Skip to main content

Someone mashed up a ’30s Ford chassis with a Ferrari V8, and slapped a $250K price tag on it

You will react to the above image in one of two ways: Either butterflies will form in your stomach, or you’ll reach for the nearest object and fling it at your computer screen (We are not responsible for damages in the latter scenario).

So what exactly are you looking at? That would be a 1932 Ford body with a 3.0-liter Ferrari V8 engine. There’s a little more to it than those two pieces, but one thing is for certain — a mash-up of that magnitude could only be the brainchild of a madman (all we know about the builder is that they have access to Craigslist).

Recommended Videos

If the prancing horse badges were removed, one might easily overlook this as just another hot rod. It’s red, the engine is exposed, and the rear tires are as big as beach balls. However, when people learn of the vehicle’s $250,000 asking price – yes, a quarter-of-a-million bucks – they might ask a few more questions. Though we definitely can’t answer why, we’ll take a crack at the what. While Ferrari V8s are potent, they aren’t potent enough to deliver the 950 horsepower that’s routed to the rear wheels of this monstrosity. To achieve that goal, a pair of Turbonetics turbochargers, Mishimoto intercoolers, an aluminum radiator, high-flow headers, and a Tremec 6-speed manual transmission were added.

Ferrari Ford Hotrod wheels
Image used with permission by copyright holder

To even out the mayhem, this hot rod also features disk brakes (hidden behind drum brake outlines up front), an independent rear suspension, a full roll cage, 18-inch wheels, racing seats, and digital gauges. As convenience features go, the windows are automatic. That’s about it.

We won’t even go into how Henry Ford II or Enzo Ferrari (who maintained the most intense racing rivalry of the 1960s) would feel about their names being combined on a vehicle, but we will say that the car’s creator might have to negotiate on price a bit. The hot rod is bananas – no one will argue that point – but is it worth $250K? We shall see.

Miles Branman
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Miles Branman doesn't need sustenance; he needs cars. While the gearhead gene wasn't strong in his own family, Miles…
Sports fans, this is why the new Apple CarPlay update is a must
CarPlay on iOS 18.4.

Apple has rolled out iOS 18.4 and now comes the latest updates to Apple CarPlay, including sport support.

While there are several new features, including a third row of icons on a larger display, and default navigation app choices for the EU, it's the sports apps that jump out.

Read more
Polestar 2 gets an audio upgrade from Bowers & Wilkins
2026 Polestar 2

There will soon be a new model of the popular Polestar 2 EV on its way, as the Swedish company has announced a 2026 update that will first be available in Europe before rolling out to other locations throughout this year. The 2026 Polestar 2 sees a new audio system and an upgraded infotainment system, plus a new battery which can be charged faster.

The audio system comes from Bowers & Wilkins, and can be added as an optional upgrade consisting of 14 speakers places throughout the car for a total output of 1,350 Watts. Audio enthusiasts will enjoy extra audio features like "Tweeter-on-Top technology" for better audio clarity, and speakers designed to minimize distortion.

Read more
Rivian set to unlock unmapped roads for Gen2 vehicles
rivian unmapped roads gen2 r1t gallery image 0

Rivian fans rejoice! Just a few weeks ago, Rivian rolled out automated, hands-off driving for its second-gen R1 vehicles with a game-changing software update. Yet, the new feature, which is only operational on mapped highways, had left many fans craving for more.
Now the company, which prides itself on listening to - and delivering on - what its customers want, didn’t wait long to signal a ‘map-free’ upgrade will be available later this year.
“One feedback we’ve heard loud and clear is that customers love [Highway Assist] but they want to use it in more places,” James Philbin, Rivian VP of autonomy, said on the podcast RivianTrackr Hangouts. “So that’s something kind of exciting we’re working on, we’re calling it internally ‘Map Free’, that we’re targeting for later this year.”
The lag between the release of Highway Assist (HWA) and Map Free automated driving gives time for the fleet of Rivian vehicles to gather ‘unique events’. These events are used to train Rivian’s offline model in the cloud before data is distilled back to individual vehicles.
As Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe explained in early March, HWA marked the very beginning of an expanding automated-driving feature set, “going from highways to surface roads, to turn-by-turn.”
For now, HWA still requires drivers to keep their eyes on the road. The system will send alerts if you drift too long without paying attention. But stay tuned—eyes-off driving is set for 2026.
It’s also part of what Rivian calls its “Giving you your time back” philosophy, the first of three pillars supporting Rivian’s vision over the next three to five years. Philbin says that philosophy is focused on “meeting drivers where they are”, as opposed to chasing full automation in the way other automakers, such as Tesla’s robotaxi, might be doing.
“We recognize a lot of people buy Rivians to go on these adventures, to have these amazing trips. They want to drive, and we want to let them drive,” Philbin says. “But there’s a lot of other driving that’s very monotonous, very boring, like on the highway. There, giving you your time back is how we can give the best experience.”
This will also eventually lead to the third pillar of Rivian’s vision, which is delivering Level 4, or high-automation vehicles: Those will offer features such as auto park or auto valet, where you can get out of your Rivian at the office, or at the airport, and it goes off and parks itself.
While not promising anything, Philbin says he believes the current Gen 2 hardware and platforms should be able to support these upcoming features.
The second pillar for Rivian is its focus on active safety features, as the EV-maker rewrote its entire autonomous vehicle (AV) system for its Gen2 models. This focus allowed Rivian’s R1T to be the only large truck in North America to get a Top Safety Pick+ from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
“I believe there’s a lot of innovation in the active safety space, in terms of making those features more capable and preventing more accidents,” Philbin says. “Really the goal, the north star goal, would be to have Rivian be one of the safest vehicles on the road, not only for the occupants but also for other road users.”

Read more