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Scarbo Performance SVF1 First Drive Review | A hot-rodder's take on vintage F1

THERMAL, Calif. — Some turn their nose to the sky as soon as they hear the term, "replica." They only care for "originals," cars that are inevitably destined to collect dust in someone's impeccably clean garage, preserved for posterity, and never revved in anger or given the beans in fear of fouling up an "investment." Joe Scarbo thinks this "mere existence" is a boring one, that cars are meant to be driven hard – period. That's the outlook that spurned him to create the SVF1, an ass-kickin' track weapon so good, and so demanding, our body quit well before we wanted to hand back the keys. Once you realize what the Scarbo Performance SVF1 actually is, you'll get it. The open-wheeled, open-cockpit retro-racer is modeled after a 1967 Ferrari F312 Formula One car, and many, justifiably, consider its sultry, minimalist lines to be among the prettiest F1 designs. However, the guts under its beautifully hand-beaten aluminum exterior are more SoCal hot-rodder than devout Tifosi replica. Made even clearer that this track beast resides in the former is what powers it; a Red, White, and Blue-blooded GM-sourced, 430-horsepower LS1 V8. You can't get much more American than that. Our date with the SVF1 occurred at The Thermal Club near Palm Springs, an automotive oasis plopped squarely in the middle of an agricultural hub. The freshly finished facility is just a few hours outside of Los Angeles, but unlike the better-known Willow Springs, the track surface here is absolutely pristine, on top of which there was a fine mist of sand, a condition which kept both us and the SVF1 on our tiptoes. To provide the perfect soundtrack for our track adventure, Scarbo married the LS1's fly-by-wire throttle system with eight velocity stacks, providing an otherworldly induction yowl. This is punctuated by a guttural exhaust featuring an eight-into-one collector with a three-inch exit. Upon startup, the SVF1 is sends shivers through your body, and like chain lightning it propagates through the bodies of anyone within 60 feet. Grunt and stamina are required to shift the transaxle 5-speed manual transmission from a 986-generation Porsche Boxster mated up to the LS1. No flappy paddles or dual-clutches here. You get into the SVF1 by placing your feet onto the softly padded seat and sliding your butt in-between its fuel tank, which straddle your hips and posterior. Clip into the five-point harness and you're eyeball level with the truly massive Avon race-spec slicks.

Ferrari LaFerrari Spider reportedly debuts privately

If the Porsche 918 Spyder didn't fulfill your dream of open top motoring in a hybrid hypercar, look for Ferrari to publicly debut a topless version of the LaFerrari (standard version above) in the near future. The Facebook page for Automotive Passion (D. Benoit) asserts the LaFerrari Spider is finally on the way and backs up the claim with a photo of a carbon-fiber box that bears the vehicle's sharp silhouette (below). Motor1 claims that Ferrari plans to build 150 to 200 examples of the LaFerrari Spider, which is less than half of the 499 coupes, and customers already snapped them all up. The Prancing Horse is reportedly charging a hefty premium over the hardtop's $1.4-million price tag for the droptop. Given the coupe's sales success, we are surprised Ferrari didn't take the LaFerrari's roof off even sooner, and rumors about the Spider go back to at least 2014. The removable top might add a few pounds, but the 949-horsepower 6.3-liter hybrid V12 should still be plenty to hustle the hypercar around. Ferrari debuted the LaFerrari Spider at a private event, according to Motor1. Showing the hypercar suggests development in nearing completion, so expect a public debut and official info sometime this year. Ferrari is bringing out LaFerrari Spider!© Private #laferrari #spider #laferrarispider #ferrari Posted by Automotive Passion (D. Benoit) on Friday, March 4, 2016 Related Video:

Ferrari hybrid V8 arriving next year, could power Ferrari SUV

Ferrari CEO Sergio Marchionne told Auto Express that the world can expect a V8 hybrid from Maranello next year. He said, "The test mules are out now," but what he wouldn't tell the Brit mag is where that V8 hybrid will go. Everything else in Ferrari's lineup has been recently introduced or refreshed save for the 488, but the 488 is just two years old. With all of the current cars ruled out, the bettors wager on the hybrid V8 appearing in the Ferrari SUV that's also due next year. We've no idea how Maranello engineers will structure the electrical assistance, but Marchionne indicated "more of a traditional hybrid [than the LaFerrari] to fulfill a different role." That means a strictly performance-based kinetic energy recovery system likely steps aside for one that will "yield additional performance" as well as better fuel economy. In further comments to Top Gear — where he expressed a touch of disappointment in the firm's GT car designs and the possibility of a 250 GTO continuation — Marchionne said, "The hybrid element will be much more of a mainstay of the powertrain than it was in the LaFerrari." Look out for plug-in charging and some kind of all-electric range. If all of this speculation holds up come 2019, it also means the Ferrari SUV will reverse its competitors' playbooks — the Bentley Bentayga and Lamborghini Urus, for instance, established themselves with their mightiest powertrains, then got around to plug-in hybrid models. A hybrid SUV would be smart, as we're coming up on an emission target escalation in 2020. Those targets only apply to carmakers selling more than 10,000 units per year, Ferrari sold nearly 8,400 cars last year and aims to crack 9,000 sales this year. The SUV will certainly put the Prancing Horse over the 10K barrier, and as a volume seller, relatively speaking, will make a worthwhile contribution to emissions values. Of course, you have to write Marchionne's quips in pencil, because they're prone to revision. It was only two years ago when Marchionne answered a question about the mere possibility of an SUV with, "You have to shoot me first." Later that same year, Marchionne said every Ferrari sold from 2019 onward would have some sort of hybrid element.