Steve Parker Motoring / The Car Nut: FERRARI ENGINES WILL AGAIN POWER A1GP ... AND FERRARI/FIAT'S CHIEF IS AN EXCEPTIONAL PERSONALITY...

Anything having to do with Ferrari is, well, cool.

More than any other car-maker, Ferrari alone remains above the fray, unwilling to lower or even mediate their own in-house standards due to what "the competition" might be trotting out of their stables. Frankly, they don't care what the competition might do. Which is why Ferrari (like Porsche and Lotus) makes a huge part of their black ink not only from creating and selling some of the world's greatest cars, but also by performing highly-secretive Research and Development for other car-makers, and other companies of all kinds, worldwide. (World's most expensive Ferrari ever sold at auction; this 1961 Ferrari California Spyder sold for $10,894,900, after auction fees, at RM Auction's second annual "Ferrari Leggenda e Passione" auction in Maranello, Italy, in May, 2008, and the buyer was British radio host Chris Evans, so apparently I'm still owed some big bucks by radio stations I've worked for; below, a classic shot of a modern F1 Ferrari).

Understanding this so well, Ferrari's marketing people make certain that be it cell phones, computers, luggage ... anything bearing the Ferrari name is recognized and appreciated worldwide and must be, simply, the best. Ferrari's name alone sets the standard for which all the other fountain pens, watches, shoes or any other product bearing an automotive-related name must reach, not to mention cars. The company was begun by a racer/engineer and through the years perhaps other companies have enjoyed more victories in certain types of racing, but there is no race car driver in the world who would turn-down a position which would put him/her in the cockpit of a Ferrari with the assignment of taking-on the rest of the world.

Which brings up a quick personal tale: Last week, on the Charlie Rose TV program on the US' Public Broadcasting System, the best nightly interview show in the country, his guest for the "entire hour," as Rose likes to emphasize at the start of his show when he feels he indeed has a guest worthy of the show's full 60 minutes, was Luca di Montezemolo, head of both Ferrari (and Ferrari F1 for years) and parent company Fiat, and being seriously discussed as a future Prime Minister of Italy (which would make him about the 123rd-or-so since WWII's end). (Seven-time F1 World Driving Champion Michael Schumacher exults with his boss, Luca di Montezemolo, in an always-fashionable pressed white shirt, after scoring yet another victory ... Schumacher's wearing red ... so tacky!).

Montezemolo is cool. People standing near him get about as close as they ever will to the true essence of cool ... I know because I've had the opportunity to interview him on TV and radio and, yes, sit with him at a meal or two. I've also sat on a folding stage while the Jefferson Starship played a free concert at NYC's Central Park for 300,000 fans and ridden in Secret Service motorcades with presidential candidates ... It might all be in "the book," but take it from me ... I know from cool.

Montezemolo is the kind of guy who, at least whenever I saw him, always had two or three supermodel-types draped not just on his arms, but all over his upper body, sometimes impeding his forward motion, yet he waxes romantically, and quite believably, about his wife and family when asked about his personal life. Of course I witnessed all this in the US, and not Italy. And this is no doubt part of the great Italian tradition of every local Catholic priest in every village of the nation having a mistress, and everyone knowing about it and not caring one wit. Not a terrible way to run a country, especially one that holds within it, as a separate entity, the Vatican. Our own American christianists could learn a thing or two. (It's good to be the boss. Especially when you're the boss of Ferrari. Here, introducing a new model, of Ferrari, we mean, Montezemolo is seen behind the wheel, entertaining supermodel Dji Dieng and probably making dinner plans for later that evening ... Can you IMAGINE the cachet of an opening line like, "Hey, babe ... I'm the head of Formula One racing for Ferrari, president of Ferrari and chairman of Fiat ... So, ah, what is it you do? And who's that jerk you walked in with?").

Here's how Wikipedia describes him: Luca Cordero di Montezemolo (born August 31, 1947) is an Italian businessman with an estimated net worth of 400 million dollars, president of Ferrari and chairman of FIAT; he was also president of Italian Confindustria from 2004 to 2008 and of FIEG. He cames from an old aristocratic family of Piedmont, and he's related to Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, who became a cardinal in 2006.

I'm guessing this means a cardinal of the Catholic Church, and not a member of the baseball team. And this guy is just seven years older than me ... and maybe you, too. How's THAT make ya feel, buddy?

When I had him on live TV once in Los Angeles, we displayed and discussed a Ferrari which was making an anniversary "Round the World" trip to demonstrate the brand's reliability and dependability. I even got to "autograph" the car with a marking pen, as did a few score other journos worldwide, and that car is somewhere in the Ferrari Museum, and one day I will see it.

