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Maranello cracks down on rent-a-Ferrari rackets

A crackdown by policy makers in Maranello, Italy, means that visitors to Ferrari's headquarters and museum can't as easily experience the brand's famously sonorous engines for themselves. Several businesses in the city had rented the Prancing Horse's sports cars to tourists for brief drives, but the screaming powerplants got on locals' nerves enough to force new rules to curtail these joyrides. According to CNBC citing an Associated Press report, the various rental businesses had 37 Ferraris and offered a variety of packages to tourists. For example, a 10-minute drive in a F430 Spider was as inexpensive as 80 euros ($87 at current rates). The drivers wanted to get the most from their brief time at the wheel and often sped around the city. While there were no major accidents from the vehicles, the local cops still pulled over 450 of these folks through the first nine months of 2015. The new legislation in Maranello and Fiorano limits the times the test drives can happen and bans the companies from luring customers outside of the Ferrari museum. "We have lost 80 percent of business," the owner of one of these firms said in the report. The rental agencies already challenged the measures in court but lost. It doesn't offer quite the same experience, but Ferrari fans can still get the occasional earful from the brand's engines by staking out the Fiorano test track. We often see the company's future and sometimes classic models there making wonderful noises. Related Video: News Source: CNBCImage Credit: Marco Vasini / AP Photo Government/Legal Ferrari Driving Safety Performance Supercars test drive maranello

Incredible $12 million Ferrari collection up for auction

Ferraris come up for auction all the time, but in Scottsdale next month Gooding & Company will be auctioning off an entire collection of Maranello's finest projected to fetch around $12 million. The collection belongs to one Tony Shooshani, described as "a widely published and renowned Ferrari collector." He's the proprietor of a 599XX Evo, a LaFerrari, and one of only six Pininfarina Sergio roadsters made. They'll remain in his collection, along with his prized 288 GTO and his thoroughbred Arabian stallion named Enzo. But he's liquidating some other notables from his garage, giving other collectors a chance to bring them home instead. This includes a trio of supercars. There's an Enzo tipped to fetch between $2.4 and 2.8 million, an F50 ($2.5-2.9m), and an F40 ($1.3-1.6m). The more classically inclined may be more enticed by the 1960s-era 250 GT Lusso ($2.2-2.5m), 250 GT Series II Cabriolet ($2-2.3m), and Dino 206 GT ($700-800k), and there's a pair of 80s models as well in a 512 BBi ($400-475k) and 328 GTS ($125-150k). The Berlinetta Boxer was Ferrari's first mid-engined twelve-cylinder supercar, and the 512 BBi was the ultimate incarnation thereof. It was never officially sold in the United States, but some still made it over here. This particular example was once owned by racing legend AJ Foyt. Those pre-sale estimates place the value of the collection altogether at $10.3 million on the low side, and as high as $13.5 million. That's a whole lot of cash, but there's a whole lot of machinery here – in both quantity and quality. So if you've had a good six or seven figures burning a hole in your proverbial pocket and have been looking for the right place to invest it, this could be your chance. Related Video: Gooding & Company is Thrilled to Announce The Tony Shooshani Collection to be Auctioned at the Scottsdale Auctions Headlining the historic collection, a trio of rare Ferrari supercars from an astute collector – the 1990 Ferrari F40, the 1995 Ferrari F50 and the 2003 Ferrari Enzo SANTA MONICA, Calif. (November 30, 2015) – Gooding & Company, the auction house acclaimed for selling the world's most significant and valuable collector cars, is pleased to announce an outstanding array of Ferraris at its annual two-day Scottsdale Auctions on January 29 and 30, 2016.

LaFerrari Spider among Maranello's future product plans

Niche though its products may be, Ferrari typically rolls out a new model every year. 2009, for example, saw the introduction of the California. In 2010 came the 458 Italia, followed by the 458 Spider in 2011. In 2012 we greeted the FF, and in 2013 both the F12 Berlinetta and 458 Speciale. This year the hyper-exotic LaFerrari was joined by the California T, and you can bet that Maranello will keep up that pace by rolling out new versions of and replacements for each of these models in succession.
Among the plans which Car and Driver reports Ferrari has afoot will be an open-top LaFerrari Spider - something which the Prancing Horse marque hasn't done at the top of its range since the F50, which came exclusively with a removable hardtop. The 6.3-liter hybrid V12 will likely carry over unchanged, as will most of the other parameters, but for the joy of experiencing 1,000 horsepower with the wind in your hair - and the exclusivity of being one of the just 50 owners - we're told to expect a price tag roughly double that of the existing $1.35 million coupe.
Of course, Ferrari has more plans than simply chopping the roof off its hybrid hypercar. In Geneva next March, the House that Enzo Built is tipped to introduce a Modificato version of the 458 with a twin-turbo V8 producing around 670 horsepower - over one hundred horses more than in the new California T. A refresh for the all-wheel-drive FF is also said to be underway for 2016, when it will receive a less awkward roofline and the possible addition of a V8 base version alongside the V12 that will remain naturally aspirated. As it will in the updated F12 due the following year.