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Ferrari and Apple deepening ties, FF gains Siri integration and standard iPad Minis

The exciting new LaFerrari wasn't all that Ferrari had to announce today at the Geneva Motor Show. Ferrari chairman Luca Di Montezemolo added that the Italian automaker is looking to expand its relationship with Apple in the realm of in-car entertainment, which follows Apple executive Eddy Cue joining the Ferrari board of directors back in November.
According to Bloomberg, Di Montezemolo stated that the Ferrari FF would now come with iPad Minis as a part of the rear-seat entertainment system and Siri integration will be used with the infotainment system. Beyond the FF, though, it isn't clear what type of partnership will blossom between the two most powerful brands on the planet.

Ferrari dominated classic car auctions in 2014

If it seems to you that the prices being paid for top collector classics at auction keep ratcheting up, you're right. In fact in the US alone, some $1.3 billion were spent on collector cars this past year – a $100 million increase over 2013's tally. And much of that was made up of Ferraris. In fact vintage Prancing Horses accounted for nine out of the ten most expensive cars sold at auction in 2014 – and their prices went up by some 43 percent. The headline of the year, of course, was the 250 GTO which Bonhams sold in Monterey for over $38 million, setting a new world record. But impressive as that was, the GTO wasn't the only eight-figure Ferrari auctioned off this year. On the same week, RM sold a 265 GTB/C Speciale for $26.4 million. Bonhams sold a 375-Plus for $18.4 million at Goodwood, Gooding got $15 million for a 250 GT California Spider, RM raked in $11.5 million for a 250 LM and another $10 million for Steve McQueen's 275 GTB/4. The rest of the list was populated by another 250 California, another 275 and a 250 Mille Miglia, each of which sold for around $8 million apiece. That's the list reported by Ferrari itself, but while the top prices listed on Sports Car Market differ slightly, any way you slice it, the top ten slots are still taken by Maranello's finest. (Hagerty, for its part, reported a slightly different list a few days ago, with eight of the top slots taken by Ferraris and two by Ford GT40s.) Oh, and in case you're wondering, the tenth car on the list was not a Mercedes – the only marque that has traded places with Ferrari for the top place any year since the turn of the millennium. No, this year, the list was rounded out by the pristine white McLaren F1 that Gooding sold for $10.75 million at Pebble Beach this year, slotting in just above the McQueen 275. News Source: Ferrari, Sports Car MarketImage Credit: Ferrari Ferrari Auctions Classics record

Harry leaves his Garage to drive Ferrari 488 in Maranello

Harry Metcalfe doesn't need to go anywhere these days. He's handed over the reins of the Evo magazine he founded and gone into retirement, enjoying some quiet time with the many drool-inducing cars in his expansive garage. In other words, it would take quite the car to get him to leave the serenity of the English countryside and fly all the way down to Italy and its industrial north. The Ferrari 488 GTB is just such a car. The Prancing Horse marque's latest mid-engined V8 supercar should require no introduction. It's the successor to the celebrated 458 Italia and a long line that stretches back through the F430, 360 Modena, F355, 348, and 328 straight through to the 308 GTB that debuted in 1975. Only unlike its naturally aspirated predecessors, the 488 has gone twin-turbo to reconnect more with the likes of the F40 and 288 GTO. That leaves the atmospheric sector of this particular territory to the Lamborghini Huracan and its unassisted V10, while cozying up closer to the McLaren 650S. But does it make it any less of a Ferrari, or a less-than-worthy successor to the 458? That's what Harry set out to find out on the roads in and around the factory's home town of Maranello. Watch the video above to find out how it stacks up in his esteemed opinion. Related Video: X News Source: Harry's Garage via YouTube Ferrari Coupe Supercars Videos ferrari 488 gtb harry metcalfe harrys garage