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These are two Ferrari design studies that led to the LaFerrari

Ferrari apparently worked through nine design concepts for its LaFerrari supercar recently shown at the Geneva Motor Show, and has put two of them on display at its museum in Maranello, Italy. Both from 2011, the Manta (pictured) is harder edged and looks closest to the finished product.
The other, the Tensostruttura, is much more fluid and looks like it probably came from the past or the future, not so much the present. You can check them both out in the videos below and register your take on what might have been.

Ferrari wants to provide Red Bull with its own engines

Ferrari is proposing a different sort of arrangement that could provide Red Bull with the engines it needs to continue competing in Formula One. Rather than sell the team the same engines its own competition department uses, the Maranello outfit suggests creating a separate engineering program for Red Bull to get its own engine package. The issue of where Red Bull will get its engines has been looming over the paddock for several months. Though its current partnership with Renault yielded four straight world championships, the relationship has gone sour over the last couple of years as performance has dropped off. That has left Red Bull looking for a new engine supplier, but with Ferrari, Mercedes, and Honda all powering their own entries, none have been particularly keen to motivate Red Bull. A proposal to bring Volkswagen into the sport in partnership with the team fell apart in the wake of the diesel emissions scandal. And while the FIA may be moving ahead to bring an independent engine supplier into the series, that doesn't look likely to take shape in time for next season. Ferrari – like Mercedes and McLaren-Honda – says it won't simply hand one of its chief rivals the same engine package as it uses itself. But speaking to Motorsport.com at Ferrari's Finali Mondiali event at Mugello this weekend, Sergio Marchionne proposed a different course of action. That would involve making the building blocks of Ferrari's power unit, along with the wealth of its engineering talent, available to Red Bull for the team to plot its own engine development program in parallel to Maranello's own. The Ferrari chairman (and Fiat Chrysler chief) says he has already raised the idea with Red Bull chief Dietrich Mateschitz and his racing adviser Helmut Marko. If it does work out, we could potentially see Ferrari setting up similar programs with its other customer teams. Those currently include Sauber and Marussia, and Haas and Toro Rosso could soon join the mix as well. Adding Red Bull would mean that over half of the grid would be powered by Ferrari engines as soon as next season. Related Video: News Source: Motorsport.comImage Credit: Red Bull Motorsports Ferrari F1

Are supercars becoming less special?

There's little doubt that we are currently enjoying the golden age of automotive performance. Dozens of different models on sale today make over 500 horsepower, and seven boast output in excess of 700 hp. Not long ago, that kind of capability was exclusive to supercars – vehicles whose rarity, performance focus, and requisite expense made them aspirational objects of desire to us mortals. But more than that, supercars have historically offered a unique driving experience, one which was bespoke to a particular model and could not be replicated elsewhere. But in recent years, even the low-volume players have been forced to find the efficiencies and economies of scale that formerly hadn't been a concern for them, and in turn the concept of the supercar as a unique entity unto itself is fading fast. The blame doesn't fall on one particular manufacturer nor a specific production technique. Instead, it's a confluence of different factors that are chipping away at the distinction of these vehicles. It's not all bad news – Lamborghini's platform sharing with Audi for the Gallardo and the R8 yielded a raging bull that was more reliable and easier to live with on a day-to-day basis, and as a result it went on to become the best-selling Lambo in the company's history. But it also came at the cost of some of the Italian's exclusivity when eerily familiar sights and sounds suddenly became available wearing an Audi badge. Even low-volume players have been forced to find economies of scale. Much of this comes out of necessity, of course. Aston Martin's recent deal with Mercedes-AMG points toward German hardware going under the hood and into the cabin of the upcoming DB11, and it's safe to assume that this was not a decision made lightly by the Brits, as the brand has built a reputation for the bespoke craftsmanship of its vehicles. There's little doubt that the DB11 will be a fine automobile, but the move does jeopardize some of the characteristic "specialness" that Astons are known for. Yet the world is certainly better off with new Aston Martins spliced with DNA from Mercedes-AMG rather than no new Astons at all, and the costs of developing cutting-edge drivetrains and user interfaces is a burden that's becoming increasingly difficult for smaller manufacturers to bear. Even Ferrari is poised to make some dramatic changes in the way it designs cars.