In Memoriam: Marcello Gandini, an Automotive Design Master

The world lost one of its preeminent car designers today, as Marcello Gandini has passed away at the age of 85. Though perhaps best known for the flashy and outrageous Lamborghini Countach, Gandini’s pen was applied to many other Italian, German, French, British, Japanese, and Swedish concepts and production designs. Gandini’s prolific portfolio of work made a permanent mark on automotive design.

Read more
Ferrari Patents Augmented Reality System Designed to Merge Real and Virtual Racing

Ferrari has filed a patent with the United States Patent and Trademark Office that leverages augmented reality to allow real-world racing to crossover into the virtual realm. By using wireless networks and the real vehicle’s positional data, Ferrari thinks it can replicate it on screens at home with a high degree of accuracy.

But the really slick stuff comes into play once that experience is replicated the other way round. The special interface device the automaker has filed its patent for also replicates virtual vehicles competing against it via an advanced head-up display (HUD) and some feedback features made possible by electronic controls.

Read more
Maserati to Stop V8 Production At the End of This Year

Even the most prestigious sports car brands are going electric, though McLaren recently announced an extension of its gas and hybrid engine partnership with Ricardo. Maserati, whose Ferrari-derived gas V8s sing one of the most intoxicating songs, just did the opposite. The Italian automaker announced that it would discontinue its V8 production at the end of 2023.

Read more
Ferrari Shows Off New Car for Its First WEC Races Since 1973

The World Endurance Championship (WEC) is a thrilling series with cars packing the latest tech and automakers from around the world vying for the top spots. Ferrari, whose teams have put up legendary performances in several racing series, recently announced a new car for the upcoming WEC season.

Read more
What’s the Deal With Synthetic Fuels?

Following news that the European Union had delayed voting on the prospective banning of the internal combustion engine, Porsche and Ferrari have reportedly been doing their utmost to encourage exemptions for synthetic fuels. Presented as an alternative to gasoline and diesel, “e-fuels” would theoretically allow the automakers to continue selling traditional engines while offering fuels they claim would be less harmful to the environment.

However, cutting through the industry rhetoric on this will be important. Despite assurances that synthetic fuels would reduce greenhouse gas emissions, there are a lot of lingering questions about e-fuels.

Read more
TTAC Video of the Week: In Which the M.E. Drives a 1994 Ferrari 348

Auto shows aren't all a grind of bad food, bad lighting, and too much coffee. Sometimes, one gets to have a little fun.

Read more
QOTD: Who Missed -- or Hit -- the Mark on Exotic SUVs?

Once in a while, I see a Bentley Bentayga or Lamborghini Urus bopping around town. We also know the Ferrari Purosangue is on the way. So, I wonder, which automaker has gotten the extreme high-dollar luxury SUV right -- and wrong?

Read more
23,555 More Ferraris Recalled Over Brake Failure Risk



Ferrari has recalled 23,555 vehicles manufactured between 2005 and today, representing a sizable chunk of the brand's output. As with the recall Ferrari issued in October of 2021, the company remains worried about the potential of dangerous brake failure. Though your author imagines the physical threat this actually presents to vehicle owners is limited, because most Ferrari products spend their entire lives in climate-controlled garages as motionless baubles.


Still, it may pose some amount of risk to in-house mechanics and multi-millionaires who actually drive their collectible cars and aren't Jay Leno (he's sworn off the brand). So it's likely better for Ferrari to notify the public than simply playing the odds that nobody will notice for another 15 years.


Read more
Rare Rides Icons: Lamborghini's Front-Engine Grand Touring Coupes (Part V)

Lamborghini proved it could make a luxurious grand touring coupe that a few people were willing to buy instead of a Ferrari with its first-ever production car, the 350GT. Based on the 350GTV prototype that was not actually drivable, the 350GT eventually grew and matured into the very similar 400GT we featured last time.

At its inception, the 400GT was just a 350GT with a larger engine, since the intended roof edits to turn the 2+1 into a 2+2 were not production ready. Lamborghini advertised the 350, 400, and 400 2+2 as three separate models, a fun take on the truth. But after three variations of the original 350 design, it was time for something new. The replacement process was not without drama.

