1998 Ferrari 456 Gta Recent Major Service, Reupholstered, Well Sorted Car on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Ecclestone wonders if F1's upcoming turbo V6s should get augmented sound [w/videos]

While every team on the Formula One grid is worried about making a good showing in this year's championship at the same time as they develop a brand-new car for next year's championship, Bernie Ecclestone and F1 circuit promoters have a different concern: how next year's cars will sound. The current cars use 2.4-liter, naturally-aspirated V8s that can reach 18,000 revolutions per minute and employ dual exhaust, next year's engine formula calls for 1.4-liter turbocharged V6s that are capped at 15,000 rpm and are constrained to a single exhaust outlet. Ecclestone and promoters like Ron Walker believe the new engines sound like lawnmowers and that the less thrilling audio will keep people from coming to races. If Walker's Australian Grand Prix really is shelling out almost $57 million to hold the race, every ticket counts. As a fix, according to a report in Autoweek, Ecclestone "suggests that the only way to guarantee [a good sound] may be to artificially adjust the tone of the V6s."
However, neither the manufacturers nor the governing body of F1, the FIA, think there will be a problem. Ecclestone fears that if the manufacturers "don't get it right" they'll simply leave the sport, but the only three carmakers and engine builders left next year, Renault (its 2014 "power unit" is pictured), Mercedes-Benz and Ferrari are so embedded that it would stretch belief to think they'd leave the table over an audio hiccup - if said hiccup even occurs. And frankly, these issues always precede changes to engine formulas, as they did when the formula switched from V10 to V8; fans, though, are probably less focused on the engines and more on the mandated standardization of the sport and the spec-series overtones that have come with it.
No one knows yet what next year's engines will sound like, but we've assembled a few videos below to help us all start guessing. The first is an engine check on an Eighties-era John Player Special Renault with a 1.5-liter V6 turbo, after that is Ayrton Senna qualifying in 1986 in the Lotus 98T that also had a 1.5-liter V6 turbo, then you'll find a short with a manufactured range of potential V6 engine notes, and then the sound of turbocharged V6 Indycars testing last year at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Any, or none of them, could be Formula One's future.

One of Niki Lauda's 1975 championship F1 cars is going to auction

If you've been looking to add some Ferrari F1 cars piloted by legendary drivers, this is your year. On top of Michael Schumacher's 2002 Ferrari F2002 going to auction by RM Sotheby's, Gooding & Co. just announced it will be selling a 1975 Ferrari 312T used by the late Niki Lauda to win that year's championship. The auction house also says this is the first time a Ferrari 312T has been offered at auction. This particular car is chassis 022, and like all 312T's, it featured a flat-12 engine and a transverse transmission. The model was new for 1975 and replaced the troubled 312B3. Lauda, having won the championship in 1975, obviously had a good year with the model, but also with this particular car. He won the French Grand Prix, and took second and third in the Dutch and German races respectively. He also secured pole positions in every race he ran in it. Since leaving racing, this Ferrari has gone to various collectors. The seller is a collector from the U.S. who acquired the car in 2008 and had it fully restored. After that, the car made an appearance at the 2017 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, where it took third in class. So this Ferrari has both racing and show pedigree. The Ferrari will be offered at the Gooding & Co. Pebble Beach auction this August. The auction house expects it to sell for between $6 million and $8 million.

Bonhams is auctioning a genuine, Tom Selleck-driven, Magnum P.I. Ferrari

If you're down at the Scottsdale car auctions this week, and love TV Ferraris, this is your chance to own one of the most famous of all. Bonhams will be selling a 1984 Ferrari 308 GTS Quattrovalvole that appeared on the detective show Magnum P.I. and was driven by Tom Selleck in all of his mustachioed glory. According to the auction house, this was one of the later models that was used for filming in 1984 and 1985. The car is in superb shape, too. It had only two owners after its time on the show, and its second owner had the car since 1989. It's nearly 100-percent stock, and it even comes with the factory tool kit. The only change was an aftermarket Tubi exhaust. However, the original piping is included with the car. The 232-horsepower V8-powered Ferrari won't come cheap, though. Bonhams estimates the car will sell for between $150,000 and $250,000. According to Hagerty Insurance, that's pretty high for a 308 GTS Quattrovalvole, which the company values at $83,900 for an "Excellent" condition model, and $122,000 for "Concours" condition. However, that's for one that never turned up on TV. And for a wealthy Magnum P.I. fan, you can't do much better than a Ferrari driven by Magnum himself. Related Video: