Reporting for the April 2009 issue, Goodfellow writes:

Still pinned in the seat and with 6500rpm rapidly approaching, shift into second. That split-second when you shift is one of the most heavenly events you’ll ever experience in any car, equalling or bettering the feeling of flooring the pedal of a Bugatti Veyron for the first time or running a 250GTO past 8000rpm. The 12-cylinder symphony that bellowed at ten-tenths is momentarily muted as revs drop, the sudden silence bringing the sound of the whining gearbox to fore. You feel a slight catch as you shift out of first and hit neutral, then another slight catch as the lever slots into second. Right foot back on the floor now, and the crashing wave of unabated acceleration and spine-tingling 12-cylinder, four-trumpeting-exhaust symphony once again blankets your being.

[…]

Blast down a straight, brake hard (this car cheats a bit here, for it was fitted with discs at the time of our drive, soon to be changed back to the original drums) and then enter a hairpin. Stand hard on the gas as you exit the turn; the rear hunkers down as the steering wheel slides through your fingers as it quickly centers. The sensation of it all is as fluid and surreal as anything I’ve experienced. And all the while you are looking out over one of the best automotive road views ever – those curvaceous fenders, long hood and sloping metal covering the carbs.

And so on. Please make note of Goodfellow’s comparisons — to a Veyron and a 250 GTO. I imagine his life is that of a hopeless cubicle-dweller.

On a sad note, Octane do not appear to put their old articles online so I’m afraid you’ll have to hunt down a copy of their April 2009 issue to get the rest. Or you can try and pry mine from my cold, dead fingers.

Photo Credit: Darin Schnabel/Octane

As we told you earlier this year, with only 21 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa with the Scaglietti designed pontoon fender body, chassis no. 0714TR is more rare than the 36 250 GTO's made. Add to that the very unique and quite sexy black and red paint, the great history — it was the fourth Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa built, the second customer car and is in absolutely pristine restored condition — and you've got one hot piece o' auction action.

Sure enough, yesterday when returning to its Maranello birthplace for the auction debut, the '57 Ferrari sold for €9,020,000 ($12.156 Million). That's €1,980,000 ($2.668 Million) more than the previous auction world record set at this same sale last year.

MARANELLO, Italy, May 17 /PRNewswire/ — RM Auctions, in association with Sotheby's made history at the Ferrari factory in Maranello today as a 1957 Ferrari 250 TR, chassis no. 0714TR sold for € 9,020,000 at the third-annual Ferrari Leggenda e Passione event to set a new world record for the most expensive motor car ever to be sold at auction.

Returning to its Maranello birthplace for its auction debut, the euro 9,020,000 sale price represents euro 1,980,000 more than the previous auction world record which was set at the same sale last year.

"The historical significance of this car attracted a bidding war as collectors from around the world - both in the room and on the telephone - competed to secure one of the most alluring and iconic of all Ferrari racing cars," said Max Girardo, Managing Director of RM Europe.

"The eyes of the world were watching today's sale as cars of this quality are so rarely offered to the market. The rarity and the provenance of the Testa Rossa speaks for itself and the price we achieved today is testament to that. We are delighted with the result the car achieved today," he added.

1957 Ferrari 250 TR

300 bhp at 7,200 rpm, 2,953 cc single overhead cam 60? Type 128 LM V-12 engine, six Weber 38 DCN carburettors, four-speed manual gearbox, unequal A-arms, coil springs, Houdaille hydraulic shock absorbers and anti roll bar front suspension, live axle, semi elliptic leaf springs, Houdaille shock absorbers with four trailing arms rear suspension, four-wheel drum brakes. Wheelbase: 2,350 mm (92.5 in.)

"The result of a race is 50 percent due to the car. When the car has been made, you are only half way there. You now have to find a driver and it costs more to train a good racing driver than it does to make a car. When I decide to take part in a race, I don't think about my competitors. I try to do my best, without telling myself ‘I must beat Mercedes or Maserati'. For me the importance of a race is the technical result, that is, whether – given the same course and the same atmospheric conditions – established records have been broken. If so, progress has been made."

Enzo Ferrari's telling insight on his views of motor racing.

In 1957 the Commissione Sportiva Internationale (CSI) had been contemplating new rules to make sports car racing safer after the disaster at Le Mans in 1955 and Alfonso de Portago's crash in the 1957 Mille Miglia, in which he and his co-driver, along with nine spectators were killed. Despite this appalling accident, Ferrari went on to take The Sports Car Championship at the final round at Caracas. The team had begun the year with the 3.8-litre 315 S, which was later developed into the 4.0-litre 335 S. Ferrari's mind was already on his next creation – which would be one of his finest.

