Ferrari Backs Down to Ford Over Trademark Dispute

VOA Breaking News

Italian sports car manufacturer Ferrari has agreed to use the full name of its new Formula One race car following a trademark dispute with American automaker Ford.

In a statement Thursday, Ferrari said it had not used the abbreviated F150 name commercially but would refer to the car in all areas of operation by its full name, the “Ferrari F150th Italia.” The race car's name celebrates the 150th anniversary of Italy's unification.

Ford sued Ferrari in Detroit federal court Wednesday contending the Italian carmaker had violated its trademark over the pickup truck name F-150. Ford has been using the F-150 name since 1975 and has had a trademark on it since 1995. The Ford F-150 truck is one of the company's most popular vehicles. 

A Ford spokesperson said that the motive behind the lawsuit was to prevent the Ford F-150 brand from being “diluted.” Ferrari said it was “very difficult to understand Ford's viewpoint on the matter,” believing its race car “cannot be confused with any other types of commercially available vehicle.”

The Formula One season starts March 13 at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Sakhir.

Fires Force Ferrari Recall of 458 Italia Supercars

VOA News
September 2, 2010 at 1:50 pm

Legendary Italian carmaker Ferrari, which builds the quarter-million-dollar 458 Italia sports car, is recalling more than 1,200 of the fabled machines, after reports of the supercars bursting into flames. 

The recall, announced Thursday, affects all 1,248 owners of the sleek two-seater, which generates a top speed of 325 kilometers an hour. It was issued after pictures and video of several burned cars were posted on the Internet. 

Ferrari, based in the northern Italian town of Maranello, blames the fires on an adhesive holding the heat shield in place near the wheel arch assembly. The company says the adhesive ignited during what it called "extreme uses in very high temperature." 

Under the recall, the company says the glue will be replaced with metal fasteners. 

Ferrari says five fires have been reported in the United States, Switzerland, China and France. 

NHTSA Recall 10V389000

Vehicle Make / Model:          Model Year(s):
     FERRARI / 458        2010
Manufacturer: FERRARI NORTH AMERICA INC  Mfr's Report Date: AUG 31, 2010
NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number: 10V389000  
N/A
NHTSA Action Number: N/A
Component: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Potential Number of Units Affected: 303
Summary:
FERRARI IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2010 458 ITALIA VEHICLES. THE HEAT
CREATED BY THE ENGINE COULD CAUSE POSSIBLE DEFORMATION OF THE REAR RIGHT HAND
AND LEFT HAND WHEELHOUSE AND HEAT SHIELD ASSEMBLIES. THE ASSEMBLY COULD COME
EXCESSIVELY CLOSE TO THE EXHAUST SYSTEM CAUSING THE BONDING ADHESIVE USED IN
THE ASSEMBLY TO OVERHEAT AND PRODUCE SMOKE.
Consequence:
UNDER PARTICULARLY HIGH AMBIENT OPERATING TEMPERATURE THIS COULD CAUSE THE
ADHESIVE TO IGNITE, RESULTING IN A VEHICLE FIRE AND/OR RENDERING THE VEHICLE
INOPERABLE AND POSSIBLY RESULTING IN A CRASH.
Remedy:
DEALERS WILL REMOVE THE EXISTING HEAT SHIELDS AND BONDING ADHESIVE FROM THE
RIGHT HAND AND LEFT HAND REAR WHEELHOUSES, AND INSTALL NEW PROTECTIVE HEAT
SHIELDS ON THE RIGHT HAND AND LEFT HAND REAR WHEELHOUSES. THIS SERVICE WILL
BE PERFORMED FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN DURING
SEPTEMBER 2010. OWNERS MAY CONTACT FERRARI AT 201-816-2600.
Notes:
FERRARI SAFETY RECALL NO. 51. OWNERS MAY ALSO CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY
TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION'S VEHICLE SAFETY HOTLINE AT 1-888-327-4236
(TTY 1-800-424-9153), OR GO TO HTTP://WWW.SAFERCAR.GOV .

Ferrari Says Raikkonen, Massa Equals in 2008

VOA Sports

The new head of Ferrari's Formula One team, sporting director Stefano Domenicali, says reigning driving champion Kimi Raikkonen of Finland will not be given preferential treatment in this year's competition.

Domenicali says Raikkonen and teammate Felipe Massa of Brazil will start the season "on an equal footing." Domenicali says his priority is the good of the team.

The new sporting director says Formula One must put last year's spy scandal involving rival McLaren behind it. McLaren was fined $100 million and stripped of its points in the constructors' standings after a former Ferrari employee allegedly leaked sensitive data to the British-based team.

Domenicali, who replaced Jean Todt, says that for the good of the sport, teams need to look forward. However, he acknowledged that forgetting the spy scandal will be difficult. Raikkonen won the driving championship at the last race of the season, edging British McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton by one point.

