These live pics show the Ferrari 599 Vettura Laboratorio (laboratory vehicle) and the Ferrari California with new Stop&Start technology, both presented at the Geneva motor show. It’s all about Ferrari in green this year, with the 599 Vettura Laboratorio Hy-Kers the first of Ferrari’s hybrid projects.

It is a 12-cylinder model with electric motor (of more than 100 hp) that will contribute to Ferrari’s future need to reduce CO2 emissions and become more environmental. While we’re only in the initial phase, Ferrari president Montezemolo has said that the first Ferrari hybrid production vehicle will appear in the next three to four years.

The 599 Hy-Kers reduces CO2 emissions by 35 percent compared to the model it’s based on, and in the future its hybrid system could be transferred, as is, to V8 Ferrari models. The Ferrari California Stop&Start is another experiment with environmentally friendly technology, that has reduced CO2 emissions by six percent, to a total of 280 g/km.

Ferrari 599 Vettura Laboratorio live pics from Geneva

Continue reading: Ferrari 599 Vettura Laboratorio live at Geneva

Here’s a look at the Ferrari California tuning by Novitec. Both the engine unit and look of the car have been modified as part of the Novitec Rosso program. A new carbon fibre aerodynamic kit has been added, including a front spoiler, side skirts, diffuser and rear wing. New 21 and 22-inch alloy wheels are available with tyres measuring 255/30 and 255/30. The California has been lowered, but a system of raising the front by 40 mm has been included for speed bumps, garage entrances and other obstacles.

The V8 motor has new engine mapping and stainless steel exhaust with metal catalysts and internal valves, compatible with the eletronic shift. The 4.3-litre engine now reaches 500 hp and 518 Nm of torque, with a rev limit increased to 8,300 rpm. Check out the California Novitec tuning gallery below, and add this to your dream Christmas list.

Continue reading: Ferrari California tuning by Novitec

This video probably won’t last very long so get it while it’s hot. Ferrari president Luca Cordero de Montezemolo drove a Ferrari California, with Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso on board, into the gravel at the end of the world championships in Valencia. In hilarious scenes, Montezemolo gets himself deeper with the sand making a nice little mountain around the rear wheels.

With Massa and Alonso getting out of the car, a few technicians turn up to try and push it out, but in the end Montezemolo and the guys had to complete the round with a different vehicle. If you’re a bit anti-supercar, this is an example of the total impracticality of buying one. I love the fact the two Formula One drivers get the hell out of there and leave Montezemolo in his Ferrari, all at sea.

Source | Motorsportblog via Autoblog.it

Continue reading: Ferrari president drives California into the dirt with Massa and Alonso on board

There are those who swear that these spy photos show the future Ferrari 599 GTB Spider. After having taken the pictures, the Czech Ferrari site decided on the least immediate solution. According to them, the irrefutable proof: the car body of the California is in fact replaced by one similar to that of the Fiorano. This is sufficient to declare the arrival of a new drop-top version.

But the logical thread is rather tangled. It is enough to look at the front of the prototype to understand its manifold descent - lights from the Quattroporte, fenders from the California, hood from the 599. Therefore many hypotheses arise - a Tridente coupe, or perhaps a different engine - even if we don’t disregard the possibility of a Modena coupe-cabriolet, maybe one of the first specimens.

Source | CzechFerrari (Thanks to our reader “Ryuk Shinigami” for the recommendation)

Continue reading: Ferrari: spy photos of the 599 GTB Spider?

Here’s a first look at the Edo Competition Ferrari California effort, which appears to be the first re-tuning/touch-up of the California to date. The V8 4.3 litre engine gets a good 40 hp more thanks to a new exhaust system, up to 500 hp. The other performance figures subsequently change with only 3.9 seconds required to reach 100 km/hr, and a top speed of 315 km/hr. New alloy wheels are included in either 20 or 21-inch versions and a lowered wheels base completes the package.

