By now all of the kiddos have ripped through all of the Christmas wrapping to unveil the toys that Saint Nick was kind enough to swing by in the middle of the night to all of the good boys and girls. And now we can see what may have been the vehicle used to lug around all of those presents in a speedy fashions.
This Ferrari 360 Modena limousine is just about the craziest and best limo we’ve ever seen. It was spotted a few days before Christmas by shoppers in upmarket Knightsbridge, London where it took up two parking spaces. It was created by cutting a regular 360 Modena in half and adding seats in the middle to provide interior room for eight people, or a bunch of presents.
Estimated at £250,000 ($390,000 at the current exchange rates), this is the fastest limousine in the world - it can hit a top speed of 166 mph. Of course, there’s only one in existence and we’re guessing the big jolly guy has dibs.
"’Every boy wants to get into a Ferrari, this was a way for people to be able to do that with seven mates. It’s the biggest and craziest vehicle you can get. We made it because we wanted to create the ultimate Ferrari experience," said Dan Cawley - the designer of the limo.
Italian tuning company, Fenice Milano, is the kind of tuner that doesn’t get into many headlines because they produce programs about as frequently as we see blue moons.
But whenever these guys have something new in store for its clients, it gets everybody’s attention, even if they have a new program for a car that’s, say, 10 years old.
That’s what they have for the Ferrari 360 Modena, a renewed program for the popular Italian supercar that served as a stylistic precursor to the F430 and the 458 Italia.
The program is called the ‘Su Misura F101,′ and includes an extensive integration of internal and external aesthetic components made of carbon fiber and fiber glass. Aerodynamically, the 360 Modena was given a slew of new components, including a new front bumper, new side skirts, a new suspension set-up with totally adjustable shock absorbers and springs, a new quad-pipe stainless steel exhaust system, and a new set of 20" three-piece, forged wheels, machined from aluminum. Inside, a list of modifications were also included, featuring adjustable seats in carbon, a new roll bar in the passenger compartment, and a new multi-media navigation center and satellite arm.
The Italian supercar also received a new ECU courtesy of Fenice Milano, which takes the car’s performance levels up a few notches north of the standard model. The new ECU also comes with a suction system, and while the Italian tuning firm didn’t reveal the increased numbers, you can expect it to be significantly more than what the standard 360 Modena and its 395-horsepower 3.6-liter V8 engine output is capable of producing.
It’s always sad when we have to report on a crashed supercar, but this latest accident takes that depression to epic proportions. Not one, not two, but eight Ferraris, as well as a Lamborghini, two Mercedes models, and two Toyota models have been utterly destroyed this past weekend during a terrible crash on a highway in Japan. The Ferraris destroyed were: several F355 units, an F-360, and an F-430. The losses are being estimated at around $1.5 million, but some are reporting losses of up to $4 million! Fortunately no one was seriously injured in the accident, but 10 people sustained bruising and minor injuries, probably to their egos as well as their bodies.
"The accident occurred when the driver of a red Ferrari was switching from the right lane to the left and skidded," said Mitsuyoshi Isejima, Executive Officer for Yamaguchi Prefecture’s Expressway Traffic Police unit. "It was a gathering of narcissists."
The driver responsible, a 60-year-old man may face up to three months in jail or a fine of as much as $1,280 - considering the damage, we’d say he got off easy. The police officers needed about six hours to clear the highway, although it may take the drivers a lifetime to forget this horrific experience ever happened.
Photographer Jason Thorgalsen has the ability to photograph some of the hottest cars on the planet, but his recent trip to one guy’s garage in California lead him into a world where high end sports cars reign supreme and alternative options for performance don’t fall short of massive creativity.
We don’t know the name of the man behind the garage, but this guy has two 1999 Ferrari 360 Modenas just chilling in his garage - one for him and one for his wife. Apparently, he was zipping around a local racetrack when the standard V8 found in the sports car blew out. Not wanting to shell out the dough for another Ferrari engine - or maybe just because he’s cool enough to find other methods for power - the owner of the Ferrari decided to head on over to Lingenfelter to make good use of their Chevy-sourced 427-ci Lingenfelter Performance-built power plant. This engine powers out over 1,000 HP compared to the 400bhp at 8500rpm and 275lb-ft at 4750rpm found in the standard engine. Yeah, this guy just became one of our idols.
Anytime you get the chance to see four exotic cars on the road together continuously trying to one-up one another, it would be a complete crime to not bring out the cameras and videotape the whole proceedings.
Fortunately, the man sitting shotgun inside a Ferrari 430 Scuderia had the wherewithal to take out his camera and videotape the entire action up close and personal. Not to be outdone by the 430 Scuderia, the other three supercars in this video include some of the finest exotic machineries on the planet like a Ferrari 458 Italia, a Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale, and the only non-Prancing Horse of the group, a Lamborghini Gallardo LP550-2 Balboni Edition.
You normally don’t see a group of cars with this much power oozing out of them together for a joyride along the highways of Brazil, so when it happens, you can definitely expect to have someone recording the action in all its ear-piercing glory.