360 Modena

By Jonathan Blocker

Heir Apparent: The Ferrari 360 Modena

At the turn of the century, the quiet little town of Modena was going about its business in the southern Po Valley in Italy. It was like any other town, with busy shops and hard working parents, and the streets were filled with children, who once in a while marveled at the machines that would occasionally rumble by on stiff rubber wheels. Three of those boys would go on to create legendary automotive companies that would bear their names – Maserati, Lamborghini and a young man named Enzo Ferrari. Today Modena is home of factories for automotive legends like Bugatti, De Tomaso, Lamborghini and, of course, Ferrari, thus earning it the reputation as the capital of engines. Now, nearly one hundred years later, the little town has another distinction by virtue of its name – the 360 Modena, one of the first Ferraris For Sale to be made entirely of aluminum. The line of small, two-seat sports cars went into production in 1999, and is modeled after its predecessor, the legendary F355, and serves as a replacement for the classic small-body Testerossa models, long the flagship of the brand. The 360 Modena is longer, taller, and with a wider wheel base than its ancestors, yet is slimmer in width, lending it less radical yet more muscular and aerodynamic lines. Like any new Ferrari based on earlier designs, the Modena 360 is chock full of performance enhancements and technical innovations that result in zero-to-100 miles per hour accelleration in 10.2 seconds, markedly slower than the 6.6 seconds of it’s muscular cousin, the Enzo Ferrari supercar, but still quick enough to snap a neck that isn’t paying attention. The convertible version of the Modena is the 360 Spider, perhaps better known from its frequency in movies, but other than poundage is the exact same car. A stripped-down and performance-juiced version of the Modena exists in the form of the Challenge Stradale, sans leather and ornamentation. As with all Ferraris, the 360 Modena delivers speed, distinctive styling and the prestige of that little yellow emblem, all in a two-seater that proudly promises to propel the Ferrari legacy into the distant future.

Jonathon Blocker is a Ferrari aficionado who is intimate with a variety of Ferraris and has developed an expertise on the collectible Ferrari.

Most Expensive Ferrari Sold

By Anthony Fontanelle

The popularity of the Ferrari is known the world over. The Italian carmaker is known not only for building good looking cars with high performance but also for the price that these vehicles fetch. In fact the company’s cheapest model has a base price of $150,000. When it comes to expensive cars, Ferrari just set a record for the most expensive Ferrari ever sold.

The sale came at an auction held in the marque’s Italian assembly facility. Hosting the auction are the Canada-based RM Auctions Inc. and the trusted Sotheby’s. The auction saw 33 classic Ferraris being auctioned off. The most expensive of the lot is the 1962 TRI/LM Testa Rossa Spyder. The said classic race car fetched a price of 6,875,000 euros or about $9.275 million. While the car became the most expensive Ferrari ever sold, it is not the most expensive car sold in an auction. That distinction belongs to a 1931 Bugatti Type 41 Royal Sports Coupe which was sold for $11 million.

The Testa Rossa Spyder is said to be the world’s most famous race car since it was used by Ferrari in the 24-hour Le Mans. The dominance of the car of the said prestigious racing event spanned from the late 1950s to the early 60s. The car sold at the auction for the record price is the last of its kind which is one reason why the price reached more than $9 million. The particular model is the last Ferrari race car to have its engine in the front and it was driven by Phil Hil and Oliver Glendebien at the Le Mans in 1962. Aside from that particular car, the auction also sold classic Ferrari cars which earned the Italian car manufacturer more than $46 million.

Other Ferrari cars sold during the auction, which would put to shame any production vehicle even if equipped with Kleen Wheels accessories, includes a 1953 Ferrari 340/375 MM Berlinetta Competizione which fetched a price of 4,235,000 euros. The said classic Ferrari is the second most expensive Ferrari sold during the auction. Another classic car sold at the public sale is a 1970 Ferrari 512 S which was sold for 2,640,000 euros. A 1953 Ferrari 340 MM Competition Spyder was sold at the auction for the price of 2,310,000 euros. Another Ferrari classic which was sold at the auction is a 1966 Ferrari Dino 206 SP which was sold for a whopping 2,420,000 euros. Another expensive Ferrari car sold is the 2003 Ferrari F2003-GA Formula 1 Grand Prix Car which was driven by Michael Schumacher during his stint with Scuderia Ferrari. The car was sold for 1,540,000 euros or almost $2 million.

Of the 33 cars that were auctioned, only one car was not sold and it was a 1987 Ferrari F40 Prototipo.

Aside from the mentioned cars, Ferrari also auctioned off different car-related merchandise like a 2005 Ferrari steering wheel which was sold for $85,000. Compare that to a brand new Chevy Aveo which has a starting price of $9,455 and you will see how expensive Ferraris are. The Italian car manufacturer also auctioned off a 2004 V10 engine which was sold at $62,000. A matching 2004 engine cover was also sold at the auction which fetched a price of $12,500. An autographed Schumacher helmet was sold for $30,000 while a racing suit worn by the German Formula One driver fetched a price of $28,000. Current Ferrari Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen’s racing suit was also auctioned off and was sold for $8,500. And perhaps the oddest things auctioned off were a set of Felipe Massa’s under-clothes which was sold for $775.