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Despite its 2+2 designation and layout, it seems as if Ferrari is taking a refreshingly up-front approach to the rear “seats” in its upcoming California hardtop convertible, places that are generally ignored in similar sports cars.

Our very own Chris Paukert is currently hanging out in Sicily, suffering through the strenuous press launch for the Ferrari California—sending over a couple of interesting notes about the car in the meantime. Chris reports that the California’s rear seats—which are really no more complex than a pair of bottom squabs with flat backrests that can fold down—with come equipped with seatbelts only as a no-cost option. The Italian automaker believes that more than 50 percent of buyers will opt for the third and fourth belts, presumably because they’d like the option of taking the occasional child, pet, or hobbit out for a spin.

Further, Ferrari will offer the rear seatbelts as a retrofit option—free of charge—for those owners who change their minds, or who have bought the car secondhand. 

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Israeli designer Amir Glinik is the latest in a long line of artists who’ve attempted to create something beautiful and outrageous enough to carry Ferrari’s storied crest on only two wheels. Glinik’s Ferrari superbike concept is centered on an unrealized V-4 engine, and is said to draw as many visual cues from the F-16 fighter jet as from the slinky forms that abide in Maranello. The enclosed bodywork gives the concept rendering an eye-bulging shape that’s made all the better for its lack of needless ornamentation.

Ducati may make the worlds closest real interpretation of a Ferrari bike but we’d be willing to give this one the once over if it ever made the leap from monitor to motorway. Have a look in our gallery above.

+ Autoblog: Lean Machine: Ferrari V4 superbike concept

Ferrari’s full-house grand tourer, the 599 Fiorano, looks like it’s about to flip its lid. The folks over at UK publication Auto Express have evidently caught a mule that appears to have a false hard top and an ill-fitting rear window, lending credence to the idea that Maranello is readying a drophead version of the range-topping model. From the looks of the panel seams on the roof, Ferrari has fitted this mule with a folding hardtop mechanism that’s likely similar to that employed in the company’s forthcoming California.

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Following up on the mystery Ferrari mule we spotted a few weeks back , these new and exciting spy shots show the very first stages of a development program that should ultimately lead to a successor for the Enzo–currently code named the FX70.

Housed in the shell of a F430 Scuderia, the keys to the ultra-supercar hidden inside can be seen with a massive, Murcielago-style center-mounted exhaust, a wider track, and suspiciously upgraded rear wheels and tires. Our photogs on the scene also tell us that the FX70 mule sounds pretty amazing, further hinting at the potential under the deck lid.

Ferrari is working on two separate engine alternatives for the neo Enzo, a twin-turbo V-8 capable of roughly 700 horsepower, and a twin-turbo V-12 which should make 50 to 100 horsepower more. Despite the obvious cache of rocking a supercar-standard twelve-cylinder engine, we’d expect the times and temperament of the current automotive climate to push Ferrari towards the V-8. More as we know it.

Have a look at the FX70 mule in the gallery above or scroll down to read the shooter’s own words. 

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Ferrari has designed a vehicle that exceeds the boundaries of human control. In other words, the human brain isn't fast enough to operate the controls, only a computer can.

According to designer Iman Maghsoudi, the cars of the future, apparently able to hit speeds of 125 miles per hour remarkably quickly, will be much too complicated to operate manually as we weak willed humans lack, "sufficient concentration." Thus, computers are programmed to take over at a predetermined speed.

Ferrari took the first step towards consolidating its European dealership network today, by cancelling all dealer contracts effective as of June 30, 2010.

While some Ferrari dealers, like general manager of Ferrari Austria Josef Smoly, are confident that their contracts will be renewed in the end, others are decidedly less hopeful. The automaker’s German dealerships are set to take perhaps the biggest hits from this round of cuts, with sources indicating that as many as six of the nineteen authorized sellers will not be re-upped. One German dealer had an even more dismal prognostication, claiming to believe that the current network will be cut in half.

"Most of the dealers in this country still don't know whether they will get a contract back," said one unidentified German dealer.

+ Automotive News: Ferrari fires its dealers in Europe

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Ferrari has done the unthinkable and announced that it is now working on reducing its vehicles' greenhouse gas emissions. To accomplish this, the supercar maker plans to build even lighter cars than it does now, and implement new hybrid technology. Rumors are even floating around about possible smaller, more fuel efficient turbocharged V-6 engines in the future.

This is all due to a recent proposal by the European Council that forces auto-manufacturers to limit their fleet average carbon-dioxide levels to 130g/km (209g/mile) by as early as 2012.

To meet these regulations, Ferrari president Luca Cordero di Montezemolo has revealed to reporters that the company's goal is to reduce emissions by 40 percent between now and 2012.

"We are currently working on the development of a Ferrari that will use alternative energy sources and which will be based on what we are doing at the moment in Formula 1," said Montezemolo.

The new alternative energy source that Montezemolo speaks of is the new Kinetic Energy Recycling System (KERS) that works on the same principle as brake-energy-regeneration. The system is essentially a CVT transmission that is joined to the flywheel and rotates when the vehicle is under braking.

While all this talk about hybrid technology and reducing carbon emissions may come as a shock to some and seem very un-Ferrari-like, it was mentioned that with KERS, the stored energy can be used to boost acceleration for overtaking and cornering.

In the end, Ferrari is adamant that the future hybrid will still be a thoroughbred and "fundamentally a Ferrari." The hybrid models aren't expected to hit the market until around 2015.

+ Motor Authority: Ferrari boss confirms hybrid program

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Novitec Rosso has been putting their aftermarket know-how into Ferraris for years. The company has created a 707 horsepower F430, a 645 horsepower 599 GTB Fiorino and variants of the 360 Modena and even the Enzo. But, the new Novitec Ferrari 430 Scuderia may very well be the baddest Ferrari ever. Novitec dropped some serious technology into its Scuderia, and the list of upgrades reads like something out of high-performance parts catalogue.

The ultimate in faux design – a Ferrari shell, Pontiac Fiero powertrain. Doesn’t sound too enticing.

Ferrari has announced that it has established Ferrari Japan KK, which will import the brand into the land of the rising sun.

On Monday the 39-year-old Michael Schumacher got a turn at the wheel of Ferrari's 2008 Formula One entry, the F2008, and came away from the drive believing that the Italian has made "clear progress" since last season.

The beauty of a model kit is that it allows you to build it any way you want. For Andy Leonard, a member of the Scale Auto Magazine forums, that consisted of fabricating his idea of a Ferrari-built motorcycle.

Ferrari is extending an invitation for 50 journalists to take turns behind the wheels of two specially prepared 612 Scagliettis, in what is sure to be a memorable rally across the Indian subcontinent.

Toyota’s Formula One team may not have been near the front of the pack during most races last season, but to hear driver Jarno Trulli tell it, you’d think the team had already thrown in the towel on 2008.