Anticipating a reduction in capacity for sports cars by the CSI for the 1958 season, Ferrari began working on a car powered by the 2,953 cc, 250 GT, V-12 engine. Ferrari first used the name Testarossa on the four-cylinder 500 TR. The name "red head" was used because the car's cam covers were painted red. The new V-12 car, developed under Carlo Chiti's engineering team, was intended by Enzo Ferrari as a more powerful version of the four-cylinder car retaining similar handling characteristics and tremendous reliability. This robustness had been proven on the 250 GT unit with a single overhead camshaft. Chiti revised the cylinder head design, fitted high compression pistons, special conrods and six Weber twin choke carburettors.

The first prototype, chassis number 0666, fitted with an envelope body similar to the 290 MM, appeared at the Nürburgring in 1957 and was tried by all the Ferrari works drivers. Olivier Gendebien set the sixth fastest time, no small feat against the more powerful Aston Martins and sister Ferrari team cars. The car finished a disappointing tenth, driven by Masten Gregory and Olindo Morolli who was given the drive at the last minute and was somewhat out of his depth.

The second Testarossa prototype, chassis number 0704, was bodied by Scaglietti and caused a sensation when it appeared at Le Mans. With its distinctive pontoon fenders, the car was said to be one of Scaglietti's very favourite designs. Ferrari's coach building artisan explained, "Formula 1 was the inspiration for the shape, there were pods on the sides of the F1 cars, (Ferrari Lancia D50) and while I wouldn't call them aerodynamic, they went well. We used a similar idea by designing the body to bring air in towards the brakes to cool them. In many ways the Ferrari 250 Testarossa was a Formula 1 car with fenders."

At Le Mans in June 1957 both prototypes suffered problems with new pistons. 0666 failed to start and 0704 retired, having run as high as second place. In Venezuela, during the final round of the championship, its potential was finally proven. Wolfgang von Trips and Wolfgang Seidel finished third in 0666 with Maurice Trintignant and Gendebien in fourth with 0704.

1958 would prove to be the 250 Testarossa's absolute pinnacle. The factory cars won four of the six races to secure Ferrari's third consecutive World Sports Car Championship for Constructors. Phil Hill and Peter Collins won in Argentina and again at the Sebring 12-Hours. Victory at the Targa Florio was taken by Luigi Musso and Gendebien and the 24 Hours of Le Mans was won by Gendebien and Hill.

For 1959 the Testarossa's bodywork was redesigned by Pinin Farina and built by Fantuzzi, Scaglietti having been sidelined by the increased output of Ferrari road cars. While the TR59 of Dan Gurney, Chuck Daigh, Hill and Gendebien took victory at Sebring in March there were to be no further wins and Ferrari finished second to Aston Martin in the Championship.

In 1960 Testarossas won at Argentina (Hill/Gendebien) and Le Mans (Gendebien/Paul Frere) and took the Championship once again. Although the 330 TRI/LM would win at Le Mans in 1962 with Hill and Gendebien, 1961 was really the car's swansong as a works entered car. Hill and Gendebien won at Sebring and Le Mans and Lorenzo Bandini and Giorgio Scarlatti won at Pescaro in the TR61 prototype.

Only 34 250 Testarossas were ever built, although this figure is debatable, as it also includes both prototypes as well as the 330 TRI/LM. Some were manufactured purely as customer cars. Many of these would continue racing for years to come, often with great success in national and international competition.

The car presented here, 0714, is the fourth Ferrari 250 Testarossa built and the second customer car. Finished in white, it was sold new to Piero Drogo who was then living in Modena. Although born in Vignale Monferrato, a small town near Alessandria in Piedmont, the Drogo family emigrated to Venezuela. Drogo raced extensively on the South American continent in sports cars and saloons. He finished seventh in the 1956 Venezuelan Grand Prix and later returned to Italy where he worked as a mechanic for Stanguellini in Modena. In 1960 he drove a Cooper Climax in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, finishing eighth. In the early sixties he started Carrozzeria Sports Cars. They produced bodies for the stunning P3 and P4 Ferraris and the square-backed car which became affectionately known as the "Breadvan".

