The German tuning firm Cargraphic isn’t finished celebrating just yet. In an attempt at updating a classic super car with a new set of wheels, the legentary Ferrari 512 TR from the early ’90s can now continue to roll on into the 21st century with a fresh set of mesh 19 inch wheels that would have made Sonny Crockett jealous. Cargraphic guarantees that their new forged wheels will stand up to the thrashing induced by a high revving 390 HP V12 while the new slender spokes work nicely with the Testa Rossa’s thin slats that make up the classic super car’s wild air intakes. The simple addition of a new set of wheels will go a long way towards updating the Ferrari’s iconic 1980s aerodynamic wedge shaped design.
Press release after the jump.
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In 1953 at the Paris Salon Ferrari unveiled the 375 America. It was a coupe model designed by Pininfarina, featuring a duo tone paint finish, the shape of which was a refinement of that seen on 212 Inter models. The car was exclusive and expensive, with one unit being designed by Pininfarina for King Leopold of Belgium - a two-seater cabriolet.
The 375 America was built on a 2800mm wheelbase chassis - the longest Ferrari used at that time. The majority were fitted with either a Pinin Farina three or five window coupe body. Three examples had a Vignale coupe bodies, whilst there was also a single Vignale cabriolet, and the very last example produced had a very special, and unusual, Pinin Farina coupe body with a wrap around front screen, vertical radiator grille, and buttresses running from the roofline into the tail panel, which was built specially for Gianni Agnelli, the head of Fiat, and displayed at the 1954 Turin Salon.
The 375 America was powered by a 4522cc "long" block V12 engine with a bore and stroke of 84mm x 68mm, fitted with a bank of three twin choke Weber 40 DCZ or DCF carburettors, twin coil and distributor ignition, to produce a claimed 300bhp. Coupled to a four-speed manual gearbox, the engine sprinted the car from 0 to 60 mph in just 7 seconds, while the top speed went up to 150 mph.
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When it comes about Ferrari many people are against any kind of customization, but the tuner Wimmer RS made quite an impressive job and even they have made a few modifications, they managed to keep the car’s personality. The result will be presented at the Essen Moor Show.
Wimmer added a new engine control software and new sport valve exhaust system. As a result the engine’s output has been increased with 38hp. Translated into performances, this means a sprint from 0 to 60 mph in 3.84 seconds, to 124 mph in 11.03 seconds and to 186 mph in 34,9 seconds. Top speed is also increased to 193 mph.
The kit also includes a new KW HLS system that helps to adjust the car’s height by up to to 45 mm on the front axle. The Wimmer Scuderia sits on 19” BBS FI black alloy rims.
Press release after the jump.
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Ferrari’s quest for global (retail) domination is getting stronger and stronger by the day after the Pranching Horse recently conquered yet another country. And while they should never be confused as Starbucks, Ferrari’s ever-growing retail shopping chains does look like its expanding faster than that Green Mermaid.
The latest country to open an official Ferrari store is Athens, Greece, joining a laundry list of high-profile cities all over the world that have also recently been introduced to the Scuderia, including Milan, Venice, Rome, London, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Miami, Barcelona, Macau, the mega store in Dubai, and the highly-anticipated Ferrari World Theme Park in Abu Dhabi.
And if you think they’re done, guess again. The global expansion of the Ferrari Store, at least according to some sources within the company, is far from over. The car brand is still looking at the potential of other cities in Europe, North America, and Asia to have their own official retail store with Ferrari setting aside a target of opening around 50 stores in the coming years.
As one of the most recognizable brands anywhere in the world, the appeal of a Ferrari store near your block should not go understated. Now, if only their price tags were a little bit on the wallet-friendly side, then that would make the whole thrill of going inside a store much more worth it.
The last of the Mondial series was revealed in 1989. Called Mondial T it was the most heavily revised Mondial, with letter "T" inspired by the F1 312 T single-seater, which had just won the Formula 1 World Championship and also used the longitudinal engine/transverse gearbox layout: the previously-transverse engine was now mounted longitudinally whilst the gearbox remained transverse, thus forming a ’t’.
Production last between 1983 to 1993, with 858 units produced in both right and left hand drive configurations, together with various world market specification models.
The new Mondial T was finally worthing the "Ferrari" name and was able to compete with supercars such as the BMW 850i, Chevrolet Corvette, Honda NSX, Lotus Esprit and Porsche 911 Carrera.
Besides using a longitudinal engine/transverse gearbox layout, Mondial T was also offering for the first time: power assisted steering, and had a 3-position electronically controlled suspension for a variable trade off between ride quality and road holding. It also had standard ABS.
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Sometimes, even the best-laid plans don’t go according to what you’d hope for, and this poor guy found that out the hard way.
Let’s face it; thanks to speed limits, the thrill of driving a Ferrari 360 out on the road is nowhere near what it would feel like if you’re taking it out on a race track.
So to experience the unadulterated power of his prized possession, the owner of this Ferrari 360 took out his beloved ride to the Palm Beach International Speedway to run a few laps. Ever the protective owner that he is, the owner even plastered the front of his car with blue protective adhesive because, well, you never know, what might happen out there and he was being extra cautious from getting his car dinged up.
