Qc: Quattrovalvole on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Ferrari Driver Academy heads to Florida for the winter

Retirees and Girls Gone Wild camera crews aren't the only ones who go to Florida for the winter. So is a contingent of aspiring formula racing drivers taking part in the new Florida Winter Series being set up by the Ferrari Driver Academy.
The program is being set up in response to a lack of suitable weather at circuits in Europe, which would otherwise keep rising stars in formula racing from honing their skills during the off-season. Toyota runs an off-season series in New Zealand, but Ferrari is heading to the most southern of these United States to give its prodigies some much-needed track time.
Set up as more of a training program than a competitive championship, the FDA Florida Winter Series is based around a field of 15 aspiring drivers piloting the Formula Abarth-spec Tatuus FA010B, with a 195-horsepower engine furnished by Fiat Powertrain Technologies and an engineer for every three cars in the series.

1957 Ferrari 335S sells for $34.9M, still not most expensive Ferrari ever sold

Here's your reminder that the price of a good vintage Ferrari is absolutely staggering – the 1957 335S that just sold at an Artcurial auction in Paris for $34.9 million isn't even close to a record when it comes to Prancing Horses crossing the block. While this 335S still represents a hell of a lot of money, we're actually wondering why it didn't do better. For one, this car, chassis number 0674, has the all-important racing provenance collectors crave. It's been raced by legends Mike Hawthorne and Sir Stirling Moss. In its first year of competition, Wolfgang von Trips took it to second place at the Mille Miglia, while Peter Collins and Maurice Trintigant drove it to sixth at the 12 Hours of Sebring. It even recorded the fastest lap at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (although it retired with engine problems just 56 laps into the race). So yes, consider the provenance box checked. Besides famous racers and races, it was owned by some huge names in the Ferrari world, including Luigi Chinetti, the founder of the North American Racing Team and the first Ferrari importer in the US. But for the past 45 years, it was a part of the legendary Bardinon Collection, which was known for its wide array of high-quality Ferraris. While the 1957 335S falls short of the record-holding 1962 250 GTO sold by Bonhams for $38.1 million during the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance festivities in 2014, it's still one of the most expensive cars ever sold at auction. And hey, it even landed in the meaty part of its $31.2 million to $35.6 million estimated sale price.

Ferrari 400 Superamerica leads $60M RM Sotheby's sale at Amelia Island [w/video]

Just last month, two of the most venerated auction houses came together under one roof. And this past weekend, the newly christened RM Sotheby's held its first event at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance, selling a record $60 million worth of classic automobiles. The event's highlight was surely the gorgeous 1960 Ferrari 400 Superamerica SWB Cabriolet pictured above. Resplendent in dark green over a red leather interior, this particular Superamerica set a record for that model when it sold for $6.38 million, with proceeds going towards a children's education charity. That price far outstrips the record $4 million that Gooding & Co. got for that sleek white Aerodinamico coupe in Scottsdale earlier this year. Among the other seven-figure items were of course some other Ferraris, including a rare '72 Daytona Spider that went for $3.3 million, along with a smattering of Jaguars, Mercedes, Alfas, Lamborghinis and Bugattis. A rare 2007 Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano with a manual transmission sold for nearly triple its estimate at $682,000, and the Daytona-winning, Castrol-liveried 1988 Jaguar XJR-9 sold for over $2 million. Of course RM Sotheby's wasn't the only company holding an auction during the Florida concours. But as the event's official auction house, it brought in more than all the other participating auctioneers combined, setting a record for Amelia Island in the process. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.