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This computer-generated Ferrari 250 GTO carved from marble rocks

The Ferrari 250 GTO ranks as perhaps the most valuable production car ever made. In just the past two years, units of the ultimate '60s sports car have sold for $32 million, $35 million and maybe as high as $52 million. With just 39 of them ever assembled, these Ferrari owners are among a rarefied class of an already top-tier class of car collectors. So once you collect the ultimate car, then what do you do? How about buy a scale model of it hewn from a single block of Arabescato marble by stone specialist Lapicida?
Interestingly, no sculptor developed a leathery callouses on his or her hands over the hundreds of man hours surely necessary to create this work of art, nor were dozens of hand tools worn to the nub in the pursuit of this homage to Italian performance. To create the 1:3.6 replica of a 1962/1963 GTO, Lapicida simply laser-scanned an actual GTO and fine-tuned the resulting data in 3D modeling software. Then, the file was sent to a computer-controlled, five-axis mill to shape the marble, which was selected because the veining gave the illusion of speed. Finally, it was hand-finished to make sure the details were as crisp as possible. The completed model measures 47.2-inches long, 18.1-inches wide and 13.4-inches tall and retails for a tidy £30,000 - over $49,000 USD.
Impressive though it may be, it seems hard to imagine spending that sort of money on a car that you can't sit in or drive down the road. Then again, if you can afford to own a real 250 GTO, it's barely pocket change. Lapicida also takes commissions, so if you want a marble model of your car, they're happy to do it. Then again, if you just need your foyer retiled or your personal chef's is demanding an upgraded kitchen, they'll do that, too. Scroll down to get the full details on the model.

Chevy ad compares Spark EV with Ferrari 458 Italia

Chevrolet's new commercial for the 2014 Spark EV emphasizes the little hatchback's performance over pretty much everything else, and it even goes as far as to compare it to a Ferrari 458 Italia. That's right, the electric bubble is pitched in the commercial as having a higher torque figure than the Ferrari - and it does, with a massive 400 pound-feet ready to be unleashed.
That doesn't translate into a quicker car, however, as the 458's V8 with 570 horsepower and not-exactly-quaint 398 lb-ft gives it a 0-60 time of 3.0 seconds compared to the Spark EV's 7.6-second run.
"We think the fun-to-drive element is an area for us to differentiate ourselves," Sam Basile, executive chief engineer for GM's global minicars and emerging-market vehicles, told Automotive News.

'Sensual but also logical': Ferrari's Flavio Manzoni opines on design at London exhibit

Ferrari design boss Flavio Manzoni was in London this week for the opening of a five-month exhibition on the famous Italian brand, part of its 70th-anniversary celebrations, at the world-famous Design Museum. So Autoblog jumped at the chance to ask the man behind the La Ferrari, FXX, 488 GTB and more about his design approach and inspirations, and also what he thinks about designing a Ferrari SUV, or even an EV. Manzoni, 52, is pleasingly Italian in manner and accented English. Passionate and forthright, he has strong views on what makes good design in general and for Ferrari in particular. Having increased the importance of the brand's Styling Centre considerably since becoming head of design in 2010, the now 80-strong team increasingly creates new vehicles in-house (as opposed to using former independent design company Pininfarina). The first project Manzoni fully oversaw within Ferrari was the La Ferrari. He's a firm believer in form following function, "but not in a German way," he says with a smile, citing the side of the 488 GTB, which is shaped by the need to divert air in a certain way around the car and also to look fantastic. As he declares: "You'd never find lines on a Ferrari just for decoration. The scoop on the 488 GTB is sensual but also logical." As another example, he says that his "latest baby," the track-focused FXX K Evo, took a different path from the very engineering-focused Enzo of 2002, designed well before he joined the company. "We worked for eight months with the engineers on the FXX, to keep the functionality and make it beautiful." In Manzoni's job, it would be impossible not to respect Ferrari's incredible back catalog — he owns a Gandini-designed Ferrari 208 GT4, "still very beautiful, but iconic as well" — but he's no slave to the past. "Deja vu is something we don't like," he says with a slightly scolding look. "We don't agree with nostalgia or the need to create a family feeling throughout our range. But a Ferrari must be recognizable without the badge. There are different ways to do this — not just in details like the headlamps, but sometimes in how you treat the surfaces. It's tricky to explain, but it's a feeling." View 12 Photos He's also not keen on following industry trends and has historically spoken out against luxury SUVs. "Every time we work on a new Ferrari, we try to improve on every aspect — including the center of gravity — so an SUV is not a Ferrari," he stated as recently as 2015.