Ferrari Officially Reveals One-Off P540 Superfast Aperta for American Client

Ferrari is back into the business of coachbuilding as the Italian supercar maker unveiled the second one-off special after the P4/5 it built for American collector (and millionaire…) James Glickenhaus back in 2006. The new Ferrari P540 Superfast Ferries Aperta was created for Edward Walson, son of John Walson, the inventor of cable TV.

The wealthy American approached Ferrari in 2008 to produce a modern reinterpretation of the gold-coloured 1965 Ferrari 250GT NART Spyder featured in a 1968 Fellini short film called “Toby Dammit”.

“I had always dreamed of designing sports cars,” Walson explains, “and when I saw this film the decision came of its own accord: one day I would have ‘my’ Ferrari.” And well, he did.

In case you didn’t notice, the Ferrari P540 Superfast Aperta is based on the 599 GTB Fiorano. The car was designed by Pininfarina and built in Maranello, with Ferrari claiming that Walson was directly involved in each stage of its development.

According to the Italians, while considerable effort went into strengthening the chassis after the roof was chopped off, the increase in weight was kept down to just 20 kg or 44 pounds by employing carbon-fibre extensively.

Ferrari said that from the initial sketches to the final, road-legal car, it took just 14 months to complete the project.

Those of you with a strong memory may remember that we first showed you the P540 Superfast Aperta earlier this year, though then, we didn’t know any details about the one-off Prancing Horse model.

Technical specifications

Length 4731 mm

Width 1954 mm

Height 1300 mm

Wheelbase 2750 mm

Front track 1690 mm

Rear track 1620 mm

Engine

65° V12

Displacement 5999 cc

Maximum power 456 kW (620 CV) at 7600 rpm

Maximum torque 608 Nm (62 kgm) at 5600 rpm

Transmission

F1 6-speed gearbox

Tyres

Front 245/35 20″

Rear 305/35 20″

Fuel consumption

Combined cycle 17.9 l/100 km

CO2 emissions

Combined cycle 415 g/km

Chinese women driving new Ferrari sales?

It looks like Ferrari’s love affair with China isn’t one-sided. According to a recent report, the Prancing Horse moved a total of 220 cars in China last year, and of those, 20 percent were snapped up by well-to-do women. That means China’s ladies are buying Ferraris at four times the rate of their western counterparts. Why? It all has to do with business.

Ferrari says there are somewhere between 400-500 millionaires in China and that a fair portion of those are women who have earned their money by building and operating competitive businesses. They’ve got cash, and they want the toys that come with it.

Interestingly enough, the company also said that the average age of a Chinese Ferrari buyer is 10 years younger than in Europe or North America. If you were looking for proof that the automotive industry is shifting its focus from the west, look no further.

Ferrari ‘forced’ to add hybrid, emissions concerns not ‘real’

By now, you’ve likely seen the various hybrid vehicles shown off by Ferrari, both for racing and for street-legal models in concept form. Purists might be more than a bit put off by the idea of a supposedly eco-friendly vehicle wearing the famed Prancing Horse badge, and it seems that Ferrari head Amadeo Felisa commiserates with them.

Speaking to Autocar at the recent Beijing Motor Show, Felisa had some rather interesting remarks on the future of his company, notably regarding the powerplants needed to meet future emissions and fuel mileage requirements. Says Felisa:

Our customers are looking for the essence of Ferrari – the emotion, the performance, the technology and so on. The way in which we fix emissions is not their problem but ours. If we are not able to fix it, only then will it become a problem for them.

That’s rational, we’d say. But here’s the point where Felisa’s comments seem sure to garner a few raised eyebrows amongst the environmental set:

[Hybrids will come in] 2015, if we are forced to by the [government] regulations. The issue of emissions for Ferrari is more a political one than real one. Lowering emissions of every Ferrari will not save the planet, but it will cost us a lot of money… In the next five to 10 years, hybrid technology will develop and maybe something else will come up. Maybe it’ll be hydrogen, but for our cars only hybrid is ready.

