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2017 Ferrari California T Handling Speciale First Drive

There was a time when snow, rain, and even thick traffic were higher up the list of Ferrari's enemies than Porsche. These were mostly weekend cars, but even wet roads would see them snugly tucked up in their heated garages, and not just because to avoid scrubbing muddy shoe prints out of the carpets. Some of them were difficult enough to handle in the dry, and slick pavement sure didn't make them any more tolerant. The hottest modern Ferraris still don't enjoy being stuck in heavy traffic. Not for any mechanical reasons, mind you. They just don't bother hiding their utter disregard for the mundane, or their disregard for a driver forcing them to endure it, because they feel it's beneath them. And it is. That's where the California came in. Launched in 2008, the retractable-hardtop convertible is the most approachable in the company's range. It was aimed at newly moneyed buyers who weren't saturated in supercar folklore and wanted the badge, but not necessarily all of that attitude. Some, but not all. There are those California buyers who want the convenience with a little more attitude and the trademark crankiness. So, as it did with the original California, Ferrari has added a Handling Speciale Package to the new turbocharged California T's repertoire. This $8,120 option turns the least expensive Ferrari into something that's stiffer and faster and more fun, and the trade-off is a slightly firmer ride, all the time. 30 percent of Ferrari buyers would be happier to dump some of the California T's comfy ride in favor of more grip and more crankiness. Ferrari has left the core of the California T's engine untouched, so the 3.9-liter, twin-turbo V8 still has 557 lb-ft of torque from 4,750 rpm and 553 horsepower at 7,500 rpm. Like on every California T, the engine's boost manager only lets you access 442 lb-ft in the first three gears, with each successive gear unlocking a little more torque until you reach seventh, where the maximum is available. This helps make the California T drivable and has the added benefit of flexibility once in the tall top gear. While that is all stock on the California T, the seven-speed dual-clutch Getrag gearbox is the first part of the car to receive the Handling Speciale treatment. Ferrari rewrote its software to make it shift more aggressively both up (30 percent quicker) and down (40 percent quicker), particularly in the car's two sportier driving modes.

2015 Australian Grand Prix all about grooves and trenches [spoilers]

We can't remember the last time 90 percent of the action in Formula One had nothing to do with cars setting timed laps. Yet that's was the situation at the Australian Grand Prix, continuing the antics from a scarcely believable off-season with blow-ups, driver and team absences, a lawsuit, and a clear need for some teams to get down and give us 50 pit stops. Nothing much has changed from a regulation standpoint, and at the front of the field nothing has changed at all. Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes-AMG Petronas claimed the first position on the grid like someone put a sign on it that read, "Reserved for Mr. Hamilton;" teammate Nico Rosberg was 0.6 behind in second, Felipe Massa in the Williams was 1.4 seconds back in third. Sebastian Vettel proved that Ferrari didn't do another Groundhog Day routine this off-season, slotting into fourth. His teammate Kimi Raikkonen was not even four-hundredths of a second behind, ahead of Valtteri Bottas in the second Williams, Daniel Ricciardo in the first Infiniti Red Bull Racing, and rookie Carlos Sainz, Jr. in the first Toro Rosso. Lotus, now powered by Mercedes, got both cars into the top ten with Romain Grosjean in ninth, Pastor Maldonado in the final spot. However, even though the regulations are almost all carryover, in actual fact, everything has changed this year. Mercedes is even faster. Renault is even worse. Ferrari and Lotus are a lot better. Toro Rosso is looking like anything but a junior team. And McLaren is – well, let's not even get into that yet. Furthermore, this weekend was shambles: 15 cars started the race, the smallest naturally-occurring grid since 1963. Manor couldn't get its cars ready before qualifying. Bottas had to pull out after qualifying when he tore a disc in his back and couldn't pass the medical clearance tests. The gearbox in Daniil Kvyat's Red Bull gave out on the lap from the pit to the grid, and to give misery some company, the Honda in Kevin Magnussen's McLaren blew up on the same lap. When the lights went out, Hamilton ran away and was more than a second ahead of his teammate at the end of Lap 1. The advantage disappeared, though, because behind him, at the first corner, we got our first pile-up. As Raikkonen drove around the outside of Vettel at the right-hand Turn 1 it looked like Vettel, going over the kerbing, hopped to his left and bounced into Raikkonen.

Ferrari 250 GTO may have set new sale record at $52M

Records are made to be broken, and it seems that one may have just been snapped again. An Italian website is reporting that a Ferrari 250 GTO, owned by American collector Paul Pappalardo, recently sold for $52 million.
Now, this is far from confirmed - Pappalardo responded to questions about the sale saying, "I do not confirm these things, I have no comment about!" - and if it's a private sale, it's unlikely that we'll ever know the exact amount of the transaction. If that figure is correct, though, it easily eclipses the $35 million made in a 250 GTO sale in April of 2012, as well as the $27.5-million sale of a 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 NART Spider sold at RM's Monterey auctions in August.
What makes a car that had 39 examples built more valuable than one that had only 10 units produced? Racing pedigree. The 250 GTO is a racing legend, with each car having a unique provenance that is more than enough to add some serious value. According to 0-100.it, the GTO in question, 5111GT, found its first owner in French racer and winner of the 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans, Jean Guichet, back in 1963. The Frenchman used the V12-powered racer to win the GT category of the Tour de France Automobile in that same year.