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Ferrari planning sleeker FF coupe?

There are a lot of things you could call the Ferrari FF. Innovative, advanced, pioneering, ponderous... beautiful may not be one of them, though. Because while it does pack Ferrari's first all-wheel drive system, it doesn't pack it into a very pretty shape, alternately described as a chopped shooting brake or stretched hatchback. Word has it, though, that Ferrari is working on a solution.
That solution, according to Car and Driver, would be to chop it down into an FF coupe. Apparently separate from the SP FFX project that ultimately emerged as a one-off, this rebody could potentially solve the FF's stylistic shortcomings and attract more buyers, while retaining the 6.3-liter V12 engine that drives 651 prancing horses to all four wheels. But here's where it gets tricky: if Ferrari simply sloped the roofline and got rid of the rear seats, the finished product would end up precariously close to the F12 Berlinetta, albeit with an extra set of driven wheels.
We'd sooner guess that Maranello would lengthen the form slightly to keep the rear seats, add a trunk and give it a more graceful profile, though the elongated form of the preceding 612 Scaglietti strikes us as what Ferrari was trying to get away from with the FF in the first place. And guessing is as good as we've got at this point, as our attempts to get more from Ferrari PR resulted in a sad (if predictable) "no comment."

Autoblog Minute: UAW and FCA avoid strike, Clarkson teases new show

FCA avoids a worker strike, a former Top Gear host teases us with a picture from Amazon's new car show, and Toyota predicts autonomous cars by 2020. Autoblog senior editor Greg Migliore reports on this edition of Autoblog Minute Weekly Recap. Show full video transcript text [00:00:00] FCA avoids a worker strike, a former Top Gear host teases us with a picture from Amazon's new car show, and Toyota predicts autonomous cars by 2020. I'm senior editor Greg Migliore and this is your Autoblog Minute Weekly Recap. A UAW strike of FCA was avoided thanks to a zero-hour tentative agreement reached this week. Worker concerns that were renegotiated in the new [00:00:30] deal include adjustments to the two-tier wage scale, health care costs, and production outsourcing. Now check-in with Autoblog as we update our reports on this evolving story. Shooting began on Amazon Prime's new automotive show starring the former Top Gear crew. That's Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May. Now Clarkson threw out a tweet from day one of filming on location at Algarve Motor Park in Portugal. The picture features the show's [00:01:00] three stars and crew posing with the holy trinity of hyper cars. That's a McLaren P1, a Ferrari LaFerrari, and a Porsche 918 Spyder. This Prime show is being called Gear Knobs though the name is unofficial. Now if a tweet is any indication of what we can expect, who cares what it's called this is gonna be awesome. (Eds Note: Clarkson tweeted Friday that the show will not be called Gear Knobs.) Toyota predicts drivers could be obsolete on highways as early as 2020, with technology dubbed the Toyota Highway Teammate or THT. Toyota is using a modified [00:01:30] Lexus GS to show what this is capable of. THT is already able to create a driverless freeway car that's capable of changing lanes, making passes and taking curves. Plus, it can keep safe distances from other vehicles. Toyota is currently testing this on Tokyo's Shuto Expressway. Those are the highlights from the week that was. Be sure to check out my full recap this Saturday. And I'll have some added insight on the BMW M4 GTS. For Autoblog, I'm Greg Migliore. [00:02:00] Show Logo Autoblog Minute is a short-form video news series reporting on all things automotive. Each segment offers a quick and clear picture of what's happening in the automotive industry from the perspective of Autoblog's expert editorial staff, auto executives, and industry professionals.

Watch how fans honored Michael Schumacher on his 45th birthday outside his hospital

Michael Schumacher remains in a medically induced coma six days after a skiing accident in the French Alps. While the racing legend spent his 45th birthday in the hospital, listed in stable but critical condition, racing fans from all over Europe descended upon the clinic in which he lies in Grenoble, France, to pay their respects.
The event was arranged by Ferrari, the manufacturer with which Schumacher is most often associated after winning 72 individual races for the Italian marque between 1996 and 2006. In total, Schumacher won 91 races, stood on the podium 155 times and won seven F1 Driver's Championships over the course of his illustrious 19-year career.
Schumacher's family was deeply touched by the outpouring of support and has issued a short statement thanking Ferrari fans for their "incredible sympathies." We've gathered a few videos together showing scenes of support from outside the hospital, and you can see them, along with the family's official statement, below.