While they drive Ferraris for work and have their own personal Fiat Abarth 695 Tributos to run around in when they're not on the track, the prancing horse brand's F1 drivers Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso now have company cars supplied by Jeep.
The concept is not such a stretch when you realise that Fiat owns Ferrari and Alfa Romeo and more recently Chrysler, which owns Jeep, so a pair of Grand Cherokees in the Maranello carpark isn't that surprising.
They are no ordinary Jeeps, being specially prepared versions of the new Grand Cherokee SRT8, each with a 6.4-litre Hemi V8 offering up to 465kW and 630Nm of torque, enough to deliver a zero-to-100kmh time of 4.8 seconds and a potential top speed of 257kmh.
Most SRT8 Grand Cherokees delivered in their native United States are black, but for Massa and Alonso, the Jeeps are executed in Ferrari's signature "rosso corsa" (racing red) contrasted with matte black roofs and grilles, gloss black and silver racing stripes, black alloy wheels with red brake calipers and red accents on the front grille.
The interior is clad in red leather, with the leather-rimmed steering wheel in black leather.
"We are excited and proud to be able to hand over the exclusively personalised 'Ferrari- style' versions of the most powerful and fastest Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 of all time to two of the most talented drivers in the world," said Beth Peretta, marketing director of the SRT Brand.
"We are sure Fernando and Felipe will feel perfectly at home at the wheel of these cars that take styling cues from Ferrari with rosso corsa bodywork and that represent the pinnacle in terms of performance for the Jeep brand."
We'll make one prediction. Next year, the Ferrari Jeeps will go on eBay as the F1 drivers will inevitably get their own Maserati Kubangs, which will keep their SUV aspirations a little closer to the Ferrari brand. The Kubang will have underpinnings based on the Grand Cherokee's but will use a V8 engine put together for Maserati by Ferrari and clad in a body by car design genius Giugiaro.
SOURCE: stuff.co.nz
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