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Ferrari P80/C one-off built for 330 P3/P4, 1966 Dino 206 S fanatic

For more than four long years, one person has kept a major secret with Ferrari. The company and the client were working on a project that Ferrari calls its "most extreme one-off design ever." Inspired by the 330 P3/P4 and the 1966 Dino 206 S, the P80/C is a new-age take on a track-focused sports prototype. Typically for these types of specialty builds, Ferrari does as they've done in the past and reshapes a new exterior over an existing car from the for-sale lineup. But because it is a track car, Ferrari used the 488 GT3 as a starting point, and made "radical changes" to the equipment from there. It not only has a slightly longer (about two inches) wheelbase than the 488 GTB, but it also has a cab-forward design rather than the 488 GTB's centrally located cabin. Ferrari says this allowed for more creative freedom and played a major part in how the design took shape. Flavio Manzoni and the Ferrari Styling Center set out to make what they described as a "Hero Car." The client's direction was to make a "modern sports prototype" with design cues from the 330 P3/P4 and the 1966 Dino 206 S. These two cars carry significance in Ferrari's design history, as they impressed on the track but also influenced future road cars such as the Dino 206/246 GT. With heavy involvement from the client during the process, Ferrari has been working on this car since 2015, the longest the company has ever spent on developing a one-off. Starting from the ground up, aerodynamics played a major part in the appearance of the P80/C. A gigantic front splitter, which is specific to this car, snuggles the ground and extends beyond the dimensions of the body. Visually, it carries on along the flanks with aero skirts, and circles around the rear with a bulky exaggerated diffuser. The lower kit is left in exposed carbon fiber, creating a two-piece look that's separate from the Rosso Vero body paint. Ferrari says only pieces that were strictly functional were highlighted with bare carbon and that the car has a five percent aerodynamic improvement over the 488 GT3. For the designers, the P80/C was a safe space of opportunity and experimentation. It is a track car that does not fall under racing regulations, but it's also a customer production car that is not forced into road-ready restrictions.

Ferrari, Fiat, McLaren, Nissan join coronavirus ventilator efforts

Siare Engineering, Italy's largest manufacturer of hospital ventilators, has turned to Italian automakers Ferrari and Fiat to investigate the possibility that the automakers might help produce more of the live-saving machines that are urgently needed to fight the coronavirus pandemic. The Italian government has asked Siare to increase ventilator production from 160 per month to 500 as the country's death toll has surpassed 3,400 and is climbing rapidly.  "We're talking to Fiat Chrysler, Ferrari and Marelli to try to understand if they can lend us a hand in this process for the electronics part," Gianluca Preziosa, Siare's chief executive said in an interview quoted by Reuters, adding that the car companies' expertise in electronics and pneumatics could make them ideal partners. Preziosa said that another advantage of partnering with carmakers was their purchasing power, making them more likely to obtain parts that his small firm was struggling to secure amid coronavirus-related disruption to global supply chains. A spokesman for Exor, parent of both FCA and Ferrari, said that meetings with Siare had taken place on Thursday to study the feasibility of the idea and that a decision was expected in the coming hours. Two main options were being considered: either to help Siare engineer a capacity increase at its plant, with the support of technicians provided by FCA and Ferrari, or outsource production of ventilator parts to the carmakers' facilities. A source familiar with the matter told Reuters that Ferrari would be ready to start manufacturing ventilator parts in its famous Maranello headquarters, which lies close to the Siare factory, but that the luxury carmaker had yet to make a final decision. Automakers worldwide are being drafted for ventilator duty. In addition to Ford and GM making plans with the U.S. government; British Prime Minister Boris Johnson reaching out to Ford, Honda and Rolls-Royce; and an Elon Musk tweeted offer to build ventilators "if there is a shortage," other automakers and aerospace companies are joining in. In Europe, three groups have formed. Meggitt, which builds components including oxygen systems for civil aerospace and military fighter programs, is leading one consortium alongside engineers GKN, Thales and Renishaw. The other two teams are being led by carmakers McLaren, which is looking at how to design a simple version of a ventilator, and Nissan, which is working with others to support existing ventilator producers.

New Tesla, McLaren, and Ferrari models added to Takata recall list

UPDATE: A McLaren spokesperson confirmed to Autoblog that "a number" of McLaren models in the US, Japan, and South Korea will be recalled to fix non-dessicated airbag inflators. However, the recall only affects passenger airbags, as all driver's-side inflators use a different technology and are not affected. The timeline is still being determined. It's been more than two and a half years since the Takata airbag recall first made waves. Despite knowing which airbags were at fault and the exact cause of the failure, manufacturers like Audi, Ferrari, McLaren, and Tesla have been building and selling cars with defective airbags. Although it takes several years for the airbag to degrade to the point of failure, all of these new cars will eventually have to be recalled for replacements. It appears that time has come, as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has now issued a recall on some of these new models. Models from Tesla and McLaren have been added to NHTSA's recall list for the first time. Tesla is recalling every 2012 - 2016 Model S while McLaren is bringing back every model it's made since relaunching its road-car business in 2012. Not even the P1 is free from failure. Other automakers have expanded their affected-vehicle list. All of Ferrari's 2016 - 2017 lineup now falls under the recall and joins a number of previously recalled models, while Audi is recalling the 2017 R8. Since the recall started, dozens of automakers have recalled millions of affected cars to replace potentially fatal and highly flawed airbags that can deploy bits of metal at occupants. Eleven deaths in the United States are directly related to the faulty airbags. Before the recall, Takata held a sizable share of the airbag market. When the failures began to occur, some automakers were left with no alternative suppliers. As it takes a few years for the airbags to fail, automakers without other options faced a choice: they could either build cars that would be recalled in the future or stop building cars altogether until a secondary supplier could be found. These recalls seem to be happening so frequently that owners may not know what to do or where to check to see if their car is potentially affected. NHTSA is keeping a comprehensive list of all affected models. Their website can help owners determine if they have a potentially problematic airbag installed and the steps to take to replace it.