Ferrari 250 Testarossa chassis number 0714 was immediately modified by Drogo after he bought it. He added air scoops underneath the doors to help cool the rear brakes. His first race in the car was the 1958 1000 Kilometres at Buenos Aires, Argentina. The car was shipped to South America along with a factory car, ready for competition. Drogo had a trouble-free race in 0714 finishing a highly credible fourth overall with co-driver Sergio Gonzalez. Drogo's next race in this TR was at the infamous 1958 Cuban Grand Prix in Havana. Juan Manuel Fangio had been kidnapped by Fidel Castro's revolutionaries and the race was marred by a terrible accident. The event was abandoned amidst chaos and Drogo was classified 13th.

0714 was shipped back to Europe and competed in some minor events before being rebuilt and eventually repainted red. Drogo raced the car for the last time at the XII Circuito Internacional Vila Real in Portugal. 0714 was then sold via Luigi Chinetti to Alan Connell of Fort Worth, Texas in November 1958. Piero Drogo was later killed driving his 365 GTC Coupé in 1973. He ran into the back of a truck that had broken down in an unlit tunnel near Bologna. He was 46 years old.

In 1959, prior to campaigning 0714, Connell had the car painted black with a very distinctive red nose, in the same style as his Maserati 250S. Connell raced 0714 extensively across the United States in SCCA National events. At the Pensacola National he was third overall and second in class. Fourth overall and second in class at Virginia International Raceway. Tenth and second in class at Cumberland and at Bridgehampton was seventh and took his first class victory. Another class victory was achieved at the next race at Elkhart Lake, with fifth overall. Buckley, Colorado saw a fourth and second in class, a result repeated at Riverside. At the Riverside Kiwanis GP he was eighth and fourth in class and he finished fourth overall and first in class at Montgomery. Connell easily won the Class D Modified title in 1959 and he often raced the Testarossa at Regional events. He was a very capable driver and took an outright victory at Mansfield, Louisiana.

Eventually this fabulous Testarossa was returned to Chinetti's in New York. The car was rebuilt and sold to Washington, D.C. resident Charlie Hayes. Hayes dropped a valve at the Thompson National in 1960 but finished second in a Regional at Vineland, New Jersey and fifth at Marlboro, Maryland. Hayes had the car repainted white at the end of the season and sold it to Carl Haas in Chicago. It was then purchased by Wayne Burnett who repainted the car red.

Burnett was a journeyman driver and while he competed in nine National events during the 1961/62 seasons his best finish was sixth at the Meadowdale National in 1962. He fared better in the Regionals finishing second at Wilmot Hills, second at Minneapolis, an outright win at Lawrenceville, Illinois, and a third back at Wilmot Hills.

In 1962, the original engine 0714 was removed and the dry sump unit from 0770 TR was installed. Disc brakes were added as well as a clear TR59 type carburettor cover. Burnett raced the car six times in 1963, finishing eighth at Elkhart Lake and with Luke Stear co-driving, 12th in the 500-mile race at the same circuit.

The car was eventually acquired by Robert Dusek of Solebury, Pennsylvania in 1970 and was restored back to its original specification and colour, reunited with engine 0714. In 1977 the Testarossa was shown by Dusek at the 14th Annual Ferrari Club of America National meeting at Watkins Glen.

In August 1984 Ferrari 250 Testarossa 0714 was sold to Yoshijuko Hayashi in Japan and in January 1995 was acquired by Yoshiho Matsuda from Tokyo. The same year Matsuda showed the car at Suzuka at the Forza Ferrari meeting. Partnered by Oyaizu, this car competed in the Mille Miglia in 1995 and 1996. Matsuda also drove it at the Monterey historic races at Laguna Seca in 1996.

In 1998 the car was back in action at the Neko Historic Automobile Event at Honda's Twin Ring Motegi Circuit. It competed again the following year. Also in 1999, 0714 was at the tenth anniversary meeting of the Ferrari Club of Japan at Suzuka.

In 2004 the car was shown at The Quail in Carmel Valley and displayed at the Ferrari Club of America Laguna Seca track event. More recently 0714 has benefitted from a re-spray back to black and red – the same livery in which the car competed in so many races in the 1950s and 1960s. Furthermore, the car has been overhauled by marque specialists ensuring that it is ready to be enjoyed on rallies or track events in America and Europe.

