2006 Ferrari F430 Spider, F1, Carbonbrakes, Racing Sts, Huge Msrp, Perfect Car! on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Ferrari F50s duel in world's most improbable tug-of-war

If it wasn't obscene enough to go off-roading in a Rolls-Royce Phantom or rally driving a Ferrari Enzo, the Tax The Rich crew has gotten its hands on a pair of ultra-rare Ferrari F50 models to perform a tug-of-war battle, which we usually see reserved for pickup trucks. Only 349 F50s were ever built, but this video pits two of them against each other by attaching a rope to the front ends, throwing the shifter into reverse and punching the throttle.
As we've come to expect from this video troupe, the action starts off with plenty of gravel-chucking, dirt-road drifting before the two cars finally meet head-to-head. Scroll down to watch the 520-hp V12s screaming in reverse as the tires smoke away.

Stellantis ready to kill brands and fix U.S. problems, CEO Tavares says

  MILAN — Stellantis is taking steps to fix weak margins and high inventory at its U.S. operations and will not hesitate to axe underperforming brands in its sprawling portfolio, its chief executive Carlos Tavares said on Thursday. The warning for lossmaking brands is a turnaround for Tavares, who has maintained since Stellantis was created in 2021 from the merger of Italian-American automaker Fiat Chrysler and France's PSA that all of its 14 brands including Maserati, Fiat, Peugeot and Jeep have a future. "If they don't make money, we'll shut them down," Carlos Tavares told reporters after the world's No. 4 automaker delivered worse-than-expected first-half results, sending its shares down as much as 10%. "We cannot afford to have brands that do not make money." The automaker now also considers China's Leapmotor as its 15th brand, after it agreed to a broad cooperation with the group. Stellantis does not release figures for individual brands, except for Maserati which reported an 82 million euro adjusted operating loss in the first half. Some analysts say Maserati could possibly be a target for a sale by Stellantis, while other brands such as Lancia or DS might be at risk of being scrapped given their marginal contribution to the group's overall sales. Stellantis' Milan-listed shares were down as much as 12.5% on Thursday, hitting their lowest since August 2023. That brings the loss for the year so far to 22%, making them the worst performer among the major European automakers. Few automotive brands have been killed off since General Motors ditched the unprofitable Saturn and Pontiac during a U.S. government-led bankruptcy in the global financial crisis in 2008. Tavares is under pressure to revive flagging margins and sales and cut inventory in the United States as Stellantis bets on the launch of 20 new models this year which it hopes will boost profitability. Recent poor results from global carmakers have heightened worries about a weakening outlook for sales across major markets such as the U.S., whilst they also juggle an expensive transition to electric vehicles and growing competition from cheaper Chinese rivals. Japan's Nissan Motor saw first-quarter profit almost completely wiped out on Thursday and slashed its annual outlook, as deep discounting in the United States shredded its margins. Tavares said he would be working through the summer with his U.S. team on how to improve performance and cut inventory.

2016 Ferrari 488 GTB First Drive

After The Last Supper, Leonardo Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa, after recording their first album, Iggy and the Stooges released the brilliant Fun House. Not every second creative attempt has to bomb like The Strokes' second, Room On Fire, and not every new car model has to be heavier and uglier like the Mustang II. Or at least that was the hope as I arrived in Italy for the launch of the 2016 Ferrari 488 GTB (Gran Turismo Berlinetta, if you're wondering). The new car traces its lineage back through 40 years of mid-engined V8 supercars, one that started with the 1975 308 GTB that replaced the V6 Dino series. But the 488 is also the follow-up to the 458 Italia, which is generally considered to be the zenith of all things Ferrari. With sublime handling and a yowling V8 that made you question how fast you could really travel on public roads, the Italia was an Italian missile wrapped in voluptuous aluminum. When the 488 GTB debuted at the Geneva Motor Show in March, the portents weren't good. As well as having fewer curves and a turbo engine, trouble was brewing inside the stronghold. Last fall, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) chairmain Sergio Marchionne sacked Ferrari president Luca de Montezemolo. And Marchionne's plan to sell 10 percent of Ferrari on the stock market raises fears of hedge fund guys calling the shots at this archetypal Italian sports car maker. What's more, there's already talk of increasing annual production from the current cap of 7,000 units to 10,000. But back to the 488 GTB. The new car is based on the same aluminum underbody as the 458, but with less dramatic looks. The source of those looks is not the design department, however. "We gave them [the design department] the shape...they started with that shape." explained Matteo Biancalana, Ferrari's aerodynamics chief. So wind tunnel data penned the GTB's lines, mainly because of an ambitious target to achieve 50 percent more downforce than the outgoing model with no increase in aerodynamic drag. "We had to touch every millimetre of the car apart from the carried-over roof," says Biancalana. The front grille channels air through the radiators, cools the brakes and denies air access to the underbody, which consequently develops low pressure areas that suck the car to the road. There's a moveable spoiler under the body at the rear to reduce drag at high speed in a straight line.