Ferrari

His pristine Ferrari 512 BBi "Boxer" sits in the middle of Holger Schubert's living room in Brentwood, right next to stylish furniture, a built-in bookcase and a flat-screen TV that slides on tracks past walls of glass that frame an ocean view. But Los Angeles officials are about to slam shut forever the garage door that leads to the city's most extravagant parking space City planners have withdrawn permission for Schubert to use a bridge to connect his Ferrari's third-floor resting spot with North Tigertail Road.

Here's a big oops for Ferrari, the maker of megabucks sports cars: It made a mistake making the crankshafts for the engines in its California and 458 Italia models and now will have to repair or replace them, depending on what the owners prefer. Ferrari said it would recall the 2011 and 2012 model-year cars because the crankshaft error could cause the engines in the vehicles, which sell for $200,000 or more, to freeze suddenly and possibly cause a crash. The Italian automaker learned of the problem in a uniquely embarrassing way. The first of the cars to have its engine freeze was the one the company lent to critics to review.

2010 Ferrari 458 Italia Base price: $230,000 (est.) Price, as tested: $250,000 (est.) Powertrain: Naturally aspirated 4.5-liter, DOHC, 32-valve V-8, dry sump, variable induction and exhaust geometry, variable valve timing; seven-speed dual clutch automated manual transmission; rear wheel drive with limited-slip differential Horsepower: 562 at 9,000 rpm Torque: 398 pound-feet at 6,000 rpm ...

Beetles and Rogues are for chicks, 911s and F-series trucks are for dudes. That's the finding of TrueCar.com's study of new-vehicle buying preferences by gender. "Female car buyers really gravitated toward smaller, more fuel-efficient cars and crossovers," said Kristen Andersson, a TrueCar analyst. "It was the complete opposite for male buyers, who preferred either a fast and sporty vehicle with distinctive curb appeal or a big vehicle, like a large truck or SUV. " The Volvo S40 had the highest percentage of women buyers, 57.9%.

Here's a car we missed when we did our recent listing of the most beautiful cars ever built, and for good reason. It was unknown to the public. Ferrari just revealed the beauty.  It is the F12berlinetta and it marks the launch of a new generation of Ferrari 12-cylinder engine supercars. PHOTOS: Beautiful cars The car can go from zero to 60 mph in just three seconds and can reach 125 mph in 8.5 seconds. No word yet on price or availability, but it's sure to make many lists of beautiful autos. Ferrari will talk more about the car at the upcoming Geneva auto show.

One man was killed and another was clinging to life Thursday after their Ferrari jumped a center median on Pacific Coast Highway in Newport Beach and crashed into a flatbed truck traveling in the opposite direction. The accident occurred about 5:15 p.m., resulting in the closure of Pacific Coast Highway between Bayshore Drive and Jamboree Road, said Sgt. Jerry Lowe of the Newport Beach Police Department. The highway was blocked for hours. Investigators were trying to determine what caused the Ferrari to spin out and cross the center divider, which in that section of the highway is either a raised curb or a median strip, said Sgt. Evan Sailor, public information officer for the Newport Beach police.

Ferrari's decision last season to give up on the title chase and begin looking ahead paid off when Fernando Alonso led the Italian team to a one-two finish at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix in Sakhir on Sunday. The two-time world champion from Spain passed teammate Felipe Massa at the second corner after the start, then overtook pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel on the 34th lap for the lead, which he never relinquished. After two frustrating years with Renault, Alonso pounded his chest after jumping on top of his car as Ferrari got off to its best start since 2004, when Michael Schumacher led a 1-2 start.

Ferrari, Italy's Formula One racing team, and John Barnard, the British engineer and car designer, today announced their divorce following three years of less-than-satisfactory cooperation. Ferrari said the two sides failed to reach agreement for an extension of Barnard's contract. Argentine Henrique Scalabroni, an aerodynamics expert currently employed by the Williams-Renault team, has been hired to direct the Ferrari division projecting and making chassis and car bodies. Barnard, 42, who had been a successful designer for McLaren, joined Ferrari in November, 1988, on a $5-million contract.

In your June 1 article about the bill pending in the U.S. Senate that would require the Justice Department to collect racial and ethnic statistics on traffic stops, it is inferred that Marcus Allen was stopped in 1984 while driving his Ferrari simply for being an African American in an expensive car. I was the police officer who detained Allen. The article failed to mention that the Ferrari had license plates on it that belonged on a Pontiac. Pontiac license plates attached to a (then)

Ayrton Senna of Brazil, who has won two of the three Formula One races this year, edged McLaren teammate Alain Prost of France to win the pole position for today's Grand Prix at Mexico City. Nigel Mansell of Britain was third in a Ferrari.

