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Ferrari developing V-twin motorcycle engine?

When we read reports that Ferrari had applied for a patent on a V-twin engine design, our first thought was to check the date: this says the first of October, right... not April? And so here we are, entertaining the notion that Ferrari could be developing a motorcycle engine.
The report comes from Autocar, which claims to have dug up the application to patent the design for an "internal combustion engine having two cylinders, which are arranged in a 'V' configuration." In other words, a motorcycle engine. The application reportedly goes on to describe a balancing shafts to reduce vibration. Our own research did not lead us to find the application in question, so we'll have to take it with a grain of salt for the moment. But supposing it's all on the up and up, and that Ferrari was actually developing a motorcycle engine. Would that be so out of the ordinary?
Well, yes and no. Parent company Fiat, which is taking increased direct control of Ferrari, is undoubtedly looking at rival Volkswagen and its recent acquisition of Ducati (putting it in close proximity to Lamborghini) and would be keen to get in on that action. However tenuous the relationship, Lotus has also recently authorized a motorcycle bearing its name. And of course automakers like BMW and Honda, with which Ferrari has competed on and off the race track, also make motorcycles.

Ferrari USA boss takes over as F1 team principal steps down

Stefano Domenicali, the team principal of Ferrari's struggling Formula One team, has resigned. Domenicali's term at the helm of the legendary F1 team started with a bang, as the Scuderia captured the constructors' title in 2008, but went downhill rather quickly.
In his tenure, Domenicali, above, has witnessed Red Bull assert its dominance of F1 while the red cars from Italy have languished, failing to even challenge for a championship during the past four seasons. Ferrari's best season under Domenicali was 2012, and it still finished 60 points behind Red Bull.
Domenicali issued a statement saying he took "responsibility, as I have always done, for our current situation."

'Ferrari' is an oft-banned search term in China, but why?

The Internet has been a boon for car enthusiasts; after all, information about any car ever made is available at a few taps of the keyboard, whenever you'd like. Unfortunately, some Chinese motor heads are not quite as lucky because state censors have been intermittently banning searches for Ferrari on the country's micro-blogging sites, according to Time.
The problem has nothing to do with Maranello's supercars; it's what they represent. The Prancing Horse has become the symbol for so-called "princelings," wealthy young Chinese who use their parents' privileges in the Communist elite to afford luxuries.
The first bout of censorship came in 2011 when the son of then-high-ranking politician Bo Xilai was spotted cruising around Beijing in a red Ferrari, a vehicle much more expensive than he should have been able to afford. It started trending on Chinese social media, and censors began blocking searches for Ferrari in the car's red color. The Italian brand was censored again briefly in 2012 when a Chinese investor crashed his Prancing Horse into two other cars in Singapore.