Tag Archives: Ferrari

Thieves Make a Clean Getaway With Ferrari and $1.4M Porsche

If you’ve ever wondered how long it takes to steal nearly eight figures’ worth of dream cars, the answer—apparently—is less time than it takes to brew a decent cup of coffee.

Early Sunday morning, a Canadian car dealership was relieved of eight high-end vehicles in a theft that reportedly lasted between eight and ten minutes. No tow trucks, no elaborate Mission: Impossible choreography. Just a crowbar, a box of keys, and enough confidence to walk out with a Ferrari 812 GTS, a Porsche 911 GT3, two Mercedes-Benz S580s, and two BMW M4s.

According to footage released by Global News, the operation looked less like a smash-and-grab and more like a grimly efficient pit stop. Roughly a dozen thieves, all dressed in black and wearing masks, smashed through the dealership’s glass doors at around 3:35 a.m. Once inside, they went straight for a wall-mounted lockbox containing the keys to every vehicle on the lot. A crowbar made short work of it.

From there, the group calmly rearranged furniture to clear an exit path, fired up the engines, and drove off—one by one—in some of the most desirable performance cars money can buy.

It took another four hours before anyone noticed.

The list of stolen cars reads like the lineup at an enthusiast fantasy draft. The Ferrari 812 GTS alone packs a naturally aspirated V-12 producing 789 horsepower, while the Porsche 911 GT3—arguably the most track-focused road car Porsche sells—carries an estimated value of around $1.4 million. That GT3, notably, remains missing.

Four of the stolen vehicles have since been recovered, and one suspect has been arrested. Another thief reportedly left a trail of blood at the scene, suggesting that not everything went entirely according to plan. Still, as far as high-speed automotive crime goes, this one was alarmingly smooth.

What makes the story unsettling isn’t just the value of the cars, but how easily they were taken. No hacking of encrypted ECUs. No relay attacks on keyless entry systems. Just a physical lockbox full of keys, waiting behind glass doors. It’s a reminder that while modern cars are rolling fortresses of software and sensors, the weakest link is often still a piece of hardware bolted to a wall.

The Porsche’s disappearance is particularly painful. GT3s aren’t just expensive—they’re sacred objects in enthusiast culture, engineered with obsessive focus and often spec’d by owners who waited years for an allocation. Seeing one vanish into the criminal ether is the kind of thing that keeps collectors awake at night.

Dealerships, meanwhile, are left with an uncomfortable takeaway: it doesn’t matter how advanced the cars are if the keys are easier to steal than the vehicles themselves.

As for the missing GT3, there’s a good chance it’s already been shipped overseas, stripped for parts, or hidden away in a warehouse where its flat-six will never see a redline again. For enthusiasts, that may be the real tragedy—not the money, but the loss of a machine built to be driven, reduced to a line item in a police report.

Eight minutes. Eight cars. And one Porsche that, for now, has disappeared without a trace.

Source: Global News via YouTube

Ferrari HC25 Could Be the Brand’s Next Bespoke Supercar

Ferrari doesn’t do “quietly,” and it certainly doesn’t do “small plans.” The company has already gone on record saying it intends to roll out as many as 20 new cars by 2030—an eye-popping cadence that works out to roughly four new models a year. Against that backdrop, a recently filed trademark for the name Ferrari HC25 has set the rumor mill spinning, and for once, the speculation feels justified.

At first glance, HC25 doesn’t fit neatly into Ferrari’s usual naming playbook. It’s not a revival of a historic badge, nor does it follow the alphanumeric logic of the company’s core lineup. That’s important, because in Ferrari-speak, odd names often signal something special. Traditionally, designations like this point toward a one-off—an ultra-low-volume, bespoke creation commissioned by a single, very important client.

Ferrari has plenty of precedent here. The brand’s modern one-offs have become rolling expressions of wealth, taste, and Maranello’s willingness to indulge both. The recently revealed SC40 is a prime example: a modern tribute to the iconic F40, clothed in bespoke bodywork but built atop the bones of the 296 GTB. Underneath, it kept the donor car’s carbon-aluminum chassis and 818-hp hybrid V-6. Above that, it wore a body no one else on Earth will ever own.

