1985 Ferrari Testarossa on 2040-cars

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FCA is setting a five-year strategy: Here's how the last one played out

We're slightly more than four years removed from Sergio Marchionne last five-year plan for FCA, a tell-all where the Italian-American automaker divulged its plans for the 2014 through 2018 model years. It was a grand affair, where Sergio told FCA investors that all was right in Auburn Hills, Alfa Romeo and Maserati were making comebacks, and the fifth-gen Dodge Viper received a mid-cycle refresh. You can read every last one of those past predictions right here. We're on our way to Europe to see Sergio's sequel, coming out Friday straight from FCA's Italian headquarters. (Bloomberg reports a plan to expand Jeep and Ram globally, combine Alfa Romeo and Maserati into a single division for an eventual spinoff, and downsizing Fiat and Chrysler. Also, EVs.) But before we arrive in Italy and find out exactly what Marchionne has planned for 2019 through 2023 as his last act as CEO, let's take a minute to tally up the results of his last term based on the same scoresheet we used in 2014. Now, we're only five months into 2018, so much of this — including vehicles like the Ram HD and Jeep Grand Wagoneer — could still debut this year. For those, we'll mark things TBD. We're not going to draw any conclusions or make any objectionable remarks. We're simply going to let the stats speak for themselves.

Ferrari 250 GTO could fetch as much as $75 million at auction

Last month we reported on a Ferrari 250 GTO heading for the auction block at Pebble Beach. We knew at the time it would break records and bring in tens of millions of dollars. But now that the gavel is about to drop, it looks like even our projections could fall short.
According to a report on Bloomberg, citing the classic car authorities at Hagerty Insurance, the GTO in question (pictured above) could fetch upwards of $60 million and as much as $75 million when the auction takes place two days from now in Monterey, CA.
Hagerty's reported estimate would not only blow the previous records out of the water, but would eclipse the pre-sale estimate attributed to Bonhams, the auction house handling its sale, which placed its value between $30 million and $40 million.

2020 Ferrari F8 Spider loses its roof for Frankfurt

The inevitable has, well, happened: The F8 Tributo has received a drop-top twin in the form of the 2020 Ferrari F8 Spider. It's pretty much exactly what you would expect. Most of the body is identical to the Tributo except for the power retractable hardtop that replaces a targa-style roof panel and the rear window, leaving large flying buttresses with the top down. The drawback to the removable roof is that you can no longer view the engine through the window, as that panel also hides the top and mechanisms. Powering the F8 Spider is the same turbocharged 3.9-liter V8 as the coupe. It still makes 710 horsepower and 568 pound-feet of torque. It's a high-revver, too with a redline of 8,000 rpm. The V8 is coupled to a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission. Being a convertible, the Spider does add an extra 154 pounds over the coupe, and thus is a touch slower. The 0-62 mph time is unchanged at 2.9 seconds, but on the way to 124 mph, the Spider takes 8.2 seconds versus the coupe's 7.8 second time. It does have the same 211 mph top speed as the coupe, though. Pricing and availability have not been announced for the F8 Spider. We expect it will have a price premium over the coupe's $274,280 base price.