So, hydrogen isn’t ready for Ferrari (or vice versa) and the only reason the sportscar manufacturer is even looking at hybrids is because the various governments of the world are making them. Oh yeah, and nothing with more than two doors. At least that much we can all agree upon.

VIDEO: Chasing a Ferrari 458 Italia in The Netherlands

We don’t know the driver’s affiliation is with the dealer that brought this spanking new Ferrari 548 Italia to the Netherlands – maybe he’s a client, perhaps he’s a salesperson or even the owner – but case is that Youtube member ‘Jorie 2′ spotted the Italian supercar at Kroymans (Ferrari/Aston Martin/Maserati) in Hilversum and decided to follow and film the Prancing Horse model on the road. Not sure how the Ferrari driver felt about that, but you can check out the video after the jump.

Via: Worldcarfans

Crackpot: Greek Asks $800,000+ for Unfinished Ferrari Enzo Replica…

This year, we’ve seen people asking some crazy sums for their cars on eBay including $250,000 for a modded 1988 BMW 635CSi and almost a million dollars for a car that exists only on paper, the Plymouth Road Runner Concept, but this Enzo replica may very well be the king of all jokers. Dubbed the 2010 Ferrari Enzo prototype (don’t tell di Montezemolo), the hand built car was designed by Dimitris Papanagnou from Greece.

The Enzo replica is said to be equipped with an Audi-sourced 3.7-liter V8 engine that pushes out 300HP in Stage I, 500HP in Stage II and 900HP in Stage III. It also comes with an all-wheel drive system – and get this- ” it is fully created with materials as carbon fibre – aluminium – and iron titanoum alloyed tubes”, whatever that means.

The Italian “beauty” measures 4,800mm in length, 2,144 in width and 1,240mm in height while it rides on 19-inch alloy wheels on 255/35 ZR19 Pirelli tires up front and 335/25 ZR19 at the back.

The designers says that the car is about 97 per cent ready and that if you want to save a few bucks, you can ditch the handmade seats for some pesky… Recaro carbon fiber buckets.

And all this could have been yours (if Papanagnou hadn’t remove the ad from eBay today), from a mere $800,000 and upwards (that was the starting price).

Don’t get us wrong, we respect anyone who spent the time and money to build a car all by themselves, but tossing four crappy photos and a silly description on eBay for a replica priced at a minimum of $800,000 is like asking for a one way ticket to the loony-bin, or as Athenians might put it, the Dafni.

And just for the record, a quick search on eBay revealed that there’s a 2003 Ferrari Enzo -the original- with 9,000 miles on the odometer up for sale with a ‘Buy it Now’ price of $998,000 or best offer.

Link: eBay , Via: TopSpeed

Wimmer RS Shows Off Spiced Up Ferrari F430 Spider at Essen

Joining the insane 827HP Porsche 911 GT2 Speed at Wimmer RS’s booth at the 2009 Essen Motor Show is the Ferrari F430 Scuderia, a subtly tuned version of the F430 Spider model. Performance modifications include a power pack that comprises of an upgraded ECU and a hand-built, sport exhaust system featuring remote controlled valves that allow the driver to choose between a nearly stock and racing note from the quad tail pipes.

The kit slightly boosts the 4.3-liter V8′s power from 490HP to 528HP with Wimmer RS announcing the Italian thoroughbred goes from zero to 100km/h (62mph) in a claimed 3.84 seconds, to 200km/h (124mph) in 11.03 seconds and to 300km/h (187mph) within 34.9 seconds.

The tuned F430 Spider is said to top out at 321 km/h or 200 mph.

The German firm’s sport package also includes a KW HLS suspension system that allows the front-end of the car to be lifted by 45mm at a push of a button to safely navigate obstacles such as parking ramps or speed bumps without damaging the vehicle.

The tuner finished the package with 19-inch lightweight alloy rims from BBS shod in 225/35 R19 Dunlop tires up front and 305/30 R19 tires at the rear.