1999 Ferrari 355 F1 Spyder -recent Service, New Leather, Shedoni Luggage - Mint on 2040-cars

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24 Hours of Le Mans live update part two

We tasked surfing journalist Rory Parker to watch this year's live stream of the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans. What follows is an experiment to experience the world's greatest endurance race from the perspective of a motorsports novice. Parker lives in Hawaii and can hold his breath longer than he can go without swearing. For Part One, click here. Or you can skip ahead to Part Three here. I write about surfing for a living. If you can call it a living. Basically means I spend my days fucking around and my wife pays for everything. Because she's got a real job that pays well. Brings home the bacon. Very progressive arrangement. Super twenty first century. I run a surf website, beachgrit.com, with two other guys. It's a strange gig. More or less uncensored. Kind of popular. Very good at alienating advertisers. My behavior has cost us a few bucks. I'm terrible at self-censorship. Know there's a line out there, no idea where it lies. I still don't understand any of the technical side. Might as well be astrophysics or something. For contests I do long rambling write ups. They rarely make much sense. Mainly just talk about my life, whatever random thoughts pop into my head. "Can you do something similar for Le Mans?" "Sure, but I know absolutely fuck-all about racing." "That's okay. Just write what you want." "Will do. But you're gonna need to edit my stuff. Probably censor it heavily." So here I am. I spent the last week trying to learn all I can about the sport of endurance racing. But there's only so much you can jam in your head. And I still don't understand any of the technical side. Might as well be astrophysics or something. While I rambled things were happening. Tracy Krohn spun into the gravel on the Forza chicane. #89 is out of the race after an accident I missed. Pegasus racing hit the wall on the Porsche curves. Bashed up front end, in the garage getting fixed. Toyota and Porsche are swapping back and forth in the front three. Ford back in the lead in GTE Pro. #91 Porsche took a stone through the radiator, down two laps. Not good. The wife and I are one of those weird childless couples that spend way too much time caring for the needs of their pet. French bulldog, Mr Eugene Victor Debs. Great little guy. Spent the last four years training him to be obedient and friendly. Nice thing about dogs, when you're sick of dealing with them you can just lock 'em in another room for a few hours. You don't need to worry about paying for college.

Xcar goes analog with the Ferrari F40

We will forever be in love with the Ferrari F40. From its blunt-force appearance to its 2.9-liter twin-turbocharged V8 engine living and breathing perilously close to the driver's head, the F40, the last model designed and built with input from Enzo Ferrari himself, has been and likely always will be the Ferrari of Ferraris for automotive enthusiasts who grew up in the 1980s.
All of this raises an interesting question: is the Ferrari F40 the best supercar of all time? A case can certainly be made, and after watching - and, just as importantly, listening to - all 17 minutes of blood-red Italian glory from Xcar, you're going to have to try long and hard to convince us that anything could be sweeter than this particular Prancing Horse.
Watch the video above, aptly titled Analogue Animal. You owe it to yourself. So go ahead, sit back, turn up your speakers and click play.

2018 Ferrari Portofino First Drive Review | Forget all about the California

It's about 9,500 miles between the Golden State and a swanky former fishing village on the Italian Riviera known as Portofino, where pastel-painted cottages mix it with celebs and super yachts. For Ferrari, however, it's a gap of 10 years between the launch of the California, its first front-engined V8 sports car and this, the Mk. II version, the Ferrari Portofino. "California is such an iconic name," says Nicola Boari, head of Ferrari product marketing. "Trying to stay close wasn't a good thing. Portofino is discreet, it's not as splashy as Monte Carlo." The California was aimed at a new breed of Ferrari customer: younger, with a family, women. In one sense it's done that job well, in another it's failed. Boari admits with a shrug that not many women have actually bought a California, but for a car launched just as Lehmann Brothers was gasping its last, the car has attracted a new sort of customer just the same and attracted 35 percent of Ferrari's total sales. Last year, that numbered 8,398 vehicles. "Same sex, but a different type of customer," says Boari, adding that California customers use their cars 150-percent more than typical Ferrari sports car owners, tend to use their cars every day and 30 percent of them even use the tiny rear seats. "We had to learn new things," he admits. A lot of those "new things" have been crammed into this car, which goes on sale this August in the United States priced at $229,551. The basic premise remains the same: a 3.8-liter, twin-turbo V8 driving the rear wheels via a seven-speed, dual-clutch transmission and an electronically controlled limited-slip differential in a rear-mounted transaxle. That's 592 horsepower at 7,500 rpm and 560 pound-feet of torque at 3,000 rpm. The torque "curve" continues on from there with a profile resembling a pool table. It's good for 199 mph, 0-62 mph in 3.5 seconds, 0-124 mph in 10.8 seconds and gas mileage in the European test cycle of 31.7 mpg - this is no ordinary family vehicle. The 2+2 Pinifarina-designed aluminium body has been completely redesigned, but retains the same basic dimensions as the outgoing California. Dealers reported that the size was just about right, so the Portofino has grown by only 0.62 inch in length and 1.1 inches in width. It's lighter by 176.4 pounds, thanks mainly to a lighter body construction and interior, and stiffer thanks to more integral parts and aluminum pans under the floors.