RM Auctions has had the pleasure of test driving 0714 and confirms that the car performed beautifully. The steering is light and the throttle response is immediate, giving the driver the feeling that the 12-cylinder engine is more than willing to power through the revs to the 8000 rpm redline. The symphony of the powerplant matched with the growl from the megaphone exhausts will make any enthusiast's hair stand on end. The reverse lock-out, four-speed all-synchromesh gearbox is very precise and confidence inspiring. Easier to drive than a Ferrari 250 GTO and perhaps much more rewarding thanks to its more favourable power to weight ratio, 0714 is a truly fantastic racing car. Not only is the performance breathtaking, but the view over the bonnet when driving is simply one of the best in the world.

It is the fourth of about 34 cars produced and the second customer car built. Moreover, it is one of only 21 cars to feature the desirable pontoon fenders and as such is considerably rarer than the famed 250 GTO, of which 36 examples were built. With its Scaglietti bodywork, 0714 is truly stunning – like a great sculpture it begs to be touched. Its incredible racing history puts the car far beyond most other 250 Testarossas, if such a thing can be said. This car would be welcomed with open arms to all the great historic race meetings and events around the globe. As these cars rarely come to market, the Testarossa is one of the most coveted in the marque's history. With breathtaking looks, fantastic performance and handling, this is a true connoisseur's Ferrari.

There is no way to get used to the size of Ferrari’s 612 Scaglietti. While most Ferraris—indeed, most supercars—tend to be larger in life than imagined, the Scag is a monster. Longer than a Mercedes-Benz E-Class and wider than an S-Class, it is the size and shape of a ballistic missile, especially in dark gray.

The size is a direct consequence of the car’s dual functions of high-speed handling and four-person capacity. Inside are four bucket seats intended to carry in comfort four actual people with eight lower extremities. This is unlike most 2+2’s where the comfortable ratio of humans and legs tends to be an unevenly distributed one to one. And while—unlike the Espada’s very comfortable rear seats—I have never had the opportunity to actually sit in a 612, those who have describe the rear seats as up to the task.

The other factor in the 612’s immense length is the engine, which is mid-mounted. But unlike with the traditional mid-engined layout—where the engine is between the cabin and the rear axle—the Scag’s 5.7-liter V12 sits low behind the front axle, similar to the supercharged V8 in the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren. And like the SLR, the 612 has a nose—or substitute your favorite metaphor based on human anatomy—any self-respecting Frenchman would be proud of.

Mounting an engine midships is done to reduce weight in a car’s extremities, lowering its moment of inertia. This comes in handy when you take a corner fast, so I called Nino Karotta, the only person I know who has actually driven a 612 Scaglietti (if you’ll remember, Nino was the guy who showed us how to become a Formula One driver in one day).

The 612 he drove was in an environment rather alien to a leviathan GT—the Hungaroring, a racetrack in a dusty valley on the outskirts of Budapest, home to the Hungarian Grand Prix. He described the experience as similar to what happens when you take any very powerful but heavy car to a track. That while it’s very fast, capable of huge powerslides and much better composed than, say, a large V12 Benz, it is ultimately too soft and too heavy for proper track work. Unlike, he said, the Ferrari 599 GTB, which he drove on the same day and described as a sharp, violent track animal.

We had better find a more suitable environment for the 612 then. And remember: we’re looking for family use here. So let’s head to Regent’s Park, 487 acres of Central London flanked by white stucco houses where rich people live and exercise.

While Central London is perhaps not the perfect location to strecth a 550 HP grand tourer’s legs, nothing beats it when it comes to arriving home. The car is understated, elegant, majestic, no Italian waving of hands apparent in its flowing lines, inspired by a one-off Ferrari 375 MM its namesake Sergio Scaglietti created in 1954 for Italian neorealist film director Roberto Rossellini’s wife Ingrid Bergman.

An elderly couple then arrive in a Citroën C3—this is a very small French car—and maneuver into the space in front of the Ferrari.

They turn out to be the parents of the Ferrari’s owner, a dapper man who has by this time emerged from his house. My mate Máté and I are soon in the midst of a family cavalcade, admiring the lovely Ferrari.

Also in tow is a young girl, Orelia by name, who climbs down from her grandmother’s neck. This is it then: a real, live kid who actually rides in the back of a Ferrari! Our conversation as I remember it:

“Hi Orelia, my name is Peter.”

“Hi Peter.”

“So how is it riding in a Ferrari’s back seats?”

“It’s great. I sit there with my two sisters.”

