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Ferrari cuts Toronto lawyer a deal to replace his flooded California [w/video]

A Ferrari might be the last vehicle you'd want to be driving when streets are submerged in water, but Toronto lawyer Howard Levitt was unfortunate enough to be behind the wheel of his $200,000+ Ferrari California when the tunnel he was driving through started to fill up. It was July, when parts of the Canadian city were flooded, but he was determined to make his flight to a court appearance the next day. So Levitt abandoned his metallic blue supercar in the middle of the street and took a cab to the airport, the National Post reports.
The car subsequently was totaled, and the insurance company covered the damage, so after completing his court assignment (and a column for the Financial Post that was due the same day), Levitt began to search for a replacement for his California - driving his 1994 Dodge Viper in the meantime. He decided on a 2014 California in the same metallic blue to replace his 2010 model. When he approached Ferrari to put in an order, the Italian marque was waiting for him, having heard of his mishap. The company offered him a "very generous" deal on a 2014 model; an undisclosed amount less than the after-options retail price of around $300,000.
The new Ferrari is expected to be delivered to Levitt in November, and we can only hope another flood doesn't catch him off guard. We're not so sure Ferrari would offer him another "very generous" deal. Feel free to watch the short video below, despite its rather static nature, which we included to precisely show the sad fate of Levitt's fallen California.

Without engine deal, Red Bull could be squeezed out of F1

It would have seemed unthinkable just a couple of years ago when it was winning more races than it lost and scoring one world championship after another, but these days Red Bull can't get a competitive engine. And if it doesn't get one soon, it could be forced out of Formula One altogether. This development emerges after two years of the once indomitable but now deteriorating relationship between Red Bull and its longtime engine partner Renault. When F1 switched from the previous V8 engines to the new hybrid turbo V6 power units ahead of last season, Renault dropped the ball, and Mercedes picked it up. Ferrari has since recovered much of the lost ground to push the Mercedes factory team for wins, but Red Bull and Renault have not. The stress of falling off their perch has left both parties pointing fingers at each other to the point that the team's longtime technical director Adrian Newey doesn't think the marriage is salvageable, or worth salvaging. "Unfortunately, our relationship with Renault is pretty terminal – there's been too much of a marriage breakdown, so we have no engine," said Newey. That's left Red Bull looking elsewhere for a new engine deal, but so far it's been unable to find one. The prospect of replacing sponsor Infiniti and supplier Red Bull with a similar partnership with Aston Martin and Mercedes has apparently come to naught. And the proposed buyout and engine deal from the Volkswagen Group evidently collapsed in the wake of that brand's diesel emissions scandal. That leaves Red Bull to turn to one of the existing engine suppliers in the series, and apparently neither Ferrari nor Mercedes are willing to sell their engines to one of their chief rivals. As McLaren has demonstrated this season, the Honda engines aren't up to speed, either. Which leaves Red Bull with nowhere else to turn. And if it doesn't find something in time for next season (or the following one at the latest), Newey says it may have to pack it in and close up shop. "Red Bull should not be put in a position where they're only there to make up the numbers." Related Video: News Source: Reuters via Motorsport.comImage Credit: Felipe Dana/AP Motorsports Ferrari Renault F1

Fangio's Ferrari sells for $28 million in New York [w/videos]

See this Ferrari? It just set the record as the most valuable automobile sold at auction this year. It's a 1956 Ferrari 290 MM driven by the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio, and it sold last weekend in New York for an astonishing $28.05 million. The speedster was built for Fangio to drive in the 1956 Mille Miglia – the last time the Argentinian would enter the race, which was shut down as a competitive event the following year. But before chassis number 0626 was retired, it was driven by such legends as Phil Hill, Alfonso de Portago, and Wolfgang von Trips. Ferrari only made four examples, and between its provenance and its pristine condition – it never crashed – this 290 managed to exceed its pre-sale estimate. In the process, 0626 powered its way into the record books as the most expensive car sold at auction in 2015, the most valuable that RM has ever handled, and the highest price ever paid for a vehicle in New York City. In fact the only cars ever sold at auction for more than this one were another Ferrari (the 250 GTO that Bonhams sold last year for $35 million) and another of Fangio's racers (the Mercedes W196 also sold by Bonhams for $29.6 million in 2013). Though Fangio's Ferrari was far and away the top lot of the day, it wasn't the only multi-million-dollar automobile sold as part of RM Sotheby's Driven by Disruption auction. A 1962 Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato set a new record for British automobiles at $14.3 million. A Ferrari 250 GT Series I Cabriolet sold for $5.7 million, a Pierce-Arrow Silver Arrow went for $3.7 million, and another Ferrari 250 Europa sold for $3.3 million – as did Floyd Mayweather's Enzo. A '72 Lamborghini Miura SV fetched $2.4 million, and Janis Joplin's Porsche 356 set a new record for its type and well exceeded expectations at $1.7 million. All told, the event generated a massive $73.5 million in sales, of which the Fangio Ferrari alone accounted for over a third. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.