1990 Ferrari 348 Ts on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Lewis Hamilton cruises to victory at the Singapore Grand Prix

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Britain's Lewis Hamilton eased to victory from pole position at the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday as the Mercedes driver extended his championship lead over Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel to 40 points with six rounds remaining. Hamilton held off a mid-race challenge from Red Bull's Max Verstappen to register a record-equaling fourth triumph at the floodlit Marina Bay Street Circuit track, while Vettel finished third to slip further behind in the title race. "Great job everyone, what a weekend... keep pushing, keep pushing, we've got this," Hamilton told his team over the radio soon after crossing the line at the end of the 61st lap. Hamilton's 69th overall victory was his seventh of the season and it was built on the foundations of a stunning qualifying lap on Saturday, when he stormed to pole in a car deemed inferior to the Ferraris and Red Bulls on this circuit. For Vettel and Ferrari it was another disappointing weekend after the car showed plenty of pace through all three practice sessions, the German's cause not helped by a questionable strategy and a poor pitstop. Hamilton won this race from the third row a year ago when Vettel, Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen collided before Turn One but there was no repeat of such drama this time after the drivers got off to a clean start at the head of the field. There has, however, been a safety car period in every race in Singapore since it joined Formula One in 2008 and it was deployed on the opening lap after Sergio Perez pushed his Force India team mate Esteban Ocon into a wall after Turn Three. "Sorry guys there was no room," Perez told his team over the radio. Vettel got past Verstappen before the safety car emerged and slotted in behind Hamilton, but his race unraveled when the German pitted first on the 14th lap but got stuck in traffic and overtaken by the Dutchman when he made his stop for fresh tires. BACK MARKERS Hamilton was cruising up front but suffered a mini-crisis on the 38th lap when he got stuck in a queue of tail-enders, which allowed Verstappen to get right up behind him. The Dutchman had a look up the inside as Hamilton struggled to pass the back markers but the Briton just stayed ahead and was able to pull clear all the way to the checkered flag once he had a clear track ahead of him. "It definitely got a little bit interesting toward the end with the back markers as you could already feel the draft from the cars when you were five and six seconds behind," Hamilton added.

Ferris Bueller Ferrari replica is so choice, and now it can be yours

If you have the means, we highly recommend you consider picking up this replica Ferrari GT Spyder California that had a starring role in 1986 film "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." Granted, Ferris Bueller (played by Matthew Broderick) and his friend Cameron Frye (played by Alan Ruck) ended up completely destroying the car in the movie – don't worry, this wasn't the one that went careening backwards out of a garage. This car, one of three built for the film, is fully restored and is in complete working order, according to Mecum Auctions. Set to go under the auction hammer later this month during Monterey Car Week, the 'Ferris Bueller Ferrari' is a cinematic and photogenic gem, despite the fact that, ahem, it's not an actual classic Ferrari. If it was, trust us, the price would be far in excess of the pre-sale estimate of $250,000-$300,000, which Mecum has placed on the car. For reference, back in 2012, a true 1962 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spyder found a new home after someone handed over more than $8-million dollars to buy it. So, all in all, this phony Ferrari could be the steal of century, as long as you don't mind a 5.0-liter V8 engine under the hood, versus a screaming Ferrari V12. Originally built in 1985 by a California company called Modena Design and Development, this car is based around a steel-tube frame and comes powered by a V8 fitted with four Weber carburetors. Power is fed to the rear wheels via a five-speed manual gearbox. Design touches to make the car appear authentic include a Ferrari grille, chrome side vents and wire-spoke wheels, Jaeger gauges across the dash, toggle switches, tan leather seats, a wooden steering wheel and period-correct AM/FM radio. Interestingly, the car is also fitted with air conditioning. The car is fresh from a nine-month restoration, carries its original VIN, and has apparently covered only 1,520 miles since new. Related Video:

Marchionne's FCA-GM merger might come after Ferrari spinoff

Sergio Marchionne is continuing to rumble about working out a merger with General Motors, but don't expect anything big to happen before at least early next year. That's because Marchionne would likely wait for the Ferrari spin-off to be complete before beginning his next big deal, according to Automotive News. While the Ferrari IPO on the New York Stock Exchange is expected in the coming weeks, that only concerns 10 percent of the shares. The remaining 80 percent of stock is being distributed among shareholders in 2016. Piero Ferrari holds the final 10 percent with no intention to sell. This strategy allows FCA to claim 80 percent of the Prancing Horse's profits in the automaker's 2015 financial results. According to Automotive News, the tactic has other advantages, as well. FCA would be flush with cash by waiting for the spin-off to be complete, and it would keep Ferrari separate if a GM merger actually happens. Marchionne thinks Ferrari could be valued at over $11 billion in the IPO, and it could make FCA $3.3 billion richer when complete. Marchionne believes a combined FCA/GM could sell 17 million vehicles a year globally and rake in $30 billion in earnings. In the CEO's opinion, the two automakers are wasting money by developing components to do the same things on their vehicles. Although, so far the General's top execs are rebuffing all of his advances.