Roominess? Check!

“And when you go for a ride, do you go real fast?”

Substituting for words, she offers a huge, jubilant nod. We wave our goodbyes. A few steps later, her father reaches down to pick a white strand of thread out of the Pininfarina logo on the left fender.

Gentlemen, a Jalopnik midlife plan is emerging here. Make a quarter million bucks, get a Scaglietti and a fine woman, sire children, then transport them in style and at speed.

And if you have dogs (or elephant guns), go get that Maserati Quattroporte wagon.

Photo Credit: Balázs Fenyő (Ferrari 599 GTB), Máté Petrány and the author (612 Scaglietti)

As you’re reading this, Jalopnik’s European squad—yours truly, teamed up with Crazy Euro Car Girl—are heading down to Italy to arrive on Saturday morning for this year’s Concorso d’Eleganza. It’s the 80th showing of perhaps the classiest classic car event this side of Pebble Beach and on display will be a number or rather special cars. Racing Ferraris, prewar Bugattis and even Jason Castriota’s new Bertone Mantide. Only this time it's the real thing instead of the foam model on display at the Shanghai Auto Show.

The Concorso is a peculiar event for the car geek. For one, it is of a mind-boggling scale. There are close to a hundred cars on display, every single one of them not only very beautiful, old and exciting, but often with an intriguing story. Ferraris driven by 50s playboys. Maseratis owned by movie stars. An Alfa Romeo used by Benito Mussolini’s mistress Clara Petacci to escape at the end of World War Two, unsuccessfully. And so on. It is a monster of a show, easily inducing Stendhal syndrome in those so inclined.

On the other hand, the Concorso brings into sharp focus the oddity of the vintage car scene. There is a tendency among people who are into cars—and I am certainly not immune to this—to think that all the best cars, be they road cars or racers, were produced in the 50s and the 60s. And in that regard, the Concorso should be the pilgrimage of a lifetime.

Except that the old Ferraris are no longer raced by Italian daredevils on public roads. They are tended to by retired American businessmen in ice-cream colored polo shirts. The paintjobs, never meant to be immaculate, are given lustruous sheens with soft clothes and have their names pronounced in accented Italian.

And that the glamour of all these cars stems from the fact that they were radically new back in the day, not museum pieces.

I first came face to face with the Concorso two years ago, and ten days later, produced what was perhaps the most difficult article I’ve ever written, which is now republished in English at Hyperleggera:

Sergio Scaglietti is a short Italian gentleman. Immaculate in appearance, but that’s Italian DNA, his hands sinewy, his eyes like the lake. All around us park Ferraris which Scaglietti had designed fifty year ago. Cherry blossoms captured as they reached the ground, a half century old yet gleaming, all proper use carefully polished away.

Take the red 121 LM Spider we had passed on our way to the hotel. Eugenio Castellotti led with it the race at Le Mans in 1955 before the world erupted into flaming magnesium. The red 860 Monza. Juan Manuel Fangio drove it to victory in Sebring in 1956.

Under the paintjobs, covering aluminum curves, are Sergio Scaglietti’s fingerprints. They’re from an age when the right materials, the right technology and the right people combined to create perfection, time after time after time. Florence under the Medicis was similar. Athens under Pericles.

Modena in the Fifties and the Sixties.

If you’re in the Lake Como area, you can attend the Concorso yourself on its public day of Sunday for €10. If not, check back here on Monday, when, armed with hundreds of photos, we’ll show you what’s hot and what’s not.

On a lovely autumn day in 2006, I folded myself out of the back seat of my friend Larry’s Lamborghini Espada and had a revelation: I have just found the perfect family car.

Orosz, get your head out of the mushrooms, you might be thinking, the Espada is a 40-year-old Italian rustbucket, but see, it all makes sense. The car is Marcello Gandini’s trickiest design—the svelte coupé profile obscures two flawless, roomy back seats, either of which will accommodate my 6'2" frame with ease. Fitting a child seat in there would be a walk in the park.

The Espada also makes a very pleasing noise, is not very expensive at around $40,000 for a driveable example and most importantly, it comes with a cubic mile of style. Based on my rudimentary knowledge of developmental neurophysiology, a child exposed to such a stylish means of transport in her formative years will develop impeccable taste. And a sense for the benefit of extreme speeds.

To test my theory, I went for a stroll in Knightsbridge, London’s perhaps poshest neighborhood. Specifically, the streets around the famous department store Harrods, where the local ultra-rich do their weekend shopping.

