1998 Ferrari 355 Gts on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Ferrari 400 Superamerica fetches record $7.6 million at auction

RM Auctions and its new partners at Sotheby's are no strangers to setting records at classic car auctions – especially when it comes to Ferraris. And now they've set another with the sale of this gorgeous 1962 Ferrari 400 Superamerica SWB Cabriolet. Sold as part of the father-and-son Paul & Chris Andrews Collection last weekend, chassis number 3309 SA fetched a whopping $7,645,000. That's a fair bit more than the similar, green over red, open-headlight example which the same auction house sold just a couple of months ago for $6.38 million, and far outstrips the $4,070,000 paid earlier this year at Gooding & Co.'s Scottsdale auction for a white Aerodinamico coupe. A 1963 Ferrari 400 Superamerica LWB Coupe Aerodinamico also sold for $2.86 million at the Andrews Collection sale. Succeeding the earlier 410 Superamerica, the 400 Superamerica was the Bugatti Veyron of its day: extremely expensive, exceedingly rare, and incredibly fast. Only 47 examples were made, seven of which were bodied by Pininfarina, and this was the last of them: a convertible with removable hard top and covered headlights. This was the show car which Ferrari exhibited at both the Geneva and New York auto shows upon its completion, originally in red over tan, before its first owner took it to the Bonneville Salt Flats. It subsequently bounced between a few owners over the following decades, undergoing restorations along the way and picking up numerous awards. It most recently served as the centerpiece of the Paul and Chris Andrews Collection in Fort Worth, TX, which RM Sotheby's liquidated over the weekend. The Superamerica was, of course, the top lot sold, but far from the only one: the auction featured another 15 seven-figure lots, including Packards, Duesenbergs, and more. All told, the event brought in a massive $53,887,585, setting a new record for a private automobile collection auction after every one of the lots sold.

Why newly independent Ferrari may be forced into fuel-efficient cars

The repercussions from Ferrari's pending transition into an independent automaker won't be understood for some time, but one of the biggest consequences could be that the iconic Italian marque will be forced into building more fuel-efficient vehicles.
As Wired points out, while Ferrari built fewer than 7,000 cars in 2013, its status as a public company could trigger pressure from shareholders to build more six-figure supercars and grand tourers. In turn, doing so could lead the company afoul of US Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, which dictate that any company that sells over 10,000 vehicles needs to maintain a certain fuel economy average across its fleet or risk fines.
With arguably its most popular model, the 458 Italia, hitting just 17 miles per gallon on the highway and its most efficient model, the turbocharged California T, stuck at 18 mpg, Ferrari isn't in a great place to hit the government's mandates (which are somewhat convoluted as Wired explains). The gist of the situation is that Ferrari will either need to continue limiting the number of vehicles it sells each year - a move that's certain to upset shareholders and irk its boss, Sergio Marchionne - or radically improve the fuel economy of its cars at the risk of performance. Rock, meet hard place.

Ferrari to reveal California-based 149M on February 12

The updated, turbocharged Ferrari California might be the Prancing Horse's worst-kept secret ever. The long-rumored car was spotted testing last summer at the Italian dreammaker's Fiorano test track with the unmistakable whistle of a forced-induction engine, and Ferrari is now teasing the reveal of its "149M Project" on February 12. Because that the original codename for the California was the F149, the new car is almost certainly the refreshed version.
The exact engine under the hood is still a mystery, but it is rumored to be a tuned version of the 3.8-liter, twin-turbocharged V8 found in the Maserati Quattroporte with 523 horsepower and 524 pound-feet of torque, an engine that is already a significant upgrade over the 483 hp and 372 lb-ft in the current California. Other reported upgrades suggest there is the possibility of revised exterior pieces to make the new model look more like the F12 Berlinetta, along with an improved interior featuring a more modern infotainment system. As expected, Ferrari has no plans to drop the California's retracting hardtop for the updated model.
While Ferrari will debut the new car on February 12, the public will probably not get its first chance to check out the brand's entry-level sports car until the Geneva Motor Show in March.