Helio Castroneves used a bold pass of Scott Dixon to win the IndyCar season opener Sunday through the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., where he celebrated with a tribute to the late Dan Wheldon . Castroneves stopped his Penske Racing Chevrolet in Turn 10, which this year was renamed Dan Wheldon Way in honor of the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner. After climbing the fence, his traditional victory celebration, he ran to the street sign and patted it, then emotionally doubled over against the wall.

Here's a car we missed when we did our recent listing of the most beautiful cars ever built, and for good reason. It was unknown to the public. Ferrari just revealed the beauty.  It is the F12berlinetta and it marks the launch of a new generation of Ferrari 12-cylinder engine supercars. PHOTOS: Beautiful cars The car can go from zero to 60 mph in just three seconds and can reach 125 mph in 8.5 seconds. No word yet on price or availability, but it's sure to make many lists of beautiful autos. Ferrari will talk more about the car at the upcoming Geneva auto show.

An outing of luxury sportscar enthusiasts in Japan ended in an expensive freeway pileup -- smashing a stunning eight Ferraris, a Lamborghini and two Mercedes likely worth more than $1 million together. Police say they believe the accident Sunday was touched off when the driver of one of the Ferraris tried to change lanes and hit the median barrier. He spun across the freeway, and the other cars collided while trying to avoid hitting his car. Video of the crash aired by NTV, a major national network, showed several smashed, bright red Ferraris cluttering the freeway.

Sergio Scaglietti, an Italian coachbuilder who crafted some of the world's most elegant sports and racing cars, including a series of landmark Ferraris created in the 1950s and 1960s, died Nov. 20 in Modena, Italy. He was 91. His death was announced by Ferrari Chairman Luca di Montezemolo, who said in a statement that Scaglietti "created some of the most beautiful cars of our history" and that his name would be "forever connected to the Prancing Horse," the Ferrari emblem. No cause of death was reported.

Optimists, pessimists and Ferraris ? a compendium of real estate musings: ? Wait till next year. Or 2012. You probably shouldn't set your heart on any significant housing recovery in 2011, Yale University economics professor Robert Shiller said. That's not his prediction; it's the consensus of 109 economists, analysts and real estate experts surveyed by his financial technology firm, MacroMarkets. His panel in October was roughly evenly split between "recovery optimists," who expect market improvement next year, and "recovery pessimists," who don't see a rebound coming until 2012 or later.

"City of Veils," Zoë Ferraris' mystery novel set in Saudi Arabia, offers a sensitive look at life in the city of Jeddah. The novel has a strong sense of place — the author knows the territory. Ferraris lived in Saudi Arabia in the 1990s, and her plot, when focused, offers some surprising twists. A follow-up to Ferraris' first novel, "Finding Nouf" (winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in 2008), "City of Veils" returns to the previous novel's two main characters, desert guide Nayir and Katya, a tech in the coroner's office.

Next year's Formula One season just got a whole lot harder for its drivers -- and a whole lot more interesting for the sport's legion of fans worldwide. Michael Schumacher, Formula One's all-time champion with an unprecedented seven titles, confirmed widespread speculation and announced Wednesday that he will come out of retirement to race with the new Mercedes GP team. Saying that he "was feeling like a 12-year-old boy who is jumping from excitement," Schumacher -- who will be 41 when the series opens with the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 14 -- said he signed a three-year contract with the team.

Two men were in serious but stable condition Friday after a head-on collision along Victoria Avenue. Raymond Huffman, 65, of Calabasas was traveling north in his 1988 Ferrari on Victoria Avenue near Gonzales Road about 5:15 p.m. Thursday when he crossed the center divider and hit another car. Huffman's vehicle slammed into a 1991 Nissan driven by 53-year-old Ruben Martinez of Oxnard, who was going in the opposite direction.

Jeanne Austin Mother of tennis champion Tracy Austin Jeanne Austin, 84, the matriarch of a tennis playing family that produced four professional players, including two-time U.S. Open champion Tracy Austin, died Tuesday of heart failure at Torrance Memorial Medical Center after a long illness, daughter Pam Austin said. From 1962 to 1977, Jeanne Austin managed the pro shop at the Jack Kramer Club in Rolling Hills Estates, where her five children learned to play tennis.

Ferrari's decision last season to give up on the title chase and begin looking ahead paid off when Fernando Alonso led the Italian team to a one-two finish at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix in Sakhir on Sunday. The two-time world champion from Spain passed teammate Felipe Massa at the second corner after the start, then overtook pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel on the 34th lap for the lead, which he never relinquished. After two frustrating years with Renault, Alonso pounded his chest after jumping on top of his car as Ferrari got off to its best start since 2004, when Michael Schumacher led a 1-2 start.