Ferrari 456

The first car I ran into that fit the bill was a midnight blue Ferrari 456. This is very similar to the Espada in that there is a V12 up front, two doors on the sides and four seats on the inside. Ferrari introduced it in 1992 as the replacement for that eyesore 400 and made around 3000 of them until the 612 Scaglietti took the stage as Ferrari’s resident leviathan.

It’s a beautiful, compact car, and in spite of the fact that the good people of Knightsbridge receive ultra-high doses of supercar every single day, it still drew looks. The inside is your typical all-leather Ferrari affair—but it showed no signs of occupation by minors. Little wonder: the rear seating area is way less voluminous than that of the Espada. You would need to have kids with very short limbs to feel comfortable back there.

The Knightsbridge crowd thought the same: a couple stopped by to consider it as perhaps their next family ride, but upon seeing the interior, they promptly walked off.

Ferrari 599 GTB

Of course unless you have twins or more than one child, you won’t need a four-seater right away, and if you live in Knightsbridge, your spouse probably has her own supercar. What you need is a grand tourer. And show me a grander tourer than the Ferrari 599 GTB.

It was parked in front of the World’s Easternmost Krispy Kreme Franchise: a favorite haunt for those who have gotten hooked on this wonderful Southern suspension of fat and sugar, yours truly amongst them.

And here, in the tantalizing cloud of frying donuts, my theory was proven. In the passenger seat of the Ferrari was installed a child seat! Pardon the lack of a polarizing filter:

Unlike the Espada, the 599 is definitely not a reasonable choice. You will be charged a quarter million dollars to own this rocketship with its archways of aerodynamics. But consider: putting your child through a good college and graduate school runs up a tab very much in that neighborhood—and there’s no guarantee that she’ll have a happy and productive time.

Alternatively, you can spend that money on a 599. Her hearing will develop in a vat of high-strung V12 engine noise. Her sense of balance will be trained by the sudden instances of acceleration and deceleration produced by the 611 horses up mid-front and the humongous carbon ceramic brakes in the corners. She will smell gasoline and premium leather. All in all, the perfect way to nudge her central nervous system in the right direction.

As I was considering all this, the smell of Krispy Kremes became overpowering. I followed my zombified brain inside and introduced four glazed donuts into my body. A few minutes later, giddy with the sudden overload of sugar, I stumbled outside to see the Ferrari already gone. Inside traveled a small child, her brain happily soaking up every component of that magic which Ferraris are made of, constructing all the right synapses for a balanced adulthood.

Next up, we’ll look at a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti and a real, live kid who rides in the back.

Photo Credit: Balázs Fenyő (Lamborghini Espada) and the author

Despite the otherwise nasty downturn in global auto sales, Ferrari has seen a 20% increase in Hong Kong sales in the last year and this gray 612 represents the 1000th Hong Kong sale, so to celebrate, the car was delivered on a junk ship. We don't particularly know why, equating a shiny new Ferrari with junk doesn't seem like the message you'd want to send. It may have been a silly publicity stunt, but you cant argue with the visual. [iMotorMag]

Press Release:

XM Announces First Ferrari Model to Feature XM Radio and XM NavTraffic

Ferrari 612 Scaglietti will Feature Standard, Factory-Equipped XM Radio and XM NavTraffic with Three Years Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — XM (NASDAQ:XMSR) , the nation's leading provider of satellite radio, announced the first Ferrari model to come with factory-installed XM Satellite Radio and XM NavTraffic real-time information service. The Ferrari 612 Scaglietti will come equipped with XM Radio and XM NavTraffic as standard features that will be incorporated into the vehicle's advanced audio and navigation system. Ferrari will include three years of XM Radio and XM NavTraffic service with each vehicle.

"XM is now available from Ferrari, one of the most prestigious vehicle makers in the world," said Steve Cook, executive vice president, Automotive, XM Satellite Radio. "Now Ferrari drivers can enhance their driving experience by discovering music and listening to sports, talk and news on the more than 170 channels of XM Radio. XM NavTraffic also enables Ferrari drivers to route around a jam so they can continue to enjoy the road."

XM NavTraffic is available in 79 major U.S. markets, alerting drivers to real-time traffic information. The data is delivered to the driver's GPS navigation system via XM's satellite pipeline to provide information on current traffic conditions, such as traffic speeds, accident locations, and road closings. Where available, XM NavTraffic also provides information that allows users to view an overlay of color-coded traffic flow information, indicating the average speed of travel along the driver's planned route.

About XM

XM (NASDAQ:XMSR) is America's number one satellite radio company with more than 8.2 million subscribers. Broadcasting live daily from studios in Washington, DC, New York City, Chicago, the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Toronto and Montreal, XM's 2007 lineup includes more than 170 digital channels of choice from coast to coast: commercial-free music, premier sports, news, talk radio, comedy, children's and entertainment programming; and the most advanced traffic and weather information.

XM, the leader in satellite-delivered entertainment and data services for the automobile market through partnerships with Ferrari, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Porsche, Subaru, Suzuki and Toyota is available in 140 different vehicle models for 2007. XM's industry-leading products are available at consumer electronics retailers nationwide. For more information about XM hardware, programming and partnerships, please visit http://www.xmradio.com/.

Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements in this press release include demand for XM Satellite Radio's service, the Company's dependence on technology and third party vendors, its potential need for additional financing, as well as other risks described in XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.'s Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on 3-1-07. Copies of the filing are available upon request from XM Radio's Investor Relations Department.

Source: XM

Ferrari's big 60th is wrapping up, with the company's global relay race sliding into Modena this past weekend. But an anniversary be without an anniversary edition would just be another crap-ass birthday. And it's not like Ferrari needs another occasion to deck out its top-of-mast 612 Scaglietti with special two-tone paint and swank interior appointments. But the 612 Sessanta (60, get it?) also gets an electro-chromic panoramic roof panel with three transparency positions (like the Superamerica), carbon-ceramic brake package, and an electronics package from Bose that includes rear parking camera and TV tuner. Viscounts only, please. – Mike Spinelli

Press Release:

Ferrari 612 Scaglietti Sessanta: Product Specifications

612 Sessanta is produced on the body of the 612 Scaglietti introduced during the Geneva Motor-Show 2007, and thus comes with the full enhancement package used for the latter. It is available only with F1 gearbox and provides the following features.

Special contents:
Exterior colours The sixty cars shall be available alternatively in the following exterior colours: Two-colour special style:
· Grigio scuro (Colori Classici '50-'60) / Nero with grigio scuro side line
· Rubino Micalizzato / Nero Daytona with Rubino Micalizzato side line.

The following special colour features are added as well:
· Special colour of underbody black in technical black
· Colour treatment of the front headlight and rear bumper details in silver.

Exterior contents
· Electro-chromic panoramic roof panel with three transparency positions
· New monolithic and forged 19"/19" wheel rims
· Specific wheel cups
· Radiator grill with specific painted frame
· Chromium-plated rear grids with black chromed special exhaust pipes
· "612 Sessanta" emblem on front fender

Interior colours
Interiors are featured by a single-colour environment, with slightly contrasting stitching. Two choices are available. New Natural leather, "Terra Bruciata" coloured (exclusive colour on 612 Sessanta), including:
· Marrone carpets
· Interior details in Grigio Scuro (dash cross member, door panel details, tunnel plate)
· Black seat belts
· Terra Bruciata colour for steering wheel, dashboard, rear shell, and upper interior part

Those interiors are exclusively available with Grigio Scuro / Nero livery. New Natural leather Charcoal coloured, including:
· Grigio Scuro carpets
· Interior details in Rubino Micalizzato (dash cross member, door panel details, tunnel plate)
· Grigio seat belts
· Charcoal colour for steering wheel, dashboard, rear shell, and upper interior part

Those interiors are exclusively available with Rubino Micalizzato / Nero Daytona livery.

Interior content
· Steering wheel with three-position Manettino and Engine Start button
· Exclusive upholstery style for seats, door panels and rear sides
· Specific central tunnel upholstered and fully equipped, with 2 cup-holding compartments and rear handles
· Four pockets on door panels, two of them closed
· Specially-styled instrument cluster
· Unique plate celebrating the 60-year anniversary on F1 gearbox plate
· Leather upholstered and equipped boot

Further contents
· CCM braking system with black calipers
· Bose Media System
· Rear Parking Camera
· TV Tuner
· Cruise Control

Related:
Spy Photos: Still More on the Ferrari F430 Challenge Stradale [internal]

