The first Ferrari Sergio has arrived in the United Arab Emirates.

The first Ferrari Sergio has arrived in the United Arab Emirates. It has been delivered today to its new owner, the SBH Royal Auto Gallery in the UAE, at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit, where the Finali Mondiali Ferrari are being staged and which is home to the Ferrari World theme park.  

Designed by Pininfarina, just six of this incredibly limited edition roadster are being built. The car was created to celebrate the spirit and core values of the historic Cambiano company in the 60th anniversary year of its collaboration with the Prancing Horse. Needless to say, Sergio was the only possible choice of name for the model, in homage to great Sergio Pininfarina, who sealed the unique, longstanding partnership with Ferrari. 

The Ferrari Sergio is a genuinely radical car. It is both exclusive and spare in the sense that every single element aboard is focused entirely on performance. An authentic open-top, it explicitly references the track, underscoring and intensifying its sense of sportiness, fun behind the wheel and the pleasure of design at its purest.  

The Ferrari Sergio’s performance and dynamics are excellent in the extreme too. It is based on the 458 Spider and retains the latter’s technological content as well as all of the functional aspects of its cockpit. It is powered by the latest 605 hp version of Ferrari’s naturally aspirated 4497 cc V8 which has won the International Engine of the Year award on three consecutive occasions. This power unit also guarantees the car sprints from 0 to 100 km/h in just 3 seconds. 

The Ferrari Sergio has an extremely simple, clear style. Both its volumes and treatments of its surfaces reflect the spirt of Pininfarina’s 1960s and 70s creations for Ferrari. Its proportions have been pushed to the extreme with the front of the car seeming to penetrate the rear which itself projects forward. 

The result is an exceptionally sculptural, three-dimensional take on the classic roadster. The two bodyshell masses are melded together via a longitudinal black insert, the main styling cue of the design.  The flank is also characterised by the same black longitudinal element which acts as both a dividing and unifying element between front and rear. The two sections of the car flow effortlessly into one another resulting in sublimely harmonious yet extremely muscular forms.

As with all Ferraris, the Sergio’s design was never an end in itself but is a marriage of function and aesthetics. The semi-floating development of the front spoiler beneath the bonnet balances downforce and optimises heat exchange. The roll-bar is a modern take on the classic Ferrari flying buttress and negative rear window.  Integrated into the roll-bars are the air intakes for clutch and gearbox oil cooling.  Lastly, the rear nolder and rear extractor generate downforce, adding an efficient finishing flourish to the car’s design.  

At the front of the car, Pininfarina has integrated the headlights in a classic move, turning them into a single transparent transverse element, a signature of the car’s extreme formal purity. At the rear, the circular tail lights are another modern nod to Ferrari history.  The two-tone theme continues on both the front bonnet and rear deck with the latter featuring the iconic circular air vents seen on other iconic Pininfarina creations from the past.

The cockpit is pared-back and functional in the extreme with the engine compartment actually hugging the backs of the seats. The example delivered to Abu Dhabi has three-layer red exterior paintwork and an extremely sporty cockpit with black leather upholstery with contrasting red stitching, Alcantara seat inserts, and extensive carbon dash and door well trim. It also features Sergio-specific forged wheels, in this instance gold in colour with a diamond finish.

Each one of the six Ferrari Sergios was configured by its owner in dedicated sessions at the Tailor Made atelier in Maranello where clients are invited to personalise their cars to their own individual tastes. The atelier offers enormous freedom of choice in terms of colours, materials and finishes. As a result, every detail is extremely exclusive, thereby continuing the Prancing Horse tradition begun in the 1950s and 60s of creating bespoke cars minutely tailored to each client’s wishes. 

Ferrari sell off helps Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Debt drop by up to $894 Million.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles expects its net industrial debt to drop by about $894 million (715 million euros) thanks to a planned Ferrari spin-off, a regulatory filing showed on Wednesday.

FCA had already said in a separate filing with U.S. market regulator SEC earlier this month that it would receive 2.25 billion euros from Ferrari before it spins off the luxury sportscar unit from the group next year.

The company added on Wednesday that this payment and the removal of Ferrari's own debt of 133 million euros from the parent group's accounts would be offset by the loss of Ferrari's cash and receivables worth 1.67 billion euros.

FCA had net debt of 11.37 billion euros at end-September. The company added in the filing that the final impact on its debt could "differ materially" from the projected amount given potential changes to its own and Ferrari's debt at the time the spin-off occurs.

CEO Sergio Marchionne, who also serves as Ferrari chairman, said in October he would spin off the unit, sell a 10 percent stake via a public offering and distribute the rest of FCA's stake in the luxury sports car brand to its shareholders.

The spin-off is part of a bigger capital-raising plan that also includes a $2.5 billion mandatory convertible bond issue and a share sale to help cut debt and fund an ambitious business plan at the world's seventh-largest carmaker.

Marchionne said at the time that all the measures would inject 4 billion euros into the group.

