Just spoke with the Director of Cosworth F1

Called up, looking for a 1st gear replacement ring for his Testarossa. It split in half (typical failure) and the part is no longer available.

I tried to keep him on the phone as long as possible to tell me stories and gossip.

Asked him "Any secrets for the new turbo motor in F1 in 2014?" He said "Well, Bernie just got back from the Engine Dyno in Maranello and didn't like the sound of the new turbo V6. We ain't running our Dyno now. (wink wink)." He was saying that he has $25 million invested in the new motor and it might become a paper weight because Bernie doesn't like the sound. He said they also have a development 4 cylinder turbo that is veeeery similar to the Piquet BMW Turbo from the 80s.

He says he came from Ferrari F1 back in the 70s, said their wiring diagram was a particle board with different color strings showing where they go. Just laughed alot the whole time.

Definitely a guy that I would buy a beer to hear stories from the last 30 years of different jobs he's had (Alpina, BMW, Ford).

/nerdgasm.

Holy crap. That's awesome.

Congrats again on the gig. It sounds even better now.

Wait, Bernie had to go all the way to Maranello to listen to a development engine to learn what a turbocharged V6 sounds like?

He could've watched an Indycar race; they have both single- and twin-turbo V6s and they sound GREAT.

He was joking that it would cost less by sticking a JBL speaker on the back and looping a CD over

So, were you able to provide the part he was looking for?

Mmmmmm.... Cooooosworth... drool

chaparral wrote: Wait, Bernie had to go all the way to Maranello to listen to a development engine to learn what a turbocharged V6 sounds like? He could've watched an Indycar race; they have both single- and twin-turbo V6s and they sound GREAT.

He probably didn't have to but if you had Bernie's money wouldn't you rather listen to it in Maranello?

What do you do again?

stuart in mn wrote: So, were you able to provide the part he was looking for?

Nope. We have a plan going right now to make some and we would buy in for a certain amount to help with the cost.

pres589 wrote: What do you do again?

Ferrari Parts

DukeOfUndersteer wrote:

pres589 wrote: What do you do again?

Ferrari Parts

"I got it one piece at a time, and it didn't cost me a dime. You'll know it's me when I come through your town..."

Maybe Bernie thinks they sound too much like Indycars? He's having flashbacks from the early 1990s.

I wonder if monies could be made doing electrical engineering for replacement Ferrari parts...

pres589, there is a TON of money there if they cannot find them salvaged. Was talking to someone about it the other day. Ferrari doesn't stock parts any more than they HAVE to. There is a thriving market for this kind of thing, especially on the more recent ones that are just outdated. The even BIGGER problem is that a lot of it has proprietary programming that can only be accessed by proprietary machines, and guess what? much of that is NLA. (even the machines to work on some stuff)

Duke, you probably know of the guy I talked to. Guy by the name of Merritt who wrote a book a long time ago. He has some awesome stories too!

The only shame is that there is no way they are going back to the power levels that were seen back in the 80's turbo era.

Apexcarver wrote: pres589, there is a TON of money there if they cannot find them salvaged. Was talking to someone about it the other day. Ferrari doesn't stock parts any more than they HAVE to. There is a thriving market for this kind of thing, especially on the more recent ones that are just outdated. The even BIGGER problem is that a lot of it has proprietary programming that can only be accessed by proprietary machines, and guess what? much of that is NLA. (even the machines to work on some stuff) Duke, you probably know of the guy I talked to. Guy by the name of Merritt who wrote a book a long time ago. He has some awesome stories too! The only shame is that there is no way they are going back to the power levels that were seen back in the 80's turbo era.

Dick Merritt? Yea, I know who you are talking about.