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Ferrari will increase production by 30% to 9,000 cars per year

After years of keeping production purposefully limited to guarantee exclusivity under the reins of Luca di Montezemolo, Ferrari is looking to seriously ramp up its numbers in the near future. A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission indicates the iconic, Italian supercar maker intends to boost volume by 30 percent to reach around 9,000 vehicles annually by 2019, according to CNBC. Because Ferrari is already doing quite well financially, the extra sales would likely offer a serious boost to profits in the early years after its $10-billion initial public offering. Ferrari's filing also mentions growing demand in emerging markets and a larger "spending capacity" among wealthy buyers as reasons for growing the volume, according to CNBC. However, the company's execs intend to watch how the strategy works and ensure that the brand keeps an air of exclusivity. Sergio Marchionne initially promised to keep annual volume around 7,000 supercars last year. However after taking over as the Prancing Horse's chairman, he reportedly started considering pushing the numbers closer to 10,000. With Marchionne potentially becoming Ferrari CEO as well, the company's future is largely in his hands now. Under Marchioness plan, Ferrari plans to launch a new model each year through 2018. The Prancing Horse is reportedly developing a modular, aluminum space frame to underpin most of its future vehicles. The first to get it might be the next-gen California in 2017. Related Video:

Ferrari makes 488 Pista official with 711 hp, racing tech, photos

Instead of letting the internet get the best of its new V8 Special Series coupe, a day after images leaked Ferrari released a batch of details and photos on its 488 Pista track-day weapon. The twin-turbo 3.9-liter V8 produces 720 of France's Cheval Vapeur, which equates to 710 of our U.S. horsepower, while torque churns in at 568 pound-feet. Those numbers outdo the 488 GTB by 50 hp and eight pound-feet, and will get the 488 Pista in its lightest guise from a standstill to 62 miles per hour in 2.85 seconds, with 124 mph arriving in 7.6 seconds. Maximum velocity tops out at 211 mph. We say "in its lightest guise" because Ferrari records the 488 Pista's weight as 2,821 pounds dry, but with an asterisk that explains said weight can only be achieved "With optional lightweight features." As of now we have no idea what those features are, but along with other lightweighting efforts like the carbon floor, they help amputate a total of 198 pounds compared to the weight of the standard 488. Ferrari says the goal was to make the upper reaches of the new Special Series V8 "easier to reach and control," so engineers poured the brand's racing toolbox over the 488 Pista. The front S-Duct and diffuser mimic the ramp angle on the 488 GTE World Endurance racer. The sixth evolution of Side-Slip Angle Control that oversees the electronic differential, the magnetorheological suspension, and the F1-Trac stability control, now incorporates Ferrari Dynamic Enhancer software that varies the brake caliper pressure. Even the livery was created to enhance the coupe's raciness, as if such ornamentation were needed. We've heard rumors that 488 Pista can lap Ferrari's Fiorano test track faster than the LaFerrari. A better comparison — one we're more eager to see, and one with a much better chance of happening — is that between Ferrari's latest and the McLaren 720S. Their specs are nearly identical. The McLaren produces 710 hp and 568 lb-ft from a 4.0-liter, twin-turbo V8, weighs 2,828 pounds in its lightest fitment, sprints to 62 mph in 2.9 seconds, to 124 mph in 7.8 seconds, and has a top speed of 211 mph. Things that make you go, hmmm... We'll be at the Ferrari booth at the Geneva Motor Show as soon as the lights go up on this one. Related Video:

Scarbo Performance SVF1 First Drive Review | A hot-rodder's take on vintage F1

THERMAL, Calif. — Some turn their nose to the sky as soon as they hear the term, "replica." They only care for "originals," cars that are inevitably destined to collect dust in someone's impeccably clean garage, preserved for posterity, and never revved in anger or given the beans in fear of fouling up an "investment." Joe Scarbo thinks this "mere existence" is a boring one, that cars are meant to be driven hard – period. That's the outlook that spurned him to create the SVF1, an ass-kickin' track weapon so good, and so demanding, our body quit well before we wanted to hand back the keys. Once you realize what the Scarbo Performance SVF1 actually is, you'll get it. The open-wheeled, open-cockpit retro-racer is modeled after a 1967 Ferrari F312 Formula One car, and many, justifiably, consider its sultry, minimalist lines to be among the prettiest F1 designs. However, the guts under its beautifully hand-beaten aluminum exterior are more SoCal hot-rodder than devout Tifosi replica. Made even clearer that this track beast resides in the former is what powers it; a Red, White, and Blue-blooded GM-sourced, 430-horsepower LS1 V8. You can't get much more American than that. Our date with the SVF1 occurred at The Thermal Club near Palm Springs, an automotive oasis plopped squarely in the middle of an agricultural hub. The freshly finished facility is just a few hours outside of Los Angeles, but unlike the better-known Willow Springs, the track surface here is absolutely pristine, on top of which there was a fine mist of sand, a condition which kept both us and the SVF1 on our tiptoes. To provide the perfect soundtrack for our track adventure, Scarbo married the LS1's fly-by-wire throttle system with eight velocity stacks, providing an otherworldly induction yowl. This is punctuated by a guttural exhaust featuring an eight-into-one collector with a three-inch exit. Upon startup, the SVF1 is sends shivers through your body, and like chain lightning it propagates through the bodies of anyone within 60 feet. Grunt and stamina are required to shift the transaxle 5-speed manual transmission from a 986-generation Porsche Boxster mated up to the LS1. No flappy paddles or dual-clutches here. You get into the SVF1 by placing your feet onto the softly padded seat and sliding your butt in-between its fuel tank, which straddle your hips and posterior. Clip into the five-point harness and you're eyeball level with the truly massive Avon race-spec slicks.