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NHTSA Fines Ferrari $3.5 Million for Failing to Submit Early Warning Reports

The U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) today announced that Ferrari will pay a $3.5 million civil penalty and has been ordered to comply with NHTSA oversight requirements as set forth in a Consent Order for failing to submit early warning reports (EWR reports) identifying potential or actual safety issues. Federal law requires large manufacturers and affiliates of large manufacturers to submit comprehensive EWR reports on a quarterly basis, in order to provide notice to the Department of potential safety concerns. 

Ferrari, an affiliate of Chrysler, admitted that it violated the law when it failed to submit required reports to NHTSA over a three-year period, and failed to report three fatal incidents. Until Fiat (which includes Ferrari since 2011) acquired Chrysler, Ferrari qualified as a small volume manufacturer and was not required to file quarterly EWR reports. However, while Ferrari was not required to file quarterly reports, it must report fatal incidents nonetheless.

"There is no excuse for failing to follow laws created to keep drivers safe, and our aggressive enforcement action today underscores the point that all automakers will be held accountable if they fail to do their part in our mission to keep Americans safe on the road," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.

In addition to the civil penalty, the Consent Order requires the automaker to improve its processes for EWR reporting, to train personnel on the EWR requirements, to communicate these improvements to NHTSA, and to retroactively submit all EWR reports. The Consent Order is immediately enforceable in federal court if any terms are violated.

"The information included in early warning reports is an essential tool in tracking down dangerous defects in vehicles," added NHTSA Deputy Administrator David Friedman. "Early warning reports are like NHTSA's radar, helping us to find unsafe vehicles and make sure they are fixed. Companies that violate the law and fail to comply will be subject to comparable swift NHTSA enforcement action."

EWR reports are required under the Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability, and Documentation (TREAD) Act of 2000. The law requires quarterly reporting of: production information; incidents involving death or injury; aggregate data on property damage claims, consumer complaints, warranty claims, and field reports; and, copies of field reports involving specified vehicle components, a fire, or a rollover.

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Ferrari at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Ferrari is proud to announce the Goodwood debut of the  new California T and 458 Speciale at this year’s Festival of Speed. In addition, the Ferrari F12berlinetta, fresh from receiving the Compasso d’Oro design award, will also be making a return to this year’s event. 

Ferrari’s new Grand Tourer, the California T, will appear at Goodwood this year showcasing its all-new turbocharged V8 engine. Maranello’s engineers have managed to design a remarkable power unit that combines classic Ferrari engine qualities, such as razor-sharp responsiveness, blistering performance, superbly powerful acceleration at all speeds and an exhilarating soundtrack, with the advantages of turbo technology, such as significantly reduced emissions and fuel consumption, a high specific power output and compact dimensions. This is a  genuinely unprecedented achievement that sets a new benchmark for the industry.   

The 458 Speciale is the result of the search for extreme technology, driving thrills and performance, with the application of advanced technical solutions for the powertrain, aerodynamics and vehicle dynamics. It is the first regular production Ferrari to have active aerodynamic devices on the rear diffuser, as well as mobile aerodynamic devices at the front, and it is these elements which set it apart from the 458 Italia from which it is derived to an extent unprecedented in the previous 360 Challenge Stradale and 430 Scuderia special series. The 458 Speciale’s performance is exceptional across the board, with acceleration from 0-62.5mph in 3 seconds and a Fiorano lap time of 1’23”5.

The F12berlinetta, which made its UK debut here last year, will return to Goodwood. Having already won the ‘International Engine of the Year’ Performance Engine and Above 4-litre class award in 2013 and the 2012 Top Gear award for ‘Supercar of the Year’, the Ferrari F12berlinetta has now been awarded one of the oldest and most prestigious accolades in the world of design: the Compasso d’Oro.

Ferrari will also be represented by the Scuderia Ferrari team who will be demonstrating the 2009 F60 Formula 1 car driven by ex-F1 driver, Pedro de la Rosa. Special guests Kimi Räikkönen and John Surtees will celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the latter’s F1 Championship title in a special Shell celebration event on Sunday, the 29^th of June. Each will drive their respective Championship-winning cars - Räikkönen his F2007 and Surtees a 1964 158 F1.

SPAIN - LaFerrari voted best sports car in Madrid.

Ferrari has taken the prize in the Best Sports Car category during the Best Cars 2014 awards celebrated in Madrid. The award ceremony at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium was organized by the prestigious Spanish motoring magazines, Autopista, Automóvil, Coche Actual and Autovía.

Ferrari’s “LaFerrari”, the limited-edition special of which only 499 units will be produced, was voted Best Sports Car, winning its first award in Spain. Since its launch, “LaFerrari” has earned worldwide critical acclaim from clients and media alike, in part because it is the most powerful Ferrari ever produced and also because it´s the first hybrid vehicle from the brand.

The prize for the “LaFerrari” follows last year’s awards, with the F12Berlinetta taking Best Coupé and the 458 Spider Best Cabrio.