Ferrari to spin off Maserati
Hoping to improve its balance sheet for an IPO, Ferrari is expected to approve the spin-off of its loss-making Maserati. Fiat now owns 56 percent of Ferrari S.p.A. and Ferrari owns 100 percent of Maserati. The buyer is expected to be Fiat, rumored to be paying cash for Maserati. Maserati production rose almost 60 percent to 4,600 units, a level which doesn't allow it to break event. In effect, Maserati has been dragging Ferrari down, and if the long awaited IPO happens, it had better shed Maserati first. Interesting, no?

Letters

Thank you for putting out VeloceToday. Writing is timely, crisp and thorough with good photos. My compliments.
Richard G. Ballantine

I read with interest your listing of Alfa books for the enthusiast, click here as I am a long time seeker of knowledge and have tried over the years to get the better volumes on racing history for my own library. Your list certainly has the right Alfa sources, but I would make the following comments and suggestions: Fusi's "Alfa Romeo Tipo A Monoposto" is not about the P3. It is a bilingual (Italian and English) volume covering the Tipo A racing car that used two side-by-side 6C1750 engines and ran with moderate success during the 1932 season, Campari scoring the car's only victory at Pescara. As none of the cars survived when they were broken up and their mechanical parts recycled, the factory constructed a replica during the 1970s for display in their museum. The reconstruction is also covered in this interesting book on a little known model. I would also recommend Fusi's 1985 book "Le Alfa di Merosi e di Romeo", a companion volume to the Fusi, Ferrari, and Borgeson work on the Jano era. This one covers the pre-Jano cars in the same style and detail with comparable engine and chassis drawings. Both are among my favorite Alfa books. Finally: Prices tend to be whatever one is willing to pay for a needed book, but I notice that Simon Moore's wonderful three-volume work on the 8C2300 cars is advertised in the January, 2005 Classic & Sports Car for under 200 pounds Sterling, a bargain that is not likely to last.
David M. Woodhouse

I have really enjoyed Patricia Lee Yongue's report on the Targa Florio Retro, click here and am keen to get in touch with her and ask her further questions about her trip and the contacts she made. Would it be possible for you to pass my email address on to her and ask if she would interested in getting in touch?
James Puttock

I wanted to tell you I still read every issue that comes and enjoy the Alfa Romeo stories very much. An associate of mine owns a beautiful Quadrafoglio in red that has me begging for mercy by third gear.. Keep up the good work.
Pat Smith

Your attention to Fiats and Lancias is particularly gratifying. We enthusiasts of these marques are often laughed at and ridiculed, yet we know that most of the esoteric fare written about on your pages owes its very existence to the firm from Torino. Thanks for including us in your choices for editorial content! I loved the multi-part treatise on Fiat you ran a while back. click here
Bobb Rayner

I was looking for the article on Luigi Chinetti Jr? I read part of it in Concorso Italiano but could not find it on your website. This was the first time I visited your site. It's a great site.
Glenn Farrell

Well, Mr. Chinetti and the author couldn't agree on how to continue the story. He wanted to talk about NART and I wanted to talk about his childhood. So it goes, or doesn't go.

Thanks for presenting the interview with Wm. Oosthoek. click here His candor was refeshing in this day of corporate mush, and his comments were full of information you can get nowhere else. Best of luck to him on his great new book.
Carl Goodwin,

Willem has another one on the way--this time about the 450S. Below is a sneak preview page.