1994 Ferrari 348 Spider Base Convertible 2-door 3.4l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Celebrating the Ferrari F40 and the man who raced it

The Ferrari F40 has become one of the iconic cars of the last 50 years. It presaged the supercars of the future with its extensive use of carbon fiber and turbocharged engine, but it was also old school with no traction control, stability control or even anti-lock supervision to save the driver if they got in over their head. In its latest video, XCar Films takes a look at the F40 through the lens of a man in the UK who specializes in keeping them on the road and occasionally races these quintessential sports cars.
John Pogson has spent his entire life surrounded by engines. His father was a transport manager for a trucking company and he used to accompany him out on repairs. When he was old enough, John started repairing vehicles at a Lancia dealer, and from there, he started working for Ferrari. Eventually, he saved up enough money to open his own, independent Italian car garage. His new business proved successful, and Pogson's customers started asking him to race their Ferraris, including the F40 - something he did with great success. How could you say no to that opportunity?
While Italian cars are his specialty, Pogson also has a soft spot for all performance cars. The video shows him driving his AC Cobra with a claimed 600 horsepower and doing some smoky donuts in it. Scroll down to learn more about the F40 from one of the people that knows it best.

Ferrari posts record profits on restricted volume

Most automakers are after one thing and one thing only: selling more cars. Because, after all, selling more cars means making more money. Right? Well that's usually the case, but Ferrari has taken a different approach. Rather than try and sell more cars, Ferrari intentionally sold fewer models in 2013, yet it made more money.
The move was implemented after 2012 emerged as the strongest year in the company's history. Instead of pushing to sell even more cars, it opted to maintain a level of exclusivity by selling fewer - 5.4 percent fewer than the year before, to be specific - thereby ensuring that those it did sell were worth more. As a result, in 2013, Ferrari logged record turnover, profits and finances: on 2.3-billion euros of revenue (up 5 percent from the previous year), Ferrari recorded 363.5 million euros in profit last year - that's roughly $500M USD.
Before you go jumping to conclusions, though, bear a few factors in mind. For one, Ferrari's stakeholders aren't pocketing all that cash - they're reinvesting it into the company: over the course of the same year, Ferrari invested some 337 million euros - 464 million dollars - in research and development. And while the company's extensive merchandizing efforts continue to bring in more cash, at 54 million euros ($74M) raised last year, the branding operation still doesn't account for a sixth of overall revenues. Still, it's little wonder that the experts at Brand Finance have named Ferrari the world's most powerful brand for the second year running.

Ferrari planning six-cylinder Dino revival?

Ferrari swore up and down when it was developing the California that it wouldn't be an "entry-level" model. Whether that ultimately proved to be the case or not is up for debate, but it seems that the Prancing Horse marque is now preparing to launch a properly more accessible model in the near future. According to Motor Trend, Maranello is working on a new six-cylinder sports car to serve as the point of entry for new customers – especially in China. Tax implications there could mean the V6 would displace less than 3.0 liters, but likely pack a pair of turbochargers to ensure that output and performance live up to the Ferrari standard. Tipped to arrive in 2019, the six-cylinder model could materialize as a revival of sorts of the Dino line. Named after Enzo Ferrari's first-born son, the Dino sub-brand used mostly six-cylinder engines to take on the Porsche 911 on and off the track. The Dino 206 GT emerged in 1968, evolved into the larger-displacement 246 the following year and ultimately gave way to the very different, eight-cylinder, four-seat 308 GT4 in 1973, later to be rebadged as a proper Ferrari once the Dino brand was put to rest in '76. It's worth noting that Ferrari developed the 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 for the Maserati Ghibli and Quattroporte, which would presumably serve as the basis for the new entry-level Ferrari. Though FCA typically endeavors to keep its brands from competing directly with one another, Maserati is due to release a production version of the Alfieri sports car concept within the next couple of years, powered by that same engine, and could share its underpinnings with the Ferrari model in question. The six-cylinder Prancing Horse could carry a price tag of around $180,000 to take on the likes of the Porsche 911 Turbo, Mercedes-AMG GT, Audi R8 and the Sports Series which McLaren just kicked off with its new entry-level 570S. Related Video: News Source: Motor TrendImage Credit: Newspress Ferrari Coupe Performance v6 ferrari dino