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Sergio Marchionne wants Alfa Romeo back in F1

It's been decades since Alfa Romeo has competed in Formula One. But if Sergio Marchionne gets his way, it could make a comeback soon. Now we know what you might be thinking: Alfa Romeo and Ferrari are both part of the same Fiat Chrysler Automobiles group, so why would Marchionne want two brands competing against each other in such a costly racing series? Because technically speaking, Ferrari is no longer part of FCA, that's why. They share mostly the same owners and are run by the same person (Marchionne), but the Prancing Horse marque recently split off from its former parent company and floated its own shares on the stock market. That makes it a separate entity, and also means that FCA no longer has a direct link to F1. But its chief executive clearly thinks the investment is worthwhile. Marchionne has been known to state grandiose plans, but he's also been known to carry through on many of them. So the next question is, if the plan goes through, just how Alfa Romeo might participate in F1? Some automakers (like Mercedes) field their own teams, others (like Honda) compete as engine suppliers, and still others (like Infiniti) as branding partners. Alfa could go either route, but Marchionne told Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport that "Alfa Romeo is able to make itself a chassis, and it is able to make engines." Of course, that doesn't mean that it necessarily will. It could outsource a chassis from a constructor like Dallara, which is located near the same Varano circuit that Alfa uses regularly. It could also source an engine from its former sister company: Marchionne floated the possibility of starting a separate engine program in Maranello for Red Bull when it was hunting for a new engine partner, and could ostensibly do the same for Alfa Romeo. "In order to re-establish itself as a sport brand, Alfa Romeo can and must consider the possibility of return to race in Formula 1," said Marchionne. "How? Probably in a collaboration with Ferrari." Alfa Romeo first competed in F1 in the early 1950s, winning the world championship two years running in 1950 with Giuseppe Farina (scion of Pininfarina) and 1951 with Juan Manuel Fangio. It then dropped out, only to resurface as a full constructor team between 1979 and 1985, with limited results. It also supplied engines to an array of teams in the 1960s, '70s, and '80s.

Why the Ferrari Enzo Ferrari debuted in Charlie’s Angels | The Car Stays in the Picture

The irregular series, The Car Stays in the Picture , covers the sometimes bizarre backstories of the real stars of movie favorites: the cars. In our last one, we covered the iconic Porsche 928 from Risky Business. This time, it's a homely hypercar's unusual footnote in history. The inelegantly named, and inelegantly styled, Ferrari Enzo Ferrari was, a technological triumph when it was unveiled in 2002 at the Paris Motor Show. The successor to the equally, but distinctly, unlovely F50, it was Maranello's latest ultra-exclusive supercar. It had a price tag and spec sheet to match: 6-liter V12, 6-speed Formula One-inspired electrohydraulic transmission, 660 hp, $650,000. It was also, at that fateful reveal in the City of Light, fresh off of a plane from Malibu, where it had just touched North American soil for the first time – or at least North American sand. It had been driven on a beach by a bikini-clad Demi Moore, in her star turn as a villain in the second filmic reboot of the 1970s Jigglevision TV show, Charlie's Angels, subtitled, appropriately enough Full Throttle. All of which begs the automotive question we love to ask at The Car Stays in the Picture: How the hell did something like this ever happen? "It was a combination between us having a very strong connection in Hollywood, and knowing the dealer, Giacomo Mattioli of Ferrari of Beverly Hills, that has always been quite prominent, used by a lot of movie directors," says Marco Mattiacci, the vice president of the Ferrari and Maserati brands in North America at the time. "But one of the things we were doing then was trying to find placements for Maserati. And we had to leverage that appeal of Ferrari." The Enzo was thus something of a Trojan Prancing Horse, with the re-launch of Maserati USA hiding inside – a carrot leading not a stick, but a trident, or maybe some slightly less familiar vegetable, like broccoli rabe. "In that movie, there was the Enzo. But there is also a 2002 Maserati Spyder. That was more of the key product placement. We had to place the Maserati," Mattiacci emphasizes.

Ferrari 488 Spider configurator is just in time for summer

The weather is just starting to show signs of being nice enough for open-top driving, which makes it a perfect time to configure a Ferrari 488 Spider. The configurator lets you select every aspect of your future Ferrari, and that means this Prancing Horse will fully let you express your own personality. In this case, you can spec out the 488 Spider as a track monster with a plethora of carbon fiber parts, or if you want more of a grand tourer, there are options like electric seats and the choice to alter practically every part's color. Unfortunately, none of the selections come with a price, so there's no way to know how much the gold metallic paint for the brake calipers adds to the bottom line. It's fun to dream, though. Mechanically, the 488 Spider is identical to its coupe sibling. The engine is a 3.9-liter twin-turbo V8 with 661 horsepower and 560 pound-feet of torque. A seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox sends that muscle to the rear wheels. The droptop can reach 62 miles per hour in 3.2 seconds, just a few tenths off the coupe, and the Spider's top speed is 203 miles per hour. As for the final number for those who love tracking every bit of performance with a stopwatch: the roof hides away in a scant 14 seconds. Related Video: