrari went an entire season without a win was 1993. The team has attempted to hedge expectations for 2015, Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne saying, "I think hopefully within the next 12 months we will remove all the baggage of uncertainty that is going to plague at least the initial phase of 2015." Hope springs yet, though: when Arrivabene was asked what he'd be happy with next year, he said, "two or three wins." News Source: ReutersImage Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Motorsports Ferrari F1