Sergio Marchionne. Editor-in-Chief's Note: As I mentioned a month ago, when Marchionne got his hands on Ferrari it was going to get ugly, real quick. The continued push into more Ferrari "worlds" and tchotchke boutiques was inevitable, but changing the name of the California, a name with authentic Ferrari heritage, to Portofino - which sounds like a special option package suited for a Chrysler minivan and was actually the name of a Chrysler concept of a few years ago - was simply inexcusable. And as predicted, Marchionne is going to ramp up Ferrari production by 40 percent because, well, greed is good, image be damned. (He also said he'd never sell off Jeep separately, but that doesn't mean he won't bundle Jeep, Ram truck and the minivan plant, and sell it all to Hyundai.) And now, it's time for a Ferrari SUV. “We’re dead serious about this,” Marchionne told reporters Monday at the New York Stock Exchange. He referred to it as the “FUV” model and it's 30 months away, Bloomberg reported. (I wonder what those initials stand for, Sergio, the Fuck You Vehicle?) “We need to learn how to master this whole new relationship between exclusivity and scarcity of product, then we’re going to balance this desire to grow with a widening of the product portfolio.” This just in, Sergio, there's no way in hell you and your minions will "master" anything about the relationship between exclusivity and scarcity of product, because you've already blown it to smithereens right out of the gate. Marchionne is hell-bent on turning Ferrari into just another car company, and he's well on his way. Paraphrasing the immortal words of Joe Pesci in "Casino," Marchionne "could fuck up a cup of coffee." We don't call him the Carpetbagging Mercenary-in-Chief for nothin', folks. -PMD
(Aston Martin images)
This is the new Aston Martin DB11 Volante. Joining the DB11 Coupe, the new DB11 Volante "sets new standards of performance, innovation, engineering and style to create the definitive open-top Sports GT," according to Aston Martin PR minions. Lighter and stiffer with an all-new bonded aluminium structure shared with the DB11 Coupe, the DB11 Volante is powered by a new 4.0-liter twin-turbo 510PS V8 engine. The Volante features 3-stage powertrain and chassis modes that works with the 8-speed paddle-shift automatic transmission, electric power steering and limited-slip differential with dynamic torque vectoring which allows the driver to configure the car’s responses in a way that best suits the road, weather conditions or mood. How much? $216,495, with first deliveries in the U.S. during the first quarter of 2018.
