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Drive covers the ups and downs of the Ferrari Testarossa

We don't know how we got here, but it's apparently Ferrari Testarossa season. Not even 90 days ago, Evo bossman Harry Metcalfe preached an ode to the eightiest Eighties exotic there ever was ("exotic," as opposed to supercars like the Ferrari F40 or Porsche 959). Only weeks ago, one of the white Testarossas from Miami Vice hit eBay for the outrageous Buy It Now price of $1.75M. Now we have Drive offering a five-minute video of John Pogson, an Englishman who's been restoring Ferraris for decades, discussing the ups and downs of a car that perhaps had the best shoulder pads of that whole decade. Pogson went to Italy to retrieve one of the first two Testarossas to reach to England, and promptly got in trouble with the factory for taking prospective customers to Silverstone for hot laps. Unlike other paeans, Pogson says it took him time to overcome misgivings about the red-headed classic, like how it wasn't very fast and would "run out of brakes" on the track, but he's come around to it. The video above is just a teaser for a longer Drive video behind a pay wall, so don't expect fireworks, but do expect some mighty exhaust noises. And since we're here celebrating, below we've included a MotorWeek Retro Review of the Testarossa from 1998, and another of Chris Harris driving a 1992 512TR. Harris likes it so much he says five words in the whole vid. And the coupe really does look better when you wear a white suit, even a horribly wrinkled one. 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. News Source: Drive via YouTube Ferrari Coupe Luxury Performance Classics Videos chris harris drive ferrari testarossa

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.

2015 Australian Grand Prix all about grooves and trenches [spoilers]

We can't remember the last time 90 percent of the action in Formula One had nothing to do with cars setting timed laps. Yet that's was the situation at the Australian Grand Prix, continuing the antics from a scarcely believable off-season with blow-ups, driver and team absences, a lawsuit, and a clear need for some teams to get down and give us 50 pit stops. Nothing much has changed from a regulation standpoint, and at the front of the field nothing has changed at all. Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes-AMG Petronas claimed the first position on the grid like someone put a sign on it that read, "Reserved for Mr. Hamilton;" teammate Nico Rosberg was 0.6 behind in second, Felipe Massa in the Williams was 1.4 seconds back in third. Sebastian Vettel proved that Ferrari didn't do another Groundhog Day routine this off-season, slotting into fourth. His teammate Kimi Raikkonen was not even four-hundredths of a second behind, ahead of Valtteri Bottas in the second Williams, Daniel Ricciardo in the first Infiniti Red Bull Racing, and rookie Carlos Sainz, Jr. in the first Toro Rosso. Lotus, now powered by Mercedes, got both cars into the top ten with Romain Grosjean in ninth, Pastor Maldonado in the final spot. However, even though the regulations are almost all carryover, in actual fact, everything has changed this year. Mercedes is even faster. Renault is even worse. Ferrari and Lotus are a lot better. Toro Rosso is looking like anything but a junior team. And McLaren is – well, let's not even get into that yet. Furthermore, this weekend was shambles: 15 cars started the race, the smallest naturally-occurring grid since 1963. Manor couldn't get its cars ready before qualifying. Bottas had to pull out after qualifying when he tore a disc in his back and couldn't pass the medical clearance tests. The gearbox in Daniil Kvyat's Red Bull gave out on the lap from the pit to the grid, and to give misery some company, the Honda in Kevin Magnussen's McLaren blew up on the same lap. When the lights went out, Hamilton ran away and was more than a second ahead of his teammate at the end of Lap 1. The advantage disappeared, though, because behind him, at the first corner, we got our first pile-up. As Raikkonen drove around the outside of Vettel at the right-hand Turn 1 it looked like Vettel, going over the kerbing, hopped to his left and bounced into Raikkonen.