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Ferrari takes over Rodeo Drive to introduce F60 America

Unless you own a very special Ferrari, the only way you were going to park on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills today was to walk there and sit down on a bench. Otherwise, occupying the length of the plutomaniac's thoroughfare was everything from a 1948 166 MM Barchetta, the very first Ferrari imported to the United States, to the brand new 458 Speciale A, introduced at the Paris Motor Show earlier this month. A collection of 60 significant Ferraris were on display to celebrate the marque's 60th anniversary as a US citizen, and it was the most impressive gathering of Italian metal we've seen since the company threw its 50th anniversary event at Pebble Beach a decade ago. How about a Le Mans class-winning 250 GTO, the 1954 375 MM Scaglietti Coupe that won best of show at Pebble Beach back in August, or one of the stunning 330 P4 race cars that was part of the 1-2-3 finish at Daytona in 1967? All parked on Rodeo Drive.
The special-est of them all received an introduction from new company chairman Sergio Marchionne, that being the F60 America. Only for the US, with all ten of them already sold for a reported $2.5M each, the F60 America reaches back to early America-branded offerings like the 340 and 375, and US-focused convertibles like the 1967 275 NART Spider, 1969 365 GTS4 Daytona Spider and 2005 575 Superamerica.
Unlike those Spiders, however, the F60 America is a voluptuous departure from the F12 Berlinetta it's based on, with the subtracted top opening up the flex of its hips, pairing nicely with the swell over the front fenders. As we told our photographer Drew Phillips, we're looking at the future of Pebble Beach, and you can enjoy it in the photos above or the rest of the Ferraris on display in the gallery below.

Ferrari SUV officially being considered

A new report from Bloomberg seems to confirm that Ferrari is very seriously looking at creating some type of SUV. The news outlet reports that CEO Sergio Marchionne said the sports car builder will come to a final decision on the crossover in 30 months. This of course means that actual production will be several years off, if it happens at all. He also referred to the hypothetical crossover as an "FUV," which we assume means something like Ferrari Utility Vehicle or Fast Utility Vehicle. We doubt it's something offensive, but Marchionne has been quoted as preferring to be shot than have Ferrari build an SUV. If we had to guess whether Ferrari will build an SUV, we would go with, yes. Both Car Magazine and Bloomberg have reported that the company is in the early development phase of some utility vehicle. Both sources also mention similar details such as the fact that it will be based on the all-wheel-drive GTC4 Lusso platform and that there will be a hybrid powertrain option. Adding an SUV of some sort to the Ferrari line-up could also provide an opportunity to score a healthy number of sales and grow the company. According to Bloomberg, Marchionne said any sales expansion would have to be balanced with maintaining some exclusivity. But even if Ferrari sold just 2,000 units a year, as mentioned in a previous report, that would still be a 25-percent increase over the roughly 8,000 cars Ferrari sold in 2016. That number of vehicles would also keep Ferrari close to the 10,000-vehicle-per-year target Marchionne proposed a couple of years ago. Besides the chance for growth, building a Ferrari SUV would also keep the company in direct competition with other sports car builders planning their own utilities. Aston Martin will begin producing its DBX crossover sometime in 2019 and Lamborghini will reveal its production Urus SUV in December. Related Video: Featured Gallery Ferrari GTC4Lusso T: Paris 2016 View 17 Photos News Source: BloombergImage Credit: Drew Phillips Ferrari Crossover SUV Future Vehicles Performance Sergio Marchionne

What's the smarter investment, Ferrari stock or a Ferrari?

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is gearing up to spin Ferrari off into its own company, and float some of its shares on the stock market. But buying and trading in Ferrari stock could face a rather unlikely competitor from within. As Bloomberg points out, the values held by classic Ferraris keeps going up, and by no small margin. Even something as relatively humble as the 80s-era Testarossa, for example, has nearly doubled in value over the past year alone. Meanwhile the value of some models – particularly those built in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s – have skyrocketed nearly seven-fold since 2006. Just look at the 250 GTO, one of the most coveted of classic Ferraris among collectors: not taking inflation into account, they were worth thousands in the late 60s, were already selling for hundreds of thousands in the 1980s, and by now are trading hands – on the rare occasion when they do trade hands – for tens of millions. One sold in 2004 for $10 million, and another in 2013 for over $50 million. Those kinds of increases can make a vintage Ferrari seem like a sound investment. That might make it difficult for Ferrari's stock to compete. The company hopes investors will view it as a luxury goods manufacturer along the likes of Prada, Hermes, or Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy, the stocks of which tend to increase in value at a greater rate than those of most automakers. But even the best of those luxury stocks have merely doubled in value since 2006, compared to the aforementioned seven-fold increase enjoyed by some classic Ferraris over the same period. Add to that the prospect of actually getting to enjoy owning a classic Ferrari – albeit at the risk of damaging it and hindering its value – and the idea of investing in Maranello's products instead of its stock can seem like a much more enticing prospect. Related Video: