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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.

Party boy videos his night of drinking, driving - and downfall

So, I've thrown around the word "Schadenfreude" a lot around here. Roughly translated as "joy at another's misfortune," it's one of those lovely German-language compound words that perfectly sums up some part of the human condition. Another of my favorites is " B ackpfeifengesicht." This one translates as "a face in need of a fist." In this story out of Morocco about a rich young man drinking, driving, and crashing a Ferrari, both of those words come immediately to mind. According to NDTV, a 20-year-old spent a wild night on the town in Rabat back in April. The unnamed man spent his evening partying, drinking champagne, dancing at clubs, and racing his slate-colored Ferrari California around the city. Someone who was with him recorded the evening for posterity, and caught him drinking out of a bottle of champagne, completely annihilated, while driving and generally acting the fool. As you can imagine, the evening didn't end well for him. In the morning, he was still apparently drunk and driving around. He smashed into a small, silver sedan, which caved in that car's door and mangled the California's frontend. Unfazed, our man shot a little video of himself dancing around the crash scene, giving the cops lip, and smoking in the back of an ambulance. I guess he thought his wealth and status would get him out of trouble. Joke's on him, though. Morocco's official MAP news agency stated that the Ferrari driver was found guilty of driving while intoxicated and driving without insurance. For this, he got two years in jail and was slapped with a 2,000 euro fine. And that, friends, is Schadenfreude and B ackpfeifengesicht in action. Related Video News Source: NDTV Auto News Weird Car News Ferrari drunk driving morocco

2013 Ferrari FF [w/video]

The World's Fastest Four-Passenger is Frickin' Fabulous
"I miss my mommy."
Those frightened words floated from the mouth of a five-year-old boy strapped snugly into a booster seat in the backseat of the Ferrari FF I was piloting. Moments earlier, his father had allowed me to take him, and his two brothers, for their first ride in a supercar, and I had apparently failed miserably.