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Ferrari considering return to Le Mans racing in 2015

Rumors are swirling that Ferrari may be contemplating a return to Le Mans racing as soon as 2015. Germany's Auto Motor und Sport reports the Italian automaker may apply the development of a new 1.6-liter turbocharged V6 engine for Formula One to an LMP1 car for Le Mans, and have it ready for the 24 Hours of Le Mans in two years. This follows hints made by Scuderia Ferrari CEO Stefano Domenicali last month that the newly developed F1 engine could be used for "some interesting projects."
Ferrari has a history of success in Le Mans racing, though it hasn't won the big endurance outright since 1965. The image above captures the exact moment when the No. 21 car of Masten Gregory and Jochen Rindt crossed the finish line that year to win the race. That win was the last of six consecutive outright victories before the infamous arrival of the Ford GT40 in 1966. Despite never reaching the top of the podium again, Ferrari's nine wins still stand as the third most overall by a manufacturer behind Porsche (16) and Audi (11).
If Ferrari does return to Le Mans in 2015, the LMP1 class will suddenly be teaming with worthy competitors for Audi, which has dominated the race since 2000. After Peugeot's exit from the sport in early 2012, Toyota entered the race in 2012 and has continued to develop its TS030 Hybrid LMP1 car. Porsche, meanwhile, is well into developing a new LMP1 car that will first compete in next year's race.

Florida aquaman drives a Ferrari straight into the drink

Often the worst and most annoying part of security footage is that there is no sound to the video. Viewers are left to their own imaginations as people on camera are seen doing strange or dumb things. A recent video from Florida has us wishing a police officer would have been mic'd up for a conversation he had moments before a person got into a Ferrari and drove it right into a body of water. Reported by WPTV and blogged by Car Throttle, the dash camera on a police car caught 48-year-old James Mucciaccio Jr. doing something that makes absolutely zero sense (before the Florida bath salts jokes come out, neither drugs nor alcohol were involved). The morning of Dec. 26, a police officer got out of his cruiser and approached a blue Ferrari 360 that was parked on a gated dock on the Palm Beach Inlet just off of the Atlantic Ocean. Based on the soundless video, it appears Mucciaccio and the officer had a civil conversation likely suggesting that the car couldn't be parked there. Mucciaccio then hustled to get into the car and looked to be backing out of the dock. But before he passed the gate, he stopped, then switched out of reverse as evidenced by the blinking lights on the car. He then gunned it and drove the Ferrari straight off the dock and into the water. Considering the interaction seemed to be completely calm, it's mind-boggling trying to imagine what Mucciaccio was thinking, if it was indeed on purpose. And no, there is no word yet as to why exactly he did what he did. According to the report, Mucciaccio was not injured and was rescued by a friendly observer. After the Ferrari sank 30 feet to the bottom, it was pulled out using inflatables. For more photos of the crashed Ferrari both above and below water, check out images from the Code 3 Divers here. Surprisingly, this is not the first time Code 3 has pulled a Ferrari out of the water. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Fiat Chrysler starts production of ventilator components in Italy

MILAN — Fiat Chrysler has begun producing ventilator parts to help Italy's Siare Engineering boost its output of the medical equipment needed to treat patients during the coronavirus crisis, the carmaker said on Friday. Carmakers around the world are ramping up production of critical healthcare products and machines to respond to the enormous demand during the pandemic. Italy, the epicenter of the virus outbreak in Europe, had asked Siare to triple its normal monthly production as a part of government efforts to increase the number of intensive care beds. FCA said that with the support of luxury group Ferrari and holding company Exor, which controls both carmakers, it had produced the first electrovalves, a key part in ventilators, at its plant in Cento, in northern Italy. The Cento plant is usually used to produces high-performance car engines for the global market. It had been closed because of the coronavirus but has partially reopened for this project. "With the additional supply of electrovalves from Cento, Siare estimates that it will be able to reduce total production time for ventilators by as much as 30-50%", the statement said. In addition to the production of the electrovalves, a team of specialists from FCA is also working alongside Siare staff at their production facility near the city of Bologna. "The objective is to help increase Siare's total production, with a gradual scaling up of daily output beginning from the first week of April", FCA said.