Ferrari Eric Clapton's One-Off SP12 EC

Ferrari sure took its time to bring up Eric Clapton's coachbuilt SP12 EC, but today, more than two months after we first laid eyes on the car through a set of pictures and a video shot at a London dealership, the Italians come out to tell us that the one-off exotic will be featured in the latest issue of the Ferrari Magazine. The breakdown of the 458 Italia-based model's name is: 'SP' for Special Project, '12' for the Ferrari 512BB that inspired its design and of course, 'EC' for Eric Clapton.
"The world-famous guitar player has been attached to one particular Ferrari model: the 512 BB, of which he has owned three over the years," said Ferrari in a statement. "So his desire was to drive a car inspired by this model, with influences from the multi-award winning 458 Italia."
Ferrari tells us that in the magazine article, Clapton talks about his passion and how the idea of a one-off car was born.
We do not get any other specific details about the SP12 EC other than that the Centro Stile Ferrari in collaboration with Pininfarina and the engineers from Maranello designed the one-off supercar.

PHOTO GALLERY

VIDEO

Read More

Ferrari 458 Italia Flips Twice in the Air

There is a reason why many consider the notorious corkscrew at the Laguna Seca raceway both fantastic and scary at the same time. If you want to know about the scary part, then you should take a look at what happened during the 2012 Ferrari Racing Days this past weekend.
While tackling the corkscrew, one of the drivers came in way faster than he should of and the 458 Challenge just continued on straight. Due to the car's momentum, the gravel and tires did not stop the Italian racer, which was flung into the air like a toy before it landed on its roof. A very scary incident indeed.
Fortunately, the driver walked away from the crash shaken but not hurt.
You can view the accident from various angles in the videos below.

VIDEO

Read More

Ferrari 458 Italia Emozione Tuned up

Inspired by its race-prepped Ferrari 458 Italias, Evolution 2 Motorsport (E2M) thought it would give the road-going model a go with the presentation of its "Emozione" tuning program. The Ferrari 458 Italia Emozione is finished in a two-tone blue and silver paintwork and features a new front splitter, mirror caps, chrome look air duct mesh and trim, a rear spoiler, a double rear lower diffuser at the back, and custom made 21-inch alloy wheels. In addition, the engine bay is trimmed in carbon fiber.
Inside, Evolution 2 Motorsport limited the upgrades to billet alloy pedals and footrests for both the driver and passenger area.
To improve performance, the company recalibrated the Ferrari V8's ECU and added a new carbon fiber volume air-box and a custom-made titanium sports exhaust system, which lift output from 562bhp (570PS) to 602bhp (610PS).

PHOTO GALLERY

Read More

Watch the Nissan Juke-R Pawn a Ferrari 458, a Mercedes SLS AMG and a Lamborghini Gallardo

There's no question that the Nissan Juke-R is wickedly fast, but is it actually fast enough to give a lesson to exotic supercars like the Ferrari 458 Italia, the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG and the Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4, for example? Well, there's a lot to take into consideration including the place and the person driving (let's not forget that any car is as fast as its driver is), but for whatever reasons, this time the Juke-R came out as the winner.

In the video clip from Carsandspeed that follows, we see the 485HP-strong Juke-R winning a race against the three aforementioned supercars on a tightly designed makeshift track in Dubai as part of a promotional event on the sidelines of the local 24hrs Endurance Race, in which it took part as the official pace car.
We managed to find out that the man behind the wheel of the Juke-R was 26-year old Lucas Ordoñez from Spain who was the winner of the 2008 PlayStation GT Academy competition.
Professional race-car driver Christian Vann from New Zealand sat in the Lamborghini, which finished in second place, while professional race driver Michael Mallock from Britain drove the Mercedes that came out last. We haven’t managed to find out who was driving the Ferrari model yet, but we'll post an update if/when we do.

VIDEO

PHOTO GALLERY

Read More