Via | Autoblog.nl

Continue reading: Edo Competition Ferrari California

Among the press material from Ferrari at the Bologna Motor Show, we found this new gallery of the Ferrari California with a gorgeous photo shoot in Sicily. It looks like they took it everywhere across the Italian isle to really show the California style.

Also included in this gallery are shots from the Mugello world championship finals in November, where you can enjoy some vintage Ferraris, impressive livery and beautiful Italian automobile design.

Continue reading: Bologna Motor Show: Ferrari California Sicily shoot, Mugello gallery

After only 92 sales from the previous month, it appears that even Ferrari sales are hit by the economic gloom around the world. Reports are also that Ferrari has laid off 300 workers (ten percent of the Ferrari workforce) and that the Christmas break from December 19 to January 7, having been criticised for being too generous in the first place, is in fact a stop in production.

According to Autocar however, Ferrari is denying any sales crisis, and is basing its decisions on economic nous given the current climate around the world. Some Ferrari models are building up in stock, especially in the UK which is a difficult market for the brand.

The F430 Spider is apparently suffering from the release of the California and the winter season, while Ferrari was relying on the one-to-one personalisation program to solve the stagnating sales problems of the 599 Fiorano and 612 Scaglietti.

While Ferrari will likely weather the storm well enough, it all depends on how long that storm lasts. Currently the 10,000 annual sales target for 2010 is looking a little ambitious.

Via | Autocar

Continue reading: Ferrari in sales crisis or not?

Ferrari has opened its configurator tool for the Ferrari California - a virtual world of optionals where you can play with colours and all the possible combinations available for the V8 cabriolet. While it’s purely a virtual exercise at the moment (no pricing listed, for example), the colours available are many and varied, and you can swap trims and wheels too.

Continue reading: Personalising the Ferrari California with the California configurator site

“Why Ferraris have lost their beauty” could be the topic for an entire thesis on Italian car design and automobile history, but as it happens, Gavin Green writing in Car, has put together a simple but effective piece on the new Ferrari style.

Green seems to be a real fan of Ferrari, and someone who knows them well, so we can assume he hasn’t written the piece to increase readership. Basically he says that while modern Ferrari models have maintained, and even developed if that’s possible, the pure driving style, the beauty has been lost along the way.

But as the capability has blossomed, the beauty has been besmirched. Ferraris aren’t gorgeous any more. The California has a fat arse. The 612 is fussy and ill-proportioned. The Enzo is more bug than bird. Even the F430 lacks the visual grace and profile poetry of the old F355, the last lovely Ferrari.

Continue reading: Ferrari: Italian automobile design goes astray

After the presentation of the lovely Ferrari California, Ferrari fans will be eager to know developments on the heir to the F430, the little sedan with central V8 engine which is perhaps more emblematic of the brand. The name is likely to be F470 but not necessarily the V8 4.7L.

Continue reading: Ferrari F142: future F470

Finally we get a video from the presentation of the Ferrari California that took place in Sicily, with the guys from Autocar having a test drive. The lovely blue model gave a positive impression, with the risk that the California was not going to be a real Ferrari sports model having been avoided. While the weight-power ratio is not among the best, the performance and handling are still indicative of the Italian engineering and design behind Ferrari.

While it seems a strange choice to test drive the Ferrari California along with its most important rivals, though this could be an indication of just how much Ferrari believes in its last creation. After all, the vehicle is completely sold out, and it would be difficult for a new Ferrari not to please the market.

(Thanks to DanieleX6 for the tip)

Continue reading: Video: Autocar tests Ferrari California

The guys at evo have published the first official price list of the Ferrari California in the UK, and the first coupé-cabriolet from the company will cost 143,000 pouns, equivalent to 184,000 euros.

This puts it halfway between the F430 and the Spider. With the current exchange rate, this makes the F430 at 172,500 euros, then the California, then the Spider at 189,500 euros. You might be thinking that’s not a bad price, which is fine if you could get your hands on one.

Continue reading: Ferrari California: UK pricing