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Ferrari plans theme park for North America

Ferrari is building more theme parks, and the next one could be built somewhere in North America, according to Bloomberg. The exotic automaker opened Ferrari World – its first theme park – in 2010 on Abu Dhabi's Yas Island, adjacent to the grand prix racing circuit and where Warner Bros will soon open another theme park. A second Ferrari theme park (pictured) is currently under construction in Spain as part of the PortAventura Resort that's one of the largest in Europe, and the company recently announced a third facility "to be located in one of the primary cities in mainland China" as well. The prospective North American location would be the fourth, though details on potential sites remain unknown. The Los Angeles and Orlando areas have developed into epicenters for theme parks in America and could attract a Ferrari location, or send it looking for alternatives like Six Flags and Busch Gardens parks have. Wherever Ferrari selects, you can expect the park to feature various racing-themed attractions, including roller coasters, vertical acceleration towers, virtual test tracks, and more. The licensing of additional Ferrari theme parks comes as the company strives to position itself as a luxury lifestyle brand as much as an automaker and racing team. The storied marque has lines of clothing and various merchandise, and a network of retail stores through which it sells its products. Underscoring its expansion, Ferrari shareholders approved the appointment of several new board members from luxury brands, including Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy and the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. Investors also approved the renewal of Amedeo Felisa's contract as chief executive, but he's not expected to stick around much longer as Sergio Marchionne assumes more control over the company, which recently spun off from the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles group over which he also presides. Related Video: News Source: BloombergImage Credit: Ferrari Ferrari ferrari world theme park

Ferrari launches upgraded 458 Challenge Evoluzione

Want to drive an eight-cylinder, mid-engined Ferrari? Assuming you can get your lucky little hands on one, you can drive a 458 Italia, 458 Spider or new 458 Speciale on the street. But the real action is where the road ends and the racetrack begins. Ferrari's Corse Clienti division offers versions for GT2 and GT3 racing, for Grand-Am (likely to be revised for the new United SportsCar Championship), and, of course, for its own Challenge racing series.
It's the latter version that Ferrari revealed it was upgrading last week, and now it's made its debut at the tail end of the rain-soaked Finali Mondiali event at Mugello. Although Ferrari only released limited details and just the one new photo, the new 458 Challenge Evoluzione upgrades on its predecessor as promised with obvious aerodynamic enhancements.
Those upgrades are "aimed at making the car even more driveable" for the customer racers who take part in the series, and seem to bridge the gap (at least visually) between the previous 458 Challenge and the more extreme racing versions that have to contend with more competition than its own kind. The upgrades are being rolled out as a kit that will be obligatory in the various Challenge series that will kick off around the world next year.

One of Niki Lauda's 1975 championship F1 cars is going to auction

If you've been looking to add some Ferrari F1 cars piloted by legendary drivers, this is your year. On top of Michael Schumacher's 2002 Ferrari F2002 going to auction by RM Sotheby's, Gooding & Co. just announced it will be selling a 1975 Ferrari 312T used by the late Niki Lauda to win that year's championship. The auction house also says this is the first time a Ferrari 312T has been offered at auction. This particular car is chassis 022, and like all 312T's, it featured a flat-12 engine and a transverse transmission. The model was new for 1975 and replaced the troubled 312B3. Lauda, having won the championship in 1975, obviously had a good year with the model, but also with this particular car. He won the French Grand Prix, and took second and third in the Dutch and German races respectively. He also secured pole positions in every race he ran in it. Since leaving racing, this Ferrari has gone to various collectors. The seller is a collector from the U.S. who acquired the car in 2008 and had it fully restored. After that, the car made an appearance at the 2017 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, where it took third in class. So this Ferrari has both racing and show pedigree. The Ferrari will be offered at the Gooding & Co. Pebble Beach auction this August. The auction house expects it to sell for between $6 million and $8 million.