A very lucky day in the underground parking of a shopping mall in my very own street in Beijing, here I found the great Italian race machines parked next to each other; a fine black Maserati Quatroporte and a shining white Ferrari 458 Italia.

Ferrari is doing good business, China was its second market world wide last year after the US. Ferrari expects China to take the first spot in one or at most two years. Ferrari is busy opening more dealers in many second tier cities and will be present at over 30 auto shows in China this year.

Maserati ain’t doing so well, mostly because the Chinese car buyers don’t know what the brand stands for. A Quatroporte is an extremely rare sight, the Coupe is basically nowhere.

Those Italians are fast and look fabulous but by far the best car in that garage tonight was my very own 1998 Beijing-Jeep, powered by the 2.5 four-cylinder. Got it since 2004, drove it all over China and it never missed a beat.

Here we have the mighty Ferrari F430 Novitec Rosso 707. That name sounds Italian but this tuning firm is from Germany, like all good tuning firms are. The Novitec Rosso 707 pumps out 707hp and 712nm, good for a 347km/h top speed. 0-100 walks away in 3.5 sec. A decent fast car indeed! The 707 on pics was seen in the great city of Guilin in Guangxi province.

The ’7′ is a lucky number in China, plates with only one ’7′ are already more expensive than a plate without. A plate with 5 sevens such as this one must have been extremely expensive, at least some 10.000 USD. Only the ’8′ will cost even more.

Via, via: Huanqiu.com.

Yesterday we published a story on a supercar-party in Zhuhai. One of the cars there was a silver-wrapped Ferrari 458 Italia with Beijing plates. We love bling and by accident or incident I found another two pics of a silver-wrapped Ferrari 458 Italia, without plates.

The pics were taken in Shanghai so I am not 100% sure it is the same car. If it is, well fine. If it is not, than this might be a trend… A trend we like? Yez for sure we do. Pics by a man who calls himself ‘Terence Leung, Amateur Auto Photographer’. Looking at his name he is likely a Hongkong-Chinese, they’all got those funny English-Cantonese names. See some more of his work here.

A red Ferrari California spontaneously catched fire in the great city of Hangzhou in Zhejiang province on December 13. According to the owner the fire started somewhere under the dashboard on the driver’s side and soon the whole interior was in flames. Firemen were at the scene very quickly and managed to extinguish the fire by smashing the front window and hose the water in. Fortunately nobody got hurt.

Unfortunately we don’t have any pics of the car burning. Damage seems limited, the owner claims repairs will cost some 100.000 yuan or 16.000 US dollar. Not bad, considering that a California costs 3.5 million yuan in China, or 553.000 US dollar. As far as I know, this California is the fist Ferrari in China that ‘spontaneously combusted’, we’ll keep an eye on developments….

Damage on dash clearly visible.

Via 163.com and HangzhouNews.com.cn.

The Ferrari California is the first Ferrari especially designed for Paris Hilton. No surprise then that a beautifully pink example turned up in Beijing. No wrap on this one, it is a genuine pink paint-job. It was parked in from of a semi-expensive restaurant in a residential area in the east of da city.

Chinese Paris Hiltons too small for Ferrari headrests. Passenger-side had a blue pillow, driver side a pink one.

4.3 V8, 450hp, top speed is 310 km/h. Ferrari is doing very good business in China, in August it became Ferrar’s second market world wide, second only after the US.

Yup, she is hot indeed.

Today we have a very beautiful Ferrari 599 GTO. I found it standing in front of an expensive restaurant close to the 3th Ringroad in Beijing. Ferrari knows where the real money is these days, the 599 GTO debuted at the 2010 Beijing Auto Show. This white car is the second GTO we’ve seen in Beijing.

For those who forgot, shame!, the speccies: V12, 670hp, 620nm, dry weight of 1,495 kg and a weight-to-power ratio of just 2.23 kg/hp. 0-100: 3.6sec, top speed: 325km/h. Not much use for all that power inside the traffic jammed city but the highways leading outside are just brilliant. Most of them brand new without any police and only a very few speed traps around the toll gates. Avoid these and you can go as fast as you can.

Check plate.

China has become Ferrari’s second largest global market, a not-so-surprising development in light of the global economic realities. The Italian automaker enjoyed strong growth in the first half of 2011, with global sales up 12 percent to a record 3,577 units between January and June. The company also saw sales revenue climb nearly 20 percent up to $1.5 billion.

Ferrari sales have vastly improved in markets like the Chinese mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong, totaling 378 units in the first six months, up 116 percent from the same period last year.

China still trails the U.S, where 939 units were sold in 2010. Ferrari Chairman Luca di Montezemolo said the sales momentum would extend into the second half as the company recently began deliveries of its four-seater, four-wheel drive sports car, the Ferrari FF.

Edwin Fenech, president and chief executive officer of Ferrari China, said earlier that the company’s sales in China won’t be affected by the nation’s slower economic growth or Beijing’s new car restrictions.

According to Fenech, Ferrari will participate in 25 motor shows in China this year, more than double from last year. The carmaker also signed an agreement to set up a Ferrari Museum in the Italian Pavilion of Shanghai Expo — the largest investment made by Ferrari outside Italy.

Via: EdmundsInsideLine.

A very fine pair of Ferrari’s on a parking lot in front of the Workers Stadium in Beijing. One blue-ish California and one red 458 Italia. The happy owners were nowhere in sight so I could take all time to snap some shots at these maniac machines.

The California is the first Ferrari specifically aimed at women. Fast women that is, the V8 pumps out 453hp and 357nm.

Ferrari is doing very well in China. Sales over 2010 were up nearly 50% to 300 cars. Greater China, including Hongkong and Taiwan, stands fifth on Ferrari’s list of worldwide sales. Mainland China alone is expected to make the top five within two years.

Where the California is clearly for womenfolk this 458 Italia is clearly for us men. 550hp and 398nm. Those are Numbers indeed.

The Workers Stadium stands in central Beijing not far from my home. It used to be Beijing’s biggest stadium until the olympics came along. The workers Stadium was built in 1959 and last renovated in 2004. It is the base of football (soccer-football) club Beijing-Guo’an. Side that the stadium hosts concerts and all sorts of other sporty events.

The 458 in front of the Vic’s, one of Beijing’s most famous clubs, open 24h in the weekend and full with beautiful girls and beer. Worth a go.

The Ferrari 599 GTO debuted at the 2010 Beijing Auto Show. The first 599 GTO has been spotted in the wild, yet without plates in an underground parking lot in Beijing. Head over to Sohu.com for the rest of the pics, taken quite well by some photographer called Z.C.

A very red Ferrari F430 Spider seen at a parking lot from a restaurant in my street in Beijng. Customers can win a ride in the Ferrari if they join a lottery. The owner of the restaurant owns the car as well. The restaurant sells spicy fish pot, a famous Chinese dish, basically a whole fish in a pot filled with hot oil and a lot of chili and some veggies.

The F430 Spider is a very rare sight in Beijing. Almost no one buys convertibles in this city. Its too hot in summer, too cold in winter and there is dust the whole year. The new F458 is already more common than the F430 series, this is mostly because many more Chinese can afford a Ferrari now.

4.3 V8 with 483hp and 465nm.

Ferrari is doing very well in China. Sales over 2010 were up nearly 50% to 300 cars. Greater China, including Hongkong and Taiwan, stands fifth on Ferrari’s list of worldwide sales. Mainland China alone is expected to make the top five within two years.