Read more
Twin-Engine Terrors #1: 1935 Alfa Romeo Bimotore

Editor’s note: This is the first in an occasional series.

Enzo Ferrari. You probably know who he is, thanks to the eponymous car brand he started in 1947 — but what you probably don’t know is that il Commendatore was already a legend, years before he hung out his own shingle … and the twin-engine, Alfa Romeo Bimotore racer from 1935 is a big part of the reason why.

This wasn’t some crazy, “let’s see if we can” sort of project, either. This twin-engine terror was born out of necessity — the necessity to beat the German Auto Union and Mercedes-Benz “Silver Arrows”, anyway.

Read more
Rare Rides Icons: Lamborghini's Front-Engine Grand Touring Coupes (Part IV)

The 350GT was Lamborghini’s first production car, and as we learned in our last entry, was a very rapid adaptation of the 350GTV prototype. And while the GTV was certainly more elegant looking than the GT, the former’s foibles included a hood line that was too low to fit the company’s V12, as well as a general lack of practicality.

Practicality was the word of the day in the 350GT’s development. The 2+1 grand touring coupe brought Ferruccio Lamborghini’s vision to life, as a competitor to the well-established finery from Ferrari. There were just 120 examples of the 350GT produced before its successor joined the ranks. The new car had a larger engine that made more power but looked very similar to its brother. Meet the 400GT.

Read more
Rare Rides Icons: Lamborghini's Front-Engine Grand Touring Coupes (Part III)

After Lamborghini’s 350GTV show car debuted in Turin, Ferruccio Lamborghini was very intent on turning the coupe’s good publicity into sales of a real production Lamborghini. But the prototype lacked running gear, an engine that fit under its hood, and there were many other miscellaneous issues. As we learned last time, redesign work began on the GTV’s chassis, engine, and body at a furious pace. That’s where we pick up today.

Read more
Rare Rides Icons: Lamborghini's Front-Engine Grand Touring Coupes (Part II)

We return to our coverage of Lamborghini’s front-engine grand touring coupes today, and the story of the company’s first prototype. A teardrop-shaped two-door with sweeping lines and an angular rear, the 350GTV was the first passenger vehicle Ferruccio Lamborghini ever made. His past experience was as a successful businessman and builder of stylish Italian tractors at Lamborghini Trattori.

The high-strung 3.5-liter V12 was completed (albeit in race car specification) and the coupe’s body had been casually assembled by the craftsman of Carrozzeria Sargiotto, who usually made plastic moldings and not cars. Was the next stop the 1963 Turin Auto Show? Nope.

Read more
Ferrari Says Majority of Sales Will Be EVs, Hybrids by 2030

Last week, news broke that Ferrari was plotting a third assembly line in Maranello dedicated entirely to EV production. But this turned out to be little more than a preamble for the obligatory announcement that the company would eventually transition toward building electric vehicles.

On Thursday, the Italian automaker told investors that all-electric and hybrid models will make up 80 percent of its global sales volume by 2030. This is to be done via a slew of new products it hopes to launch between now and 2026. Though the first Ferrari to run exclusively on battery power isn’t scheduled to arrive until 2025. According to the manufacturer, it’s plotting to launch 15 new vehicles as part of the overarching strategy. While some of those will undoubtedly be duplicates boasting open-air cockpits and slightly different powertrains, it has still got to be some kind of record for the brand.

Read more
Report: Ferrari Plotting Italian EV Assembly Line

Ferrari is rumored to be preparing a third assembly line in Maranello, Italy, dedicated for electric vehicles. The automaker has already purchased land near the facility and is presumed to make an official announcement on June 16th when it’s scheduled to present its four-year business plan.

As usual, this comes from a major media outlet that cited unnamed sources from within the industry. Though, considering the luxury sports car manufacturer’s confirmation that it would begin producing hybrid and all-electric automobiles, it’s more than plausible. Ferrari’s first battery electric vehicles are scheduled to arrive in 2025 and it still needs somewhere to build them.

Read more