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Hot Wheels loses Ferrari diecast contract to Chinese company

If you're anything like this writer, chances are you've got a diecast model or two kicking around the house. And if one of those models replicates a Ferrari, chances are it's made by Hot Wheels. The Mattel brand secured an exclusive contract from the Maranello automaker in the late 1990s, but the latest word from Hemmings has it that Ferrari has ended its partnership with Hot Wheels and awarded it instead to the May Cheong Group. Unless you're an avid diecast collector, you may not have heard of May Cheong, but you may have heard of its brands Maisto and Bburago. Both brands are longtime players in the model car market, but it's the Bburago part of the deal that's particularly interesting. Founded in Italy, Bburago made a name for itself largely due to the scale Ferrari models it made back in the day. But when the Prancing Horse marque awarded the exclusive contract to Mattel, and with increasing competition from the Far East, Bburago collapsed. May Cheong swept in and scooped it up, and now the Italian model brand, along with its onetime rival Maisto, will be producing diecast Ferraris once again. Whether Bburago will use any of its old tooling to resume production of Ferrari scale models or start from scratch with all-new equipment remains to be seen, as does the matter of whether either it or Maisto will be able to produce the same quality of models as Hot Wheels has with some of its higher-end offerings. Like most collectors, this writer's looking forward to finding out. Looks like it's time to buy another display case.

Ferrari LaFerrari is beautifully redundant

The successor the Ferrari Enzo has officially bowed. Ferrari pulled the sheets back on the oddly named LaFerrari at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show, calling the machine the "maximum expression" of what defines the automaker. In this case, that includes a 6.3-liter V12 engine with 789 horsepower married to a 160-hp electric motor. The combination is good for a full 949 hp and 663 pound-feet of torque, and Ferrari says the LaFerrari can punch to 62 miles per hour in under three seconds. Keep your foot planted and 124 mph will click by in a scant seven seconds, while top speed sits at a lofty 205 mph.
Engineers turned to a total of four different types of hand-laminatated carbon fiber to create a chassis that's both stiffer and lighter than would have otherwise been possible. With a 41/59 weight distribution, carbon-ceramic brakes and ultra-light calipers, the LaFerrari is unlike anything we've seen from the company to date. The automaker says its creation is the fastest in its long history. You can take a look at the in-depth press release below for more information, and be sure to check out the model's new site here.

Apple announces CarPlay in-car iPhone interface

Apple, maker of tech items like the iPhone, iPad and Mac line of computers, is extending its reach into the automotive market, making a fairly big announcement ahead of the Geneva Motor Show. No, it hasn't bought Tesla (yet). Instead, Apple has announced CarPlay, an all-new means of controlling an iPhone through your car.
Now, this doesn't strike us as some gimmicky thing. It's become increasingly common for automakers to take advantage of the high-speed data streams its customers enjoy on their smartphones in order to integrate navigation, traffic, audio and other infotainment items into a car's touchscreen interface. The Chevrolet Spark and Sonic are two prime examples of this move, using an iPhone's data stream for Siri integration and data for a third-party navigation app.
Owners will be able to plug in their iPhones to their cars via the USB port and gain control of a number of the device's functions, all through a car's touchscreen.