But like we said, even the best laid plans don’t always go according to the script. In the middle of one of his laps, the driver lost control of his car, crashing its rear end into a wall before spinning out of control and crashing another wall with the adhesive-covered front side.
And as you plainly tell by the photos, that blue adhesive that was supposed to protect the 360 from the supposed dinks and kinks was no match to a concrete wall.
Ouch. Ouch. And more ouch.
Revealed in 1948, the 166 Inter was Ferrari’s first GT car. It was a road version of the the 166 sports racing models like the 166 MM barchettas, and was produced between 1948 and 1950, with 37 units being produced.
They normally had coupe bodywork, although Stabilimenti Farina produced three examples in cabriolet form and Bertone also produced a single cabriolet body for the model. Various coachbuilders’ bodywork was fitted to the series, all with their own interpretation of how they felt a Ferrari should be coutured. Apart from Stabilimenti Farina, Bertone, and Carrozzeria Touring, the latter having bodied the first 166 Sport coupé for the 1948 Turin Salon, there were also examples of coachwork from the design houses of Ghia and Finale.
The 166 Inter was built on a 2420 mm wheelbase tubular steel chassis and was powered by a 2-liter V12 aluminum engine coupled with a 5-speed gearbox driving through a rigid rear axle. The engine delivered 115bhp having been available at 6000rpm when compression was set at 7.5:1. With this amount of power the 166 Inter was able to hit a top speed of 115 mph.
The engines on these models had a twin distributor and coil ignition system, and were fitted with a single twin choke carburettor as standard although a triple twin choke carburettor set-up could be specified as an option to obtain extra performance. These were the only road production Ferrari models of the period available with disc type road wheels, as an alternative to the more popular and sporting wire wheels. In either instance they had Ridge type splined hubs, sometimes under a chrome hub cap on the disc wheels.
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The third model in the Mondial line-up was the 3.2 Mondial unveiled in 1985 at the Frankfurt Salon. It was called 3.2 as a reference to the cubic capacity of the engine in liters. The car remained into production until 1989, with a total of 987 units produced, with both right and left hand drive available, together with various world market specification models.
This model saw the first change in the body styling: restyled and body-coloured bumpers, similar to the 328 with more integrated indicators & driving lamps, and new wheels with a more rounded face. The body shape remained otherwise unaltered from its predecessor, although once again the interior detailing was revamped, the most noticeable being angled top corners to the instrument nacelle.
A leather dashboard and/or headlining was available as an option. The five spoke road wheel pattern changed from a flat spoke design to a convex spoke layout to accommodate negative offset suspension geometry for the optional ABS braking system, which would eventually become standard equipment.
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As you may already know, the exotic Italian automaker Ferrari is busy preparing a successor for their last anniversary celebrating halo super car, the Enzo. It only makes sense that the future car will be called the F70 in honor of a 70th anniversary and is promised to be unveiled sometime in 2012. The upcoming F70 would compete head to head with other high end limited edition super cars like the Lamborghini Reventón and Bugatti Veyron. There will only be 399 F70s produced and prices will range in the $1 Million region.
With efficiency high on their list of priorities, Ferrari wants to keep the future F70’s weight to a minimum (1000 kilograms), just like the Millechilli. Now this would be a substantial undertaking for any ordinary automaker, but Ferrari is ready to apply every weight saving technique in their arsenal. While the Enzo was powered by a high revving V12 that made 650 HP, the F70 will use a new direct injection twin turbo V8, quite similar to the legendary F40, with output in the area of 660 HP. This should be enough for the future super car to sprint from 0 to 60 MPH in under three seconds and the F70’s top speed will go up to 230 MPH.
In the spring of 1951 at the Turin show Ferrari unveiled the 342 America. However before it, in 1950 Ferrari unveiled the 340 America, a model built in just a few units and powered by a “long-block” V-12 engine designed by Aurelio Lampredi. For this engine the distance between adjacent cylinders was some 20mm greater than in the Colombo V-12 (this is where the “long-block” name come from).
First used in a grand prix competition, the this 340-hp 4.5-liter engine was detuned to 4.1 liters and placed in the 340 America. The 340 America were fitted with a surprising array of different coachwork, ranging from a development of the classic barchetta body style by Carrozzeria Touring, to quite staid three-box 2+2 coupés from the house of Ghia, with a selection of Vignale interpretations thrown in along the way. A Vignale-bodied 340 America berlinetta won the 1950 Mille Miglia driven by Villoresi/Cassani. Vignale also produced a unique 340 America cabriolet that unfortunately no longer exists in its original form, as its body was cut up and disposed of as part of an attempted insurance fraud a few years ago, which led to the remains of the car being fitted with a body in the style of a Vignale spider.
The 342 America was produced for a relatively short period during late 1952, with only six examples made, one with a Vignale cabriolet body, and the remainder with a fairly homogeneous Pininfarina body in either coupe or cabriolet form. They were built on a 2650 mm wheelbase, tubular steel chassis, as opposed to the 2420 mm wheelbase of the 340 America, and also featured slightly wider front and rear track.
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