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EVO dubs Ferrari 458 Speciale its Car of the Year

While some publications are concerned with finding the best car or truck for the average buyer and slapping a ribbon on it, or (in our case) identifying the best new automotive technology of the year, across the pond our compatriots at Evo are more single-minded in their approach. Every year, the British car mag awards its Car of the Year to its top new performance automobile on the market. And this year, they've picked the Ferrari 458 Speciale. The stripped-out supercar from Maranello beat out some heady competition. Second place went to the Jaguar F-Type R, followed by the Porsche Cayman GTS, VW Golf R, Renaultsport Megane 275 Trophy-R, BMW i8, McLaren 650S Spider, Aston Martin Vanquish, BMW M3 and, last but not least, the Audi S1. It was only the second time a Ferrari won the eCOTY award, after the 599 GTB Fiorano took top honors in 2006. Precedent suggests the magazine typically hands the award to a version of the Porsche 911 – like the GT3 that won last year, preceded by other Elfens in 2011, 2010, 2007, 2004, 2003, 2000, 1999 and 1998 (when the award was inaugurated). Why is the latest 458 derivative so... Speciale? Watch this video to find out.

LaFerrari design secrets explored at Ferrari museum

For every finished vehicle design we see, there are probably hundreds of drawings and models that have long since been discarded. Housed in its own room inside the Ferrari Museum in Maranello, the LaFerrari has a unique exhibit that shows off some of the car's design evolution, and Autocar caught up with Ferrari design director Flavio Manzoni for an even deeper look at what went into creating this hybrid supercar.
In addition to the final product, the LaFerrari exhibit also reveals some of the designs that didn't make the cut - two of which made it to the full-size scale model phase, though. The display shows off five different designs (three from Ferrari and two from Pininfarina) that were in the running to become the final LaFerrari.
The interview with Manzoni even adds in some juicy bits of info, including news that one of the potential LaFerrari designs has been locked away and could resurface as a special, one-off model. Manzoni gets in a couple of good quotes while voicing his opposition of the current retro design language currently being used by some automakers, as well. Check it all out in the video below.

Finali Mondiali 2016 was an incredible celebration of all things Ferrari

For the first time ever, Ferrari held its Finali Mondiali event in North America, and we were there to soak it all in. This event is a four-day celebration of everything Ferrari, but the main event is the world final championship for the Ferrari Challenge series drivers, who normally compete in European, American, and Asia Pacific regional series. While they were racing 458 Challenge EVO models, we also saw the debut of the 488 Challenge – which, needless to say, was stunning. There were also demonstrations of past F1 cars, and a running of the incredible FXX Program vehicles, which simply looked (and sounded) amazing. In addition, the last Ferrari LaFerrari built was auctioned off to help victims of the Italian earthquakes, and predictably it raised a lot of money. That's great. In fact, it also set a record at a whopping $7 million – the most for a car from this century, period. Probably didn't hurt things any that it was also a one-off with a special paint job. Enjoy the photos above from our time at this fantastic event at Daytona International Speedway. Related Video: