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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.

Ferrari might bring back the Dino, says Sergio

Dino: It's one of the most evocative, though long-dormant nameplates in automotive history. Coined after Ferrari founder Enzo's son, the badge was on a series of smaller and more affordable mid-engined sports cars produced between 1968 and 1976. And now Ferrari's boss says it could come back on the rump of an all-new Ferrari/Dino model. "It's a when not an if," says Sergio Marchionne, chief executive of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, majority owner of the Italian sports car maker. "We know that it [Dino] is an under-used resource, but that's why we need to get it right." He agrees that a Dino model could have around 500 horsepower, be smaller and lighter than the mid-engine, V8-powered 488, and could even have a V6 engine just like the original Dinos. Ferrari collaborated on the development of the V6 engine design for Maserati and forthcoming Alfa Romeo models. A future Dino-badged model could share the same mill. "The six-cylinder response has been positive," says the CEO. Just don't go thinking that such a car would be a cheaper Ferrari. Marchionne is adamant that a Dino would not be seen as, or indeed be, a budget Ferrari. But there is the possibility that Dino could be launched as a standalone brand, just as it was at one time in the Seventies. "You don't screw around with the interests of your customers," says Marchionne, admitting he hated the Porsche Boxster model because it was seen as a cheap Porsche. Dino was originally created to compete with Porsche's 911. Enzo reasoned that he didn't want to reduce the price of his more expensive models to compete with the more affordable German sports car. Ferrari could do good business in a lower-priced arena, but Marchionne is clear that he wouldn't chase sales at the expense of the brand. "I would never try to sell another 500 cars at the expense of the Ferrari name," he says. Related Video: Image Credit: Winfried Rothermel / AP Design/Style Ferrari Supercars Sergio Marchionne ferrari dino

Michael Schumacher's 50th birthday marked by celebrations, privacy

Against the backdrop of celebrations marking Michael Schumacher's 50th birthday on Thursday, the medical condition of Formula One's most successful driver remains just as fiercely guarded by his close family. More than five years after a near-fatal brain injury in a skiing accident, the seven-time F1 champion continues to be cared for in total secrecy at home in the quiet Swiss town of Gland on the shores of Lake Geneva. He has been there since being transferred from a hospital in September 2014. "You can be sure that he is in the very best of hands and that we are doing everything humanly possible to help him," Schumacher's family said in a rare statement Wednesday. "Please understand if we are following Michael's wishes and keeping such a sensitive subject as health, as it has always been, in privacy." It was while skiing with his teenage son Mick in the French Alps at Meribel that Schumacher fell on Dec. 29, 2013. He hit the right side of his head on a rock, splitting open his helmet. Doctors at Grenoble hospital removed blood clots, but others were left untouched because they were too deeply embedded in his brain. With unsourced stories abounding, updates on his condition went from scarce to non-existent as his family closed ranks around him . But the family understands the level of devotion toward Schumacher from his legions of fans. Coinciding with his birthday, the family is releasing the Official Michael Schumacher App offering a virtual museum tour of his greatest achievements. "The app is another milestone in our effort to do justice to him and you, his fans, by celebrating his accomplishments," the statement said. Seven titles Many of those accomplishments were with Ferrari, where the German driving ace won five of his seven F1 titles, in 2000 through 2004. (He won with Benetton in 1994 and 1995.) Ferrari is honoring his 50th with a special museum exhibition of his achievements at its Maranello headquarters in northern Italy. His stature is Ferrari folklore is immense, while his impact on F1 is unparalleled with perhaps the exception of the late Brazilian great Ayrton Senna. Schumacher's winners' aura was perhaps unfairly viewed from the outside as cold and distant, when in essence he was incredibly appreciative of those he worked closely with. In 2000, he delivered Ferrari from years of frustration with a first world title since Jody Scheckter in 1979.