Hard To Find White 458 Spider With Lots Of Options And Only 430 Miles! on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Ferrari launches upgraded 458 Challenge Evoluzione

Want to drive an eight-cylinder, mid-engined Ferrari? Assuming you can get your lucky little hands on one, you can drive a 458 Italia, 458 Spider or new 458 Speciale on the street. But the real action is where the road ends and the racetrack begins. Ferrari's Corse Clienti division offers versions for GT2 and GT3 racing, for Grand-Am (likely to be revised for the new United SportsCar Championship), and, of course, for its own Challenge racing series.
It's the latter version that Ferrari revealed it was upgrading last week, and now it's made its debut at the tail end of the rain-soaked Finali Mondiali event at Mugello. Although Ferrari only released limited details and just the one new photo, the new 458 Challenge Evoluzione upgrades on its predecessor as promised with obvious aerodynamic enhancements.
Those upgrades are "aimed at making the car even more driveable" for the customer racers who take part in the series, and seem to bridge the gap (at least visually) between the previous 458 Challenge and the more extreme racing versions that have to contend with more competition than its own kind. The upgrades are being rolled out as a kit that will be obligatory in the various Challenge series that will kick off around the world next year.

Fangio's Ferrari 290 MM should top $28 million at auction

Of all the legendary pilots that have driven for the Scuderia over the years, few carry the kind of clout that did one Juan Manuel Fangio. A five-time world champion from another era, Fangio won a couple dozen grands prix and a fair few sports car races as well, driving for the likes of Mercedes, Alfa Romeo, Maserati, and of course Ferrari. What you see here is the car that Enzo's outfit built especially for Fangio. And now it's going up for auction, where it's anticipated – with good cause – to fetch big bucks. This 1956 Ferrari 290 MM – chassis number 0626 – was designed for Fangio to drive in the Mille Miglia. It would be the last time he would compete in the event, before being scrapped the following year. Victory in the thousand-mile race once again eluded the legendary Argentinian with a fourth-place finish, achieved single-handedly. But that wasn't the end of the story for 0626. It would go on to be raced by Phil Hill at the Nurburgring, by Alfonso de Portago at the Rouen Grand Prix, by Wolfgang von Trips at the start of his career with Ferrari, and won the Buenos Aires 1000 KM in 1957. Victories like those helped Ferrari clinch the manufacturer's title in both 1956 and '57, campaigns in which the 290 MM played an integral part. One (and arguably the best) of only four examples made, 0626 was never crashed during its decorated career. After its retirement from the Scuderia, it made its way through the hands of numerous collectors and racers on both sides of the Atlantic. It spent 34 years in the Mas du Clos collection of Pierre Bardinon before being acquired by its current owner, who in turn is now putting it up for auction. It will feature as part of RM Sotheby's upcoming Drive by Disruption sale in New York on December 10, where it is expected to sell for over $28 million. That would make it the most valuable car ever handled by the venerated auction house, outshining the 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 NART Spider it sold at Monterey in 2013 for $27.5 million. Of course it's not the only lot consigned for the Manhattan event. It'll be joined by a spectacular blue 1955 Ferrari 500 Mondial that's expected to fetch around $6 million, as well as a 1962 Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato (~$16m) and a Lamborghini Concept S (~$3m), to name just a few highlights on the horizon.

Giancarlo Fisichella joins fellow former F1 drivers in United SportsCar Championship

In business or in politics, those driven by their careers typically aim for the highest position they can get to, and after they're done there, they typically retire. But not in motor racing. With an expiration date hovering in their mid-30s at best, Formula One drivers typically seek out other racing series to compete in once they've outlived their career on the grand prix circuit. And there is no lack of racing disciplines that are glad to welcome them in with open arms as motor racing royalty. With the calendar announced and the teams lined up, the roster of drivers is taking shape for the inaugural United SportsCar Championship. And while there hasn't been a large number of former F1 drivers – much less grand prix winners – lining up for the series, there have been some. Risi Competizione, the team that typically fields Ferrari entrants in American GT racing, has just announced that Giancarlo Fisichella will be driving for them in the United SportsCar Championship this season. The veteran of 231 grands prix has driven for Minardi, Jordan, Benetton, Sauber, Renault, Force India and Ferrari. In the case of the latter, he filled in for an injured Felipe Massa, and remains a Ferrari factory driver. Over the course of his fourteen years on the grid, he won three grands prix and landed on the podium 19 times. That makes Fisichella, who just turned 41 on Tuesday, the most accomplished former F1 driver to sign on for the American series, but he's not the only one. Other drivers already lined up include David Brabham, Max Papis and Christian Fittipaldi – each of whom contested a handful of grands prix in the 1990s – as well as Sebastian Bourdais, who drove for Scuderia Toro Rosso after dominating in Champ Cars for four years and left F1 in 2009 along with Fisichella, who currently looks to be the only driver lined up for this year's Rolex 24 at Daytona who's won a grand prix or even scored a podium finish. While Brabham, Papis, Fittipaldi and Bourdais will all be driving in the top-tier Prototype class, Fisichella will be trying to make his mark in the GTLM class. We'll be watching to see whether he can add that trophy to the class titles he's already accrued in the Le Mans Series, the World Endurance Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans itself in the five years since leaving F1.