Seriously, if you were Giorgietto Giugiaro, wouldn't you drive your one-off Ferrari concept car across the Alps to Switzerland? And once you got there, wouldn't you just slam it into a parking garage, in sight of all the plebes' Ford Focus C-Maxes and Renault Twingos? The Winding Roadies caught Giugiaro's Ferrari GG50, which was a gift to himself on occasion of his family firm's 50th anniversary. It even has road mud. We'd imagine him saying something like, "The car, she is made to be driven, not kept like in a root cellar next to the dried cod, like grandmother." Maybe not exactly like that. – Mike Spinelli

Geneva Motor Show: One-Of-A-Kind Ferrari Casually Parked In Swiss Garage [Winding Road]

Related:
Ferrari to Show Giugiaro-Designed Concept in Tokyo [internal]

Let's say this crazy Dr. Brown setup is a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti fitted with the Maranello boys' new part-time 4x4 system. Were that the case — and it probably is — it would be an early test mule for the system, which is destined for an updated Scag. Winding Road's Reilly Brennan explains what all that science junk is for. Who knew you tested wheel slip with a stethoscope? – Mike Spinelli

Spied: 4 4 Ferrari 612! No Kidding, Folks [Winding Road]

Related:
Ferrari Developing Part-Time 4WD System [internal]

After we'd finished ogling the 599 in the Ferrari North America tent on Friday, we stepped outside for a dose of nicotine (it's the pause that refreshes, after all), and stumbled right into Peter Kalikow's Pininfarina-massaged 612 Scaglietti, dubbed the 612 Kappa. We shot the shit with some Ferraristi and gleaned that with the GTC exhaust, the ram-air effect caused by the functional hood scoop and the downforce provided by the massive ducts behind the front wheels, the revised Scag should be able to top 200mph. While it's been overshadowed by the radically altered Enzo-based James Glickenhaus P4/5, the Kalikow car betters the standard 612 in practically every way. This is the 2+2 Ferrari should've built.

Related:
Another Billionaire's Ferrari: Peter Kalikow's Scaglietti; More from Pebble Beach [Internal]

Pininfarina's released a press kit introducing the Ferrari 612 Scaglietti "K" the venerable design firm built for New York billionaire, real estate mogul, former owner of the New York Post, chairman of the MTA (NYC's transit authority) and all-around filthy-rich collector of priceless Ferraris, Peter Kalikow. The car, which has undergone a far-less radical-looking transformation than the Ferrari P4/5 Pininfarina built for fellow mogul James Glickenhaus, debuted earlier this year at Italy's Villa d'Este Concours d' Elegance. According to the company, Kalikow's work order was as follows: a new body with such subtle, hidden differences from the original as to be recognizable at first glance by only 10% of Ferrari connoisseurs. Spending an obscene amount of money on a completely rebodied Ferrari that looks 90% like the original one? That, my friends, is serious cash-money cojones.

Related:
Another Billionaire Gets His Bespoke Ferrari On: Peter Kalikow's Scaglietti [internal]

UK style council members caught unaware Ferrari's in-house coachworks can personalize a Ferrari Scaglietti to order, get out your Alexander McQueen pad and pencil sets. Ferrari's teamed with Walpaper* magazine on a show car to highlight the company's bespoke options. The driveway model's been finished in a "stunning but subtle" paint scheme iin Nero (black?) and Blu Pozzi (blue?), with a custom interior, aluminum kickplates and special badging. Road trips to Spain can be made ever so much more luxurious with a set of matching luggage. Expect to see it at an insufferably pretentious event near you.

Related:
2006 Villa D'Este Concorso D'Eleganza [internal]

New York real estate tycoon and chairman of the city's Metropolitan Transit Authority, Peter Kalikow, is the latest in a crowd of three super-rich Ferrari enthusiasts who've commissioned Italy's coachbuilders to rebody their exotics. As collector James Glickenhaus did vis-a-vie his bespoke, Enzo-based P4/5, Kalikow's go-to firm is Pininfarina, which will create a yet-unknown Ferrari homage atop the bones of Kalikow's 612 Scaglietti. And like collector Yoshi Hayashi's Zagato-bodied 575 — dubbed 575GTZ — the finished product will be revealed late this week at the Villa d'Este Concours d'Elegance in Italy. No word on cost, but figure at least as much as one of the new #6 trains.

Coachbuilt Scaglietti for Peter Kalikow [Italiaspeed]

Related:
That's Not My Car!: Collector Answers AutoWeek's P4/5 Speculation; Zagato's Commemorative Ferrari 575 Revealed [internal]