![Felipe Massa comes home to Maranello, meets the new 458 Italia, laps Fiorano, smiles for fans [w/VIDEO]](http://www.niot.net/blog-images/felipe-massa-comes-home-to-maranello-meets-the-new-458-italia.jpg)
It doesn't seem like it's been that long, but for Felipe Massa, it must feel like it's been an eternity since he's been up to speed. The Brazilian Formula One driver hasn't been at work since July when he suffered a major blow to the head from some flying debris at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
A lot has happened since then: his mentor and former team-mate Michael Schumacher prepared for a comeback and then had to cancel it due to health concerns of his own, the Scuderia promoted test driver Luca Badoer for a couple of races before sending him home, and then Maranello hired Giancarlo Fisichella to fill in and stay on as a reserve driver for the future. Then they picked up Fernando Alonso to be Massa's wingman next year, and somewhere in the middle of it all, Ferrari launched its first all-new mid-engine production car in a decade. (Not to mention the new engine chief they hired, the senior executive they lost or the new designer who is said to be taking over).
Now, after his prolonged absence, Massa has returned home to Maranello for the first time since the crash. He got some practice time in the simulator before hitting the track in a privately-owned, retired F2007 with GP2 tires to reacquaint himself with his craft. And while he was at it, he stopped by the production line to check out the new 458 Italia.
The new Ferrari 458 Italia isn't even out on the street yet, but already the automotive rumormill is churning out speculation over a potential Scuderia version. When outlining the roll-out of upcoming Ferrari models for the near future, Ferrari CEO Amedeo Felisa dismissed any such speculation as premature, but that's not going to stop some. Hence the rendering you see above, courtesy of user DJ at Teamspeed.com.
Since this can of worms has already been opened, the first thing we can say is that, while Maranello will in all likelihood produce a lightweight, slightly more powerful version of the new 458, it's probably several years away. The Italia is already expected to eclipse any previous benchmarks set by previous "volume" Ferrari road cars. And when it does, it almost certainly will not be called Scuderia – based on the 360 Challenge Stradale and the 430 Scuderia, it appears Maranello's keen on changing up the naming scheme with each new model. One board member suggested 458 Tifoso in tribute to Prancing Horse's dedicated legions of fans, but whatever name Ferrari decides on, and whenever it makes its way into the limelight, expect the supercar to drop a little weight, gain a little power and wipe the smirk off of any competitor's mug.
Dreaming of getting your hands on Ferrari's upcoming 458 Italia? You'd better know what you're getting yourself into, and this is our first real indication. Stemming from a supposedly leaked price sheet, the new V8 supercar will start in Europe at €162,900, before any taxes are taken into account. At today's exchange rates, that figures to about $240,000 – around halfway between the price of the outgoing F430 and the 430 Scuderia.
Of course, that's not an official figure – Ferrari North America has yet to confirm pricing for the U.S. market – and the long list of options amply demonstrates that the $240k starting price is exactly that: a starting price. On to that you can add leather everything, special paint finishes, upgraded wheels and more – most if not all of which you can already check out in the online configurator we reported on recently.
Imagination's a beast, and the beast must be fed. So if you're an automotive enthusiast looking for a good way to waste some time, grab a fork and knife, because Ferrari has launched its online configuration utility for the new 458 Italia.
The new supercar isn't on the street yet, and so far we've only seen it in bright red and yellow. Ferrari's color catalog, however, extends far beyond those two primary shades to include silvers, grays, blacks and more...plus a few more shades of red, of course. This is a Ferrari, after all, and Ferraris belong in red...especially the mid-engined ones. We'd go for this more subdued shade, Rosso Mugello.
Here in the velvet-roped-off Autoblog section of the Frankfurt Motor Show press room, opinions are split over the styling of the new Ferrari 458 Italia. While some of us are enamored of the supercar's svelte shape, others....well let's just say they're more fond of Ferraris of yore. But whatever your take on the design, there's no doubting that this is a seminal debut for the Maranello marque, for whom the new 458 is the first completely new production mid-engine car in a decade.
The Ferrari 458 has been introducing itself to company workers and to what could be potential customers. The verdict: we're still not sure about the triplicate exhaust, but the car is fo' dam' sho' hot, and probably the best looking black prancing horse we've ever seen. (I'll take a black 512 BB, thanks. - Ed. ) Posters at FerrariChat.com have noticed that the show cars are missing LEDs on the steering wheel, which means -- usuprisingly -- Ferrari has a lot of expensive options in mind for the car.
People at the presentation also spoke of some of the finer points of the cars -- in four different colors -- such as the trunk shape, plastic pieces of interior trim, and the placement of the horse emblem where a front license plate will need to go in many countries. We will bring you more details from the Frankfurt floor next week, but in the meantime enjoy the pictorial show.
The marketing team in Maranello has been putting in a lot of effort to keep the Internets drooling over Ferrari's newest creation, the 562 hp 458 Italia, with a steady flow of information hitting the web.
The newest piece of 458 propaganda comes in the form of the world's most famous Ferrari employee talking about why the new Italia kicks ass. Hit the jump to listen to Michael Schumacher go over the finer points of the all new 458 Italia. Brakes, suspension, F1-style seven-speed gearbox and driving experience are all covered in a mere 1:32, and we agree with Mr. Schumacher when he calls the 458 Italia "una bella machina."
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The Frankfurt Motor Show is fast approaching, but rather than hit the brakes as they would for an approaching corner, Ferrari is pulling out all the stops. In gearing up to unveil their new 458 Italia at the show next month, Ferrari is giving us a little more each week. We've already seen the first batch of shots, downloaded the ringtone and heard the company's brand and technical directors talk about the car; now Maranello has released an additional video of Paolo Pininfarina of the eponymous design studio talk about the car's styling, and with it released a new batch of interior, motion and studio shots.
Always eager to adopt lessons learned on the grand prix circuit into its road cars, Ferrari has further centralized the controls onto the Italia's steering wheel. What we'd usually find on column-mounted control stocks has apparently all been moved to the steering wheel's fascia, including the turn indicators, headlamps and windscreen wipers – in addition to the chassis setting switch and ignition button, while redundant stereo controls move to the back of the wheel ahead of the even larger shift paddles.
There's also a new Vehicle Dynamic Assistance system to monitor operating temperatures and tolerances of the engine, gearbox, brakes and tires and alerts the driver to whether the car is warming up, overheated or ready to go. Check out the images in the gallery below and read all about it in the press release after the jump – which is where you'll also find the video interview. Oh, and don't forget to stay tuned for the next segment, as Ferrari says it will include an interview with Michael Schumacher!
We're eagerly counting down the days until the Frankfurt Motor Show, if for no other reason than to finally get a glimpse of the all-new Ferrari 458 Italia. The first clean-sheet redesign of a production mid-engine Prancing Horse since the 360 Modena (on which the outgoing F430 is based) debuted a decade ago, the 458 Italia promises to be a big step forward for Maranello.
So far, we've seen photos, a short video clip of the car accelerating up the front straight at Monza, some spy shots and even an iPhone ringtone. And now Ferrari has released this three-minute video, featuring brand director Dany Bahar and technical chief Roberto Fedeli talk about the "concept and innovation" behind the new supercar, interspersed with plenty of flying graphics.