HC25 feels cut from the same cloth. The “HC” could easily be a client’s initials—Ferrari has done this before—and the “25” might reference 2025, an anniversary, or some private milestone meaningful only to the buyer. Ferrari isn’t saying, and that silence speaks volumes.

What the HC25 almost certainly won’t be is a clean-sheet car. Ferrari doesn’t build entirely new architectures for single commissions, no matter how deep a client’s pockets run. If this project materializes, expect it to borrow heavily from an existing platform—likely something mid-engined and already hybridized—while differentiating itself through a completely unique exterior and carefully curated interior details. In other words, familiar mechanicals wrapped in couture sheetmetal.

One curious wrinkle, though, is that Ferrari didn’t just trademark the name for a car. The filing also covers lifestyle goods like phone cases, sunglasses, and bags. That’s unusual territory for a one-off, which typically lives and dies as a singular object. It could suggest that HC25 is more than just a private indulgence—or it could simply be Ferrari being Ferrari, locking down every possible angle before anyone else can.

Of course, it’s worth remembering that trademark filings are promises of possibility, not guarantees of reality. Automakers register names all the time that never make it past a legal database. HC25 may ultimately amount to nothing more than a protected idea.

Still, when Ferrari starts stacking trademarks alongside aggressive product plans, history suggests something interesting is brewing. Whether HC25 becomes a rolling sculpture for a single client or fades quietly into the archives, it’s a reminder that in Maranello, exclusivity isn’t a side business—it’s part of the brand’s DNA.

Source: Ferrari

Vince Zampella, Gaming Visionary, Killed in Ferrari 296 GTS Crash on Angeles Crest Highway

In a harrowing end that has sent shockwaves through both the gaming and automotive communities, Vince Zampella — the co-creator of the Call of Duty franchise and head of Respawn Entertainment — was killed this past weekend in a single-vehicle crash involving a Ferrari 296 GTS on Southern California’s notorious Angeles Crest Highway.

The scenic two-lane ribbon of asphalt that winds through the San Gabriel Mountains has long been a proving ground for drivers seeking an intoxicating blend of forested beauty and high-speed thrills. Yet its combination of blind corners, sudden elevation changes, and unforgiving barriers also makes it one of the region’s most dangerous stretches — especially when a high-performance supercar is involved.

According to authorities and eyewitness accounts, the cherry-red 2026 Ferrari 296 GTS was headed southbound shortly after noon on Sunday when it emerged from a tunnel and, for reasons still under investigation, drifted off the pavement and smashed into a concrete wall. The impact — violent and instantaneous — caused the hybrid-powered 819-hp V-6 machine to erupt into flames. Zampella, 55, was pronounced dead at the scene; his passenger later succumbed to injuries sustained in the crash.

Video footage circulated online captures the moments just before impact: the Ferrari hustling out of the tunnel at what appears to be high speed, tyres squealing as the driver confronts the rapidly tightening left-hander — a corner locals warn reveals its true radius too late. On a road like Angeles Crest, throttle confidence can quickly give way to brutal reality.

The 296 GTS, for all its technological wizardry and intoxicating performance, delivers its potent power exclusively to the rear wheels — a setup that rewards precision but punishes errors without mercy. It is a machine designed for measured prowess on the track, not an invitation to blur the line between exhilaration and catastrophe on public roads.

Zampella was mourned as a titan of the video game industry, credited with shaping some of the most successful franchises of the past three decades. Yet on this unforgiving stretch of pavement, the rules that govern code and creativity provide no shield. His death is a stark reminder that even the most accomplished figures are vulnerable when the combination of speed, geometry, and consequence comes into unforgiving focus.

As investigations continue, questions will inevitably swirl about speed, decision-making, and the enduring allure of the open road. But for now, the tragic end of Vince Zampella’s life on the asphalt serves as an urgent proverb: no matter the horsepower on tap or the skill behind the wheel, roads like Angeles Crest demand respect — and they will take it without hesitation when it is not given.

Source: NBC News