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Ferrari looking to become even more exclusive

While most automakers are clawing and scratching for every possible sale, it sounds like Ferrari is content in losing a few potential customers in the name of better exclusivity and higher profits. Autocar reports that Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo recently stated that the Italian automaker hopes to sell fewer than 7,000 units globally in 2013 compared to last year's tally of 7,318.
As a part of this plan, Ferrari will be slowing its production lines and trying to create a balanced market for its cars in the US, the Middle East, Europe and China - the latter two being the automaker's biggest markets. Montezemolo also said that Ferrari would not be expanding its model lineup with SUVs, sedans or small cars.

Take a peek inside the cockpit of the Ferrari SF90 Stradale

The Ferrari SF90 Stradale has just been revealed, and the most important thing to know is that it's Ferrari's most powerful production car yet with 986 horsepower. The next most important thing to know is that it's a plug-in hybrid with a turbocharged V8. The powertrain features Ferrari's most powerful V8 yet making 769 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque on its own. It also has three electric motors with two at the front and one in the back, and combined they can provide up to 217 horsepower. This also means that the SF90 Stradale is all-wheel-drive. Getting power from the internal combustion powertrain to the wheels is an 8-speed dual-clutch transmission that shifts 100 milliseconds faster than the transmission in the 488 Pista, but it also weighs about 22 pounds less than Ferrari's existing 7-speed dual-clutch transmission. This is due in part to not needing a reverse gear, since reverse is handled by the front motors. In total, the SF90 weighs in at 3,461 pounds. And at 155 mph, the aerodynamics add 860 pounds of downforce. When everything is deployed on pavement, it hits 62 mph in just 2.5 seconds. And for Ferraristi, it lapped the Fiorano test track in 1 minute and 19 seconds. Of course being a plug-in hybrid, it does have a full electric range. It's a bit short at 15.5 miles. Then again, this isn't entirely about fuel economy; the electric motors allows for torque vectoring, and provide extra traction on launch and help fill in any throttle lag from the gas engine. Ferrari SF90 Stradale interior View 3 Photos The interior is high-tech, too. The instrument cluster is a huge 16-inch display. The steering wheel now features touch pads for controlling the instrument cluster, too. You won't see Ferrari's traditional manual transmission selector between the seats. Shifting duties are handled by paddles mounted to the steering wheel. It's also worth noting that this is the first Ferrari that features a head-up display. Want one? Deliveries are scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2020.

Ferrari completes two-year restoration of fire-damaged 225E

See this classic Ferrari? It looks pretty good, right? Well it didn't a couple of years ago, having been all but destroyed in a fire. But the Ferrari Classiche department completed a comprehensive two-year restoration process that's left it looking as good as (if not better than) new. The vehicle in question is a 1952 Ferrari 225E, one of the earliest sports cars the Prancing Horse made, just five years after its founding. It was delivered new to Count Antonio Sterzi, who campaigned it first in the Mille Miglia. The car went on to win events like the Bolzano-Mendola hillclimb and the Coppa InterEuropa at Monza, but after changing hands a couple of times, it was ravaged by a fire. View 7 Photos Several attempts were made in the decades since to bring it back to proper working condition. But it wasn't until its current Argentinian owner commissioned the factory's own restoration department to completely overhaul the burnt-out shell that it regained its luster. Over the course of two years, the Classiche studio has comprehensively reconditioned the 225E inside, out, and under the hood, sourcing original documentation from the factory archives to match the interior as close as possible to how it would have originally been outfitted, and giving it a beautiful two-tone blue and white paintjob. A FERRARI RISES FROM THE ASHES A fire-damaged 225E makes a triumphant return Maranello, 15 March 2016 – After almost two years of work, restoration of the 225E chassis no. 0178 is finally complete and the car is back in its owner's hands. The project was a huge challenge for the Ferrari Classiche department as the car, which belongs to an Argentinean collector, arrived in Maranello in a terrible state of repair, having been partly-destroyed in a fire. Racing past. The 225E left the factory in May 1952 and was first owned by Count Antonio Sterzi. It quickly made its competitive debut in none other than the Mille Miglia in the hands of that gentleman and his co-driver Nino Rovelli. In June the same year, the 225E won the Coppa della Toscana with Bruno Sterzi who also raced it to victory in the Bolzano-Mendola hillclimb and the Coppa InterEuropa at Monza for which both front and rear bumpers were removed. The car changed hands a couple of times but was then involved in a fire in which it sustained severe damage. The engine, however, was almost entirely salvageable and an attempt was made during the 1980s to restore the bodywork.