Ever wondered what to expect when you visit Ferrari? Well, Car Showroom just has – no fancy business class flight, Cote d-Azure location or red carpet as you get at a press launch, just what the general public can expect from a visit to head office.
First-up we can confirm the town of Maranello ain’t no Noosa Heads – as you’ve probably read it’s an industrial town. It’s been 20 years since your Car Showroom correspondent’s last visit and apart from the flash new Ferrari Museum and of course major modernization within the gates of the Ferrari factory, Maranello is virtually unchanged.
We visited last Saturday afternoon and most of the restaurants were closed and in this part of Italy even the petrol stations away from the major Autostradas close on Saturday afternoons.
A special exhibit at the Ferrari museum this year commemorates the 30th Anniversary of Giles Villeneuve’s death. Thanks to the generosity of some of Giles’ mates from back home in Canada, the expected display of his Ferrari race cars has been supplemented with one of his Ferrari road cars, plus a couple of sets of overalls and his famous GPA brand helmet.
And your Car Showroom correspondent did wipe away a tear or two while viewing a documentary film on the man regarded as the bravest F1 driver of his era. His death at age 32 robbed the sport of one its greatest characters.
From there it was onto a 15-seat bus for a tour of the Ferrari factory and the Fiorano test track. As it was Saturday afternoon we arrived in time to see the last V12 FF (wrapped in plastic) return after completing its 50kms road test. Then the factory closed for the weekend (no doubt most of the workers glued to the TV that afternoon to watch qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix).
Every Ferrari is put through a 50kms road test before being shipped to its owner. As the factory churns out a modest 26 cars per day, this task isn’t too onerous.
Of course much modernization has taken place inside the gates of the Ferrari factory and in fact the famous central hall (home to the racing team until the 1990s) is next to be re-done. Much of the new building work has been created by famous Italian architects and the modern looks of the wind tunnel, engine assembly, paint shop and staff restaurant provide stylish contrasts to the remaining historic buildings.
Some time ago management relocated from the wing famously occupied by Enzo Ferrari – Luca Di Montezemolo and his team now housed in a modern multi-story complex just steps from Enzo’s previous office.
The race team relocated to the Fiorano test track some years ago and things were largely quite there with most at the Singapore Grand Prix. A few of the glorious red transporters were still parked as well as the similarly liveried trucks used the customer race team which is also headquartered at Fiorano.
Yes if you’ve got serious coin and you’re bored with your Superyacht in Monaco, just a 30-minute trip in the private jet gets you to Fiorano where your ex-F1 team Ferrari race car is garaged and prepped ready for you to run a few laps.
When we were there, Ferrari was using Fiorano for training dealers…the lucky buggers turning laps in a variety of Ferrari Californias, 458 Italias and FFs.
A visit to the Ferrari Museum in Maranello costs €12 per-head and the factory tour and visit to Fiorano costs and additional €12 per-head. While there was much merchandise for sale in the museum shop, there was nothing we hadn’t seen before – a tad disappointing after a trip from Oz with Euros in our pockets to buy-up big!
However a visit to the official Ferrari Shop just opposite the main factory gates introduced some very up-market stuff such as a fair-dinkum Fernando Alonso crash helmet mounted in a perspex display case – yours for €4,800.
Accommodation in Maranello is limited – we stayed at the relatively new Maranello Village (all Ferrari-themed and with an F1 car in the lobby) and paid $113 per night.
Likewise, don’t expect to find too many dining options – we’d recommend the relatively new ‘La Gazelle’ restaurant, just out of Maranello but worth the three-minute drive.
For us, the highlight of any visit to Maranello is seeing the line of ready cars (last Saturday it was 13 – one California, one FF and 11 458 Italias in both hardtop and Spyder configuration). Just seeing the supercars parked in a lot like you would a regular Fiat confirms you’re in a place revered by car enthusiasts.
