La Dolce Veloce

There are big changes proposed for F1! Much like in Champ Car, the focus is shifting to dramatically reduce cost and level the playing field. The use of electronic driver aids is being cut back or eliminated (no traction control, no electronic gera shifting); downforce is being virtually eliminated. More info here, or click ‘more’ to see the full article from that link.
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So, what do you do if you weren’t able to grab one of the 399 Ferrari Enzos produced? How about this, the Ferrari FXX. For a cool one and a half million Euros (thats around $1.8M USD), you can get a more advanced version of the Enzo, called the FXX. The stated goal of the FXX is to involve Ferrari’s ‘most valued clients’ (read: wealthiest) in the research and development aspect of their program, acting as test drivers in these FXX models fully equipped with all sorts of datalogging and telemetry equipment. In other words, Ferrari has found a way to get their customers to pay for much of their prototyping and development costs! Smart, and just goes to show what’s possible once you’ve build a brand up. Ferrari will organize a series of track events for the twenty or so customers who buy these. The biggest downside – these cars will not be street legal.

Press release:
Maranello, 15th June – Ferrari has developed a truly innovative technical collaboration programme around the FXX prototype aimed at
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It’s official, or at least more so than previous. Alfa Romeo will be returning to the US. James Selwa, who helped relaunch the Rolls Royce brand in the US, has been picked to lead the effort. Seeing how Alfa’s a part of cash-strapped Fiat, there’s still a chance they’ll back out and delay their return even longer. Don’t expect to see an Alfa Romeo for sale here until 2007 or 2008 at the earliest, and expect them to be priced similar to Mercedes and BMW.

The Z06, a high performance version of the already fast Corvette, will be available in the fourth quarter of 2005 for a base price of $65,800 (including destination charges). Specs:
- LS7 7.0 liter (427ci) V8 engine
- 0-60mph in 3.6 seconds
- 505hp @ 6300rpm
- 470 lb-ft of torque @ 4800rpm
- 6 speed manual transmission (of course)

Some devious cameraphone-equipped individual caught some pictures of the new Lamborghini Gallardo roadster during a photo shoot. Judging by this, I think we can expect Lamborghini to unveil this car no later than the Frankfurt show this fall, with sales beginning shortly thereafter. It’s not clear from the pictures whether the car has a top, but I believe it will.
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Lotus has announced a successor to the radical 340R. Currently known as the ‘Circuit Car’, this open top racer will be based on the Elise chassis and feature an optional supercharger to go with its Toyota engine. It will weigh about 33% less than the Elise (600kg), and you can bet on it costing probably that much more than the Elise (though pricing will not be announced until later this year).
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When BMW released their Z4, many people focused on its somewhat radical styling. Some loved it, some hated it, and in the end, it ended up being respected and appreciated by most. I just don’t see the same thing happening with Subaru’s new Impreza. This car is just plain ugly. The headlights are a nice improvement, but the rest of it is a messy jumble of random shapes, there’s no elegance or smoothness to this design. Click for more pics, including some of the STi version.
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