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Buy Ferrari's F1 motorhomes and start your own Scuderia [w/videos]

The single-seat racecars themselves may be the most impressive bits of machinery a Formula One team brings to the circuit, but the vehicles you see on the track are not the end of the story. The trucks in which they're transported and which serve as mobile bases for the team's trackside operations are almost as impressive in their own right, and now a pair of these tractor-trailers are available for sale. Only they're not from just any team – they're from Scuderia Ferrari. This pair of transporters include two scarlet red Iveco Stralis tractors and a pair of matching custom trailers made by AstaCar in Reggio Emilia, just 45 minutes down the autostrada from Maranello. One trailer was made to transport the F1 cars, and the other as a mobile office and repair shop. They can deploy once parked to a height of 23 feet for two floors and cover an area of over 2,000 square feet. The trailers were commissioned by Ferrari back in 2003 during the height of the Michael Schumacher era. They were used by the team as its rolling base of operations and trackside hospitality at grands prix across Europe for ten years, upgraded incrementally along the way until they were replaced halfway through last season. They've even still got the nameplates of former team principal Stefano Domenicali and drivers Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa on the doors. The constructor is putting them up for sale, and while they wouldn't disclose for publication how much they're asking for the pair, commissioning a new setup like this one – complete with tractors, trailers and all the fixins – would set you back a cool ˆ2 million (about $2.5 million at today's rates) plus applicable taxes. Whether they're worth less than that now for their wear or whether the championships and race wins that were orchestrated from these rolling pieces of racing history make them even more valuable is a matter the buyer will need to negotiate with the seller, but you're invited to scope 'em out on the sale page and in the images above, as well as the videos of the manufacturer's work below. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

BMW, Ferrari, VW cars use tungsten mined by terrorists

Bloomberg Markets is reporting that BMW, Volkswagen and Ferrari have been using tungsten ore sourced from Columbia's FARC rebel terrorists. The extensive story focuses on Columbia's illegal mining trade and calls into question the provenance of the rare ore that is used not only in crankshaft parts production, but is also found in the world's computing and telecommunications industry for use in screens.
The ore is mined by the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - People's Army), and exported to Pennsylvania, where it is refined. The refined ore is then sent over to Austria, where a company called Plansee turns it into a finished product. Now, it's important to note that we aren't talking about the world's supply of tungsten here. In 2012, Plansee's American refinery purchased 93.2 metric tons of tungsten, valued at $1.8 million. That's peanuts, with the entire Colombian tungsten mining industry producing just one percent of the world's supplies.
That doesn't make indirectly supporting FARC any more acceptable, though. BMW, VW and Ferrari are all committed to not accepting mineral supplies from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is also in the grips of a guerrilla insurrection funded, in part, by illegal mining. The same commitment would figure to extend to Colombian mining, but as BMW points out, it's difficult for a multi-national manufacturer to know where every item in its supply chain comes from. A company spokesperson says as much, telling Bloomberg, "These few grams out of the billions of tons of raw materials passing through the BMW supply chain are of no practical relevance."

Marchionne wants Maserati to be FCA's new Ferrari

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is gearing up to spin Ferrari, its most profitable brand, off into another company, and float its stock on the open market. That means it's going to need another profit-driver to generate income for the rest of the group. And according to its chief executive Sergio Marchionne, that mantle will soon be picked up by Maserati. FCA is betting big on Maserati, which has long stood as a niche marque with a limited array of models and low sales numbers. In addition to the recently introduced Ghibli and Quattroporte sedans – now crucially offered with diesels and all-wheel drive – Maserati is preparing to roll out the Levante crossover that promises to do for the Modenese marque what the Cayenne did for Porsche. Due in part to the success of its first crossover, Porsche turned itself from a niche sports car manufacturer into an immensely profitable automaker that was (nearly) capable of buying out the entire Volkswagen Group. Maserati's resurgence is part of a two-pronged assault FCA is plotting against its German rivals. Maserati will be charged with taking on the higher end of the Mercedes, BMW, and Audi ranges (from the E-Class, 5 Series and A6 upwards). Meanwhile, Alfa Romeo will go after the lower end of the luxury spectrum with the new Giulia (aimed at the C-Class, 3 Series and A4) and other models to follow. FCA aims to turn Maserati and Alfa Romeo (along with Jeep) into global brands, broadening the narrow geographical appeal they have held until now. In order to generate enough profit to support the rest of the group as Ferrari has, Maserati will need to find a way to increase its profit margins. Bloomberg reports that Ferraris command a 13-percent profit margin, and while the ten percent that Maseratis list for is still triple that of the FCA average, slow sales are forcing some dealers to offer deep incentives that cut significantly into that margin. Related Video: