A big, new, long-term display of Ferraris in China is the Italian automaker’s first such exhibition outside Italy — but the Chinese are calling it “The Ferrari Myth,” as if they don’t believe the brand’s legendary go-fast exploits.

Judging by the fractured English of the statement announcing the three-year car show, it could be a translation problem. Perhaps they meant to say “mystique.” Or maybe “myth” is a reference to “legend.”

By whatever name, the Ferrari showcase opened in Shanghai today. It’s to be updated during its three-year run to keep current. Why? Because China’s becoming a strong market for the brand, which is owned by Fiat.

The statement from Ferrari Greater China in Shanghai says that in addition to historic and modern versions of the famous sports cars, the exhibit includes “a focus on also the challenge of reducing fuel consumption and emissions.”

Honorable, of course, but are those the attributes people really want to see when they turn out for a Ferrari showcase?

It must ring true to the Italian Prancing Horse marque, however, because company exec Piero Ferrari, son of founder Enzo Ferrari, was on hand to, as Ferrari Greater China put it, “sign on the first Ferrari sold in China.”

He said Ferrari and China “share core values, such as respect for tradition and a tenacious spirit of innovation.”

Via: USAtoday.

Ferrari has made China, the whole country indeed, very angry. Ferrari wanted to promote their special-edition 458 Italia by drifting it on an ancient city wall in the great city of Nanjing in Jiangsu Province. Not a good idea… Video below:

Tourism authorities in East China’s Nanjing city have come under fire after a Ferrari sports car was allowed to perform stunts at, and allegedly damage, a centuries-old historical site.

China’s online community has displayed its anger over a video of a Ferrari 458 Italia performing “drifts” on the ramparts of the Zhonghua Gate, or Gate of China, in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province.

The clip shows the special-edition car, valued at 6 million yuan (US$954,000), was hoisted onto and driven around the city gate on Sunday night in the run-up to a Ferrari show.

The gate, erected during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), covers 16,500 square meters and consists of a gateway and a castle on the top.

The performance left clear tracks on the gate’s brick structure, and cleaners’ efforts to remove them failed on Monday, according to witnesses and Xinhua reporters at the site.

The tourist administration of the Zhonghua Gate said the Ferrari was supposed to be an exhibit for a ceremony on Monday marking the 20th anniversary of the Italian company’s entrance to the Chinese market.

The company spent 80,000 yuan for the ceremony to be moved onto the gate, according to local reports, which added the scenic spot was closed for half a day, incurring complaints from visitors.

Jin Jiechun, a spokesman for the tourist bureau of Qinhuai district, said the administration had been reprimanded for the violation.

Moreover, the decision to host the ceremony at the heritage site was not approved by archaeological authorities, according to Yang Xinhua, vice head of the Nanjing Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage.

Yang Guoqing, an expert on ancient city wall protection, believes the violent motion of the sports car could have compromised the inner structure of the gate.

“The damage may be invisible at the moment, but very detrimental,” Yang said.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Ferrari China said the drive was the result of unauthorized action taken by staff from Kuaiyi Automobile, a distributor of Ferrari cars in Nanjing.

The automaker “deeply regretted” the incident and would cooperate with local authorities to solve the problems incurred, it promised.

Via: JakartaPost, China.org.

Here we have a very fine Ferrari F430 in matte-black, seen by a friend in the great city of Hangzhou. Unfortunately we have only one pic of this great race-machine, fortunately there were more sporty cars around… (Other F430′s: yellow Novitec Rosso 707, red Spider.)

A white Jaguar XKR. Jaguars are still very rare in China, the last one we had on this website was a XJS convertible.

Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera. Some other interesting Chinese Gallardo’s: purple, pink, another pinky, one  in gold, one purple and another purple.

Maserati GranTurismo MC Sport Line. Some like to sell.

All right Readers, that’s it for today, we are going BEER. See you soon…

An interesting Ferrari 458 Spider entering the exhibition hall from the Beijing Auto Show. This particular example has racing stripes over the back, roof and likely over the bonnet as well. I have never seen a Spider with stripes before, this might be some special China-edition. Ferrari  will soon unveil a special China ‘Dragon Edition‘ of the 458 coupe,but it isn’t sure whether that one will be in Beijing.

We haven’t seen a decent supercar crash in China for a little while. The waiting ends today with this fine Ferrari 612 that hit a JMC pickup truck full in the flank, the JMC flew 20 meters away from the POI (place of impact). It happened this morning in the great city of Xiaoshan in Zhejiang Province.

JMC largely undamaged, strong little truck..

According to witnesses at the scene the pickup truck was to blame, it ignored a red light. Interestingly however the female driver of the Ferrari, she got out unhurt, ran away. Police is still looking for the woman. The driver of the pickup truck was slightly injured. Lucky man indeed, until he gets the bill for the Ferrari…

Other Ferrari crashes in China: Enzo, 458, California burns, FF burns.

Movie time!: (commercial takes 10 seconds).

Via XSnet, Tudou.

This is the new Ferrari 458 Special Edition for China, it will debut at a Ferrari Expo in Shanghai and only 20 will be made. The special 458 is themed around the dragon to celebrate the Chinese Year of the Dragon. At the same time Ferrari celebrates its 20 years in China.

Rolls-Royce made a special-dragon-edition too, based on the Phantom, it was sold out in a month. Aston Martin will launch ‘Dragon 88′ special editions as well which will debut at the Beijing Auto Show. I find it hard to believe this Ferrari won’t be at the Beijing show, Ferrari likely want all Chinese attention to go to the new F12berlinetta.

Painted in ‘Marco Polo red’ and swaddled in a “dragon” livery with gold imagery and black stripes, how very cool indeed, and sexed up even further by gold alloys.  A start button with 20 stars and a unique dash plaque are also part of the package. From Ferrari’s press release:

The inspiration behind the livery came from the longma theme which is an old Chinese idiom which means “the vigor and spirit of the legendary dragon-horse”… The [soaring dragon and the prancing horse] symbols reflect both Chinese culture as well as Ferrari’s constant innovation.

Very kitschy, rich Chinese car buyers will love, the 20 cars will no doubt sell out in a second. This 458 Dragon is the second China-only Ferrari, the first one was the porcelain-painted Ferrari 599, only one was made and sold for 1.77 million dollar.

Big crash early this morning on the Fuzhou-Xiamen  Expressway. A Ferrari Enzo hit the side of the road in wet conditions. Fortunately nobody was seriously injured but the good Enzo will need some very expensive repairs.

The super car on a tow truck, likely on its way back to Italy. Earlier Ferrari misery in China: 458 crashes, FF burns, California burns, and a pretty 360 gets in trouble with police…

Via: Weibo.

I know, my good readers, that today has been a quiet day. Not because there was no news, but because I had no time to write about it. This again because I am in Shanghai for filming for German television. Yez.., this little blog will be on tv! Details on when and how will follow soon. We went to a car market where I found this confusing iPhone-cover. Porsche Design and Ferrari make a great com bination, indeed. More stories from Shanghai soon later…

It is a sad day when a Ferrari goes away. Here we have a very crashed Ferrari 458 Italia painted in ultra hip dual-tone that crashed just outside the great city of Shanghai during a test drive with the potential customer at the wheel. He better buy a Volvo!

No plates on the Ferrari. Driver lost control in wet conditions and hit a barrier on the side of the road. Crash happened about a week ago and this indeed is the second Ferrari crash in Shanghai within a short time. No cheapie it ain’t either, price for the 458 starts at 3.88 million yuan or 613.000 USD.

Via: Weibo.

One of the very most special Ferrari’s in the world just popped up again at a Ferrari event in Shanghai. This one-off China-special Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano was hand painted by the famous Chinese artist Lu Hao in October 2009. It was sold at an auction in Shanghai in November 2009 for 1.77 million US dollar to an anonymous collector. The car went into hiding and wasn’t seen anymore, until now.

From Ferrari’s press realease at the time: The very special exterior finish draws inspiration from Ge Kiln porcelain of the Song Dynasty. Lu Hao has blended traditional design elements with Ferrari’s innovative styling to create a truly unique vehicle using a ‘cracked’ glaze pattern which is elegantly colored, with clearly defined cracks etched at different depths.

This exclusive car follows the announcement in September of a small series of specially-designed 599 GTB Fiorano China Limited Edition models which won wide acclaim.

The one-off incorporates a number of the features of the China Limited Edition cars, a very limited series of less than a dozen cars finished in two-tone Rosso Fuoco with silver roof and characterised by unique Chinese design elements.

Via: Weibo, Autoblog.com, Worldcarfans.