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A fleet of classic Ferraris were left to rot in a field

A field full of abandoned, old Ferraris is not a common sight. But here are photos of a bunch of them sitting out in the elements. Silodrome originally found and published a story about these lonely looking Ferraris. According to the post, there's a Testarossa, a 308 Quattrovalvole, at least two 328s, at least three 348s and an unestablished number of Mondials. All of them reportedly belonged to one collector, and the story behind why they ended up in the field is rather sad. The owner (name unknown) was an attorney who acquired 13 Ferraris over the course of his successful career. Around 2011 or 2012 he was diagnosed with a serious illness, and he paid to have the cars put into a friend's secure warehouse. Unfortunately, he ended up missing some payments as his condition worsened, and the cars were removed from the warehouse. Their new storage spot? The field you see photographed here. Back payments were eventually made to the warehouse, but the Ferraris were never moved inside. Apparently, the Ferraris would remain in the field for nearly a decade until the family was able to take possession of them. No explanation was provided as to why they were unable to grab them sooner, but the article alludes to "legal proceedings" holding them up. Eleven Ferraris were found in the field, but records (titles, invoices) show that there should have been 13. Additionally, two Rolls-Royces are also unaccounted for. The family reportedly made a deal to sell nine of the Ferraris to a dealer, so they could be restored and sold to new owners. Interior photos of these Ferraris are a bit of a shock. Time sitting in a field hasn't served them well, but at least some folks are going to give them the care a classic Ferrari deserves now. You can check out the rest of the images on Silodrome's article.

Ferrari to pay Fiat Chrysler $2.8B prior to spinoff

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is trying to get capital together in a hurry to finance the automaker's growth plans. Among its strategies to raise money, Ferrari will be spun off from the FCA mothership next year with an initial public offering. However, the Italian supercar maker will be a couple billion dollars poorer at the start of its new life.
According to a filing with US regulators obtained by Automotive News, FCA intends to "enter into certain other transactions including distributions and transfers of cash from Ferrari currently estimated at 2.25 billion euros ($2.8 billion)" before it spins the supercar maker off. Those funds might include paying a dividend to investors, and FCA possibly transferring some of its debt to the Prancing Horse.
The Ferrari IPO will likely be in the second or third quarter of 2015, according to Automotive News. Ten percent of the automaker will go onto the public market in the US and possibly Europe too, and 80 percent will be distributed among current FCA shareholders. The other 10 percent is held by co-chairman Piero Ferrari, according to AN.

Sebastian Vettel's 13-race losing streak reflects Ferrari's struggles

MONACO — Sebastian Vettel's barren spell with Ferrari stretches to a dismal 13 Formula One races without a win, dating back to the Belgian Grand Prix last August. The veteran driver still holds No. 1 status at Ferrari mainly because of his experience. At times this season he has been slower than Charles Leclerc, his young and highly-motivated colleague keen to make an impression in his first season with the team. When asked if Vettel's performances had fallen below expectations for a four-time world champion, team boss Mattia Binotto defended him and said the problems were not down to the 31-year-old German. "First we need a good car ... which is performing sufficiently well to win," Binotto said. "It may be frustrating for him, no doubt. But first it's our duty to give him (one) that he can perform well (in)." The car is apparently not an issue Ferrari had anticipated. After strong performances in pre-season testing, it was touted as the team to beat, and even five-time champion Lewis Hamilton — winner of the past two championships — said so. But Hamilton and Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas have won all five races this season while Ferrari has a measly three podium places. The team's last win was by Kimi Raikkonen at the United States GP last October, two months after Vettel's victory in Spa. While Mercedes is all about smooth running, Ferrari's car is blighted by a front suspension issue, a deficit in cornering speed and such basic trouble as getting enough heat into the tires quickly enough. Ferrari's passionate tifosi fans, who are waiting for a first drivers' title since Raikkonen in 2007, are not happy with the current standings. Vettel is fourth, nearly 50 points behind championship leader Hamilton, while Leclerc is fifth. "After winter testing our confidence in the performance was higher than today," Binotto said with an air of resignation. "There are a lot of points to recover." Binotto has been with Ferrari a long time and was promoted from chief technical officer to team principal in January. He took over the role from Maurizio Arrivabene after two frustrating years in which Ferrari blew the title race, due to a bizarre combination of panicky errors from Vettel and a string of baffling strategical and technical mistakes within the team. Now there are worrying echoes of 2016 — when Ferrari failed to win a single race and Mercedes crushed its rivals.