When I asked Montezemolo about the car's audio system, which the Ferrari media kit was making a big deal out of, Montezemolo said, "Who needs-a de radio? In'a Ferrari, de engine make-a da music!"

He cooled me right out of the car. I promised him I'd never forget that point. And I won't; be there when I die and I'll prove it.

And on Charlie Rose's TV show, he did the same to his host, cooling him for an hour. I didn't know if Rose wanted to ask him another question or take him out on a "night on the town" in NYC. He looks almost exactly as he did the last time I spoke with him, about 8 years ago, and appeared to have added no weight to his frame, which means he still weighs about 80 pounds, wet. It's the $5,000 hand-made Italian suits which fill him out in photos, apparently.

Click below for the REAL Ferrari news about their 2008/2009 season participation as official engine supplier in the great, still-new A1 Grand Prix series ...

(On this page, please enjoy these photos of the "Powered by Ferrari" A1 Grand Prix test car, featuring a Lola chassis, equipped with Cooper tires and a Zytek/Lola-engineered six-speed sequential transmission).

First, a few things you won't find in this Ferrari press release for obvious business reasons (they don't want to promote any other manufacturer if they're conducting the engine development and paying for the press release):

Ferrari's developing and making the engines. Lola is building the chassis for the race cars. US company Cooper is supplying the tires (or tyres, as the Euros like to print). Zytek and Lola are working together to develop the six-speed sequential gearboxes for the cars. A1GP happens to have produced one of the best websites in the world of racing ... and we do mean, the entire world of racing. The 2008/2009 schedule is there You'll also find there many, but certainly not all, of the specifications for this "spec series," which means a series where the race cars are generally identical, with some variations allowed by team. It's easy to visit ... www.A1GP.com.

A1GP events have been purposely scheduled so as not to conflict with Formula 1, being held at different times of the year and in different parts of the world from F1 series races (maybe someday they'll have to stage new series on the moon, or Mars...). One thing we do know --- After visiting their website, you'll find yourself interested in the series, maybe enough to follow their unique and interesting (especially for you marketing nerds, like me) "by nation" method of classifying the teams, drivers and their cars. The series was begun in 2004 by Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum of Dubai; his purchase of more than 30 engines and chassis, all at once from Zytek Engineering (3.4 liter V8 engines and transmissions), Lola (chassis) and Cooper Tire (based in the US; their Avon Tyre UK subsidiary handled fulfillment), plus many other suppliers, was the biggest single motor racing-product-related purchase in history. The entire history of the series is on the A1GP website.

This is the press release from Ferrari (even just typing Ferrari feels cool) ...

2008 Ferrari - A1GP Testing Continues in Imola

A1GP ‘Powered by Ferrari’ Car continues test programme in Imola

London, Great Britain – The A1GP World Cup of Motorsport car for the 2008/09 season continued its intensive testing programme this week with two days at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola.

Following on from successful tests at Fiorano, the Ferrari test track in Italy, Andrea Bertolini has been back behind the wheel of the Powered by Ferrari car, putting it through its paces at Imola.

This is the first time the car has run outside the confines of Fiorano but feedback continues to be positive with the car running on both Tuesday and Wednesday.

Testing will continue next week with five-days running scheduled at Guadix Circuit, a recently constructed facility in Spain. The three-kilometre (1.86 mile) track near Granada has a good mix of fast and slow corners with varying cambers and a 750-metre (820 yards) main straight set against the stunning back drop of the Sierra Nevada mountains.

A1GP General Manager, Technical and Operations, John Wickham: “We’ve completed about 900- kilometres (560 miles) of testing so far and everything is going relatively smoothly. The car is performing very well and the driver is happy with it; the balance is good and the tyres are working well. We haven’t done as much testing as we hoped but that’s partly because we were waiting on the weather at Fiorano. We ended up just running in the rain in the end but the car looked very quick in the wet! In general the car has been very reliable. We look forward to five consecutive days running next week with the tight Guadix Circuit ideal for further testing of the handling of the car. “

The official pre-season testing for all the teams will take place at Silverstone on 18 – 20 August 2008 and Mugello on 17 – 18 September 2008.

Ferrari
Maranello, Italy (And how cool is it to find that at the end of some press release? Makes it officially cool).

Comments

hi steve-youwatched 'jefferson starship' play a free concert in central park,nyc on july 21 2008 WOW you DID take pics,didn't you ! well then i'sd LIKE 4x6 of them !!! how much and where may I send You a CHECK? Thanks,Cheers Steve Ringstad 1343 Lweecrest Wichita,KS 67209 ( RIDE THE TIGER!)

Posted by: steve ringstad | February 07, 2009 at 02:34 PM