Scuderia Jeep. Fernando and Filipe get a subtle hint?
9:34 pm 
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Sometimes working for Ferrari has its perks and sometimes it doesn’t. As one of its Formula One drivers you might expect you get to drive a road going version of the race car, a Ferrari FF, or at least something special like the Abarth 500 Tributo Ferrari 695. Most time that is the case, but then the drivers sometimes have to pander to FIAT’s other brands, like Jeep…
Alonso: "Hey Filipe, can you see over the steering wheel, how much do you weigh these days, do you think we'll be able to clear the snow in this?"
Scuderia Ferrari Formula One drivers, Filipe Massa and Fernando Alonso are getting used to the ‘posing with a red car in the snow gig.’ Their most recent assignment involved some really really brash, really American, and ostentatious Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8s with Rosso Corsa (Ferrari-red to us simpletons) exteriors, red leather interiors, black stripes and black wheels, to give the models some racing-cred (we suspect). Or not.
Look we're as muscular as our Jeeps
These custom Jeeps have been built as a tribute to the Ferrari ambassadors, however if that’s the case the only tribute being paid is for something fat and chunky. Despite this the Grand Cherokee SRT8 has a big heart: a 6.4l HEMI V8 delivering 344kW (468 hp) and 624 Nm. The SRT8 achieves benchmark performance of 0-100 km/h in 5 seconds and has a top speed of 257 km/h, while massive disc brakes haul it from 100-0 km/h in only 35 m. Jeep also claims this is the best handling model it has ever built – though it’s coming off a pretty low base, if we’re honest.
Despite claiming these vehicles are a tribute to the drivers, they’re really to commemorate the imminent introduction of the SRT8 into Europe, in May this year.
Additional features include:
- Instrument cluster with yellow dials to give the cabin the fake look of the GT cars produced in Maranello
- 7-slot Jeep grill in matte black with red inserts
- Race-inspired, offset black driver’s stripe with a white accent for the front and rear bumpers, hood, the entire surface of the roof (over those matt black sunroofs, no less) and the rear spoiler.
- Carbon fiber mirror caps
- Gloss black rear light bar with red accents on the Jeep logo
- Italian flag painted on the underside of the rear spoiler: a tribute to the Ferrari F150º Formula One car
- 20-inch black alloy wheels
Nevertheless, these features sound pretty interesting.
Filipe and Alonso having some real fun in a four-wheel-drive.
It’s good that Jeep is going this far to give its brand some racing heritage and tie into the partnership with the Fiat Group, but we’re rather disappointed with the heads at the Fiat and Ferrari for letting such a thing happen and building some pocket rockets in the past; cars like the Michael Schumacher Fiat Seicento and Abarth 695 Tributo Ferrari offered far more petrolhead appeal. They brought handling and fun to the party, and the idea that Ferrari’s F1 team had a hand in developing the cars that were available in (relatively) affordable packages, so what on earth made them think a red SUV sends the same message?
"Look it's red inside, just like Lewis' MP4-12C, what does Seb drive, a Renault?"
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