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Ferrari California T has a turbo V8 lurking under new nose [w/video]

The Ferrari California might technically be the Prancing Horse's entry-level model, but there is nothing basic about the latest upgrade for the California T. Showing its face to the public for the first time at the Geneva Motor Show, it is now propelled by a 3.9-liter, turbocharged V8 with 560 horsepower and 557 pound-feet of torque, which equates to an extra 70 hp and a 49 percent increase in torque over the previous engine.
The forced induction mill is enough to accelerate it to 62 miles per hour in 3.6 seconds. Also not that many Ferrari buyers are going to care, but the switch also means a 15 percent improvement in fuel economy. Oh, and based on the video preview below, it sounds pretty good, too.
While the new engine is certainly the headline grabber, there are other upgrades as well: a top that closes in 14 seconds, new steering box, improved magnetic dampers and an upgraded traction control system. Pininfarina also reshaped the nose to make it more look like Ferraris of the 1960s. This is seems to be the best looking and performing California yet.

1964 Ferrari 250 LM sets Arizona auction record at $9.6 million [w/video]

We've seen some high-priced metal come up under the hammer in Arizona over the years, but the one you're looking at right here is the most expensive ever sold during the famous auction weekend. It's a Ferrari 250 Le Mans from 1964, the ninth of just 32 examples made. And RM Auctions just sold it for $9,625,000. That doesn't make it the most expensive Ferrari ever sold at auction, or even the top price paid for a 250 LM: according to figures from Sports Car Market, the same auction house has handled the top five highest-grossing 250 LMs of all time, including the 1965 Le Mans winner that sold in New York in 2013 for $14.3 million and another that sold last August in Monterey for $11.5 million. But it does make this example, according to RM, "the most valuable automobile sold in Arizona auction history." One of the earliest mid-engined Ferraris, the 250 LM was the last of Maranello's Le Mans winners. This particular example, chassis number 5899 GT, was sold by the factory to the famed Swiss racing team Scuderia Filipinetti, winning the Sierre-Montana Crans Hill Climb fresh out the box, followed immediately by another win at the XV Coppa Inter-Europa at Monza – both at the hands of Ferrari F1 and Le Mans drivers. After Filipinetti was done with it, 5899 GT was displayed at the Geneva Motor Show, was sold off the stand and changed hands a few more times – including one owner who oddly replaced the bodywork with that of a Porsche 906 Carrera 6 and another who swapped out the engine. It went on to win many more races, and was ultimately reunited with its original engine and proper bodywork. Restored several times over, 5899 GT was certified ten years ago by the Ferrari Classiche department and was even displayed at the factory museum in Maranello. The 250 LM wasn't the only noteworthy lot RM sold this weekend in the Frank Lloyd Wright Ballroom at the Arizona Biltmore, though. Several other Ferraris sold in the millions, from a '67 275 GTB/4 that sold for $3.6 million to a 2005 FXX Evoluzione for $1.6 million. The '71 Lamborghini Miura SVJ that was tipped to break the $2-million mark ultimately sold for under $1.9M, and the '84 Audi Sport Quattro ultimately dropped right in its estimate range at $401,500. All told, RM sold 90 percent of the metal it was consigned for the event, bringing in a whopping $63.7 million in sales. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Race recap: 2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is Germany rising as sun sets

Mercedes-AMG Petronas driver Nico Rosberg Rosberg doesn't attribute anything mystical to the form that got him ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton. He said simply, "Before it was close in the other direction, now it's close in this direction." Mercedes non-executive chairman Niki Lauda went further, saying Rosberg's "brain has switched." Under the desert spotlights it switched so far ahead that Lewis Hamilton qualified nearly four tenths behind the German. Kimi Raikkonen flew the scarlet for Ferrari in third position. Being three spots ahead of Valtteri Bottas gave Raikkonen a huge advantage in locking up fourth position in the driver's championship. Even if he doesn't care about it, as he's publicly stated, Ferrari probably does. Teammate Sebastian Vettel was classified 16th after the German slowed down after making a mistake on his final hot lap, and neither he nor his engineer realized how quickly times were falling on a cooling track. He'd be promoted to 15th when Lotus driver Romain Grosjean was penalized for a gearbox change. Sergio Perez knocked it out of the park for Sahara Force India, claiming fourth ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in fifth for Infiniti Red Bull Racing. Williams driver Bottas was in sixth, in front of the second Force India of Nico Hulkenberg and the second Williams of Felipe Massa in eighth. Daniil Kvyat ensured both Red Bulls were in the top 10 with his ninth position, and Carlos Sainz got the upper hand in qualifying over his Toro Rosso teammate Max Verstappen for the final time this year, rounding out the top 10. Beyond Nico Rosberg's mind, one of his weaknesses was his slow starts. Those are stronger, too, the German tearing off away from the field when the lights went out. Hamilton bogged enough to have to defend from Perez behind, the Mexican trying to slide between Hamilton and Raikkonen on the run to the first corner. Rosberg held the lead into Turn 1 and likewise held it through Turn 21 on the last lap of the race, only ceding it during pit stops. Rosberg's 14th victory gets him level with Graham Hill on the wins list – on the anniversary of Hill's death in a plane crash – and marks the first time in his 10-year F1 career that he's won three races in a row. More proof of his strength: the last few races we haven't heard Rosberg ask for regular updates about what Hamilton's doing, he just drives. Hamilton gave it his best but that wasn't enough.