Ferrari Factory Trip

Just arrived in Modena, Italy for our tour of the Ferrari factory, scheduled for 10am tomorrow morning. Although we have already spent about 18 days in Europe so far (Spain - Granada, Seville, & Barcelona, then Italy - Lake Como, Portofino, Cinque Terre, Venice...), this is definitely the highlight of my trip. My boyfriend and I got to get a peek (through chain linked fences) at them testing 2 FXX Enzos at the Fiorano track...the cold crisp air was filled with the unparalleled sounds of their engines and exhausts screaming at high RPMs...music to our ears Needless to say, we went on a spending spree at the Ferrari Store right across from the factory as well as the 2 other privately owned shops in the immediate area. We also visited the Ferrari Museum where they had several historical, some concept (including the 360 Barchetta), as well as some more recent models (599 & Enzo) on display. We ended the evening by having dinner at the Ristorante Cavallino (aka Ferrari Restaurant) also right across from the factory (some techinicians were also dining there after work). The restaurant was decorated with Ferrari memorabilia, table linens, silverware, china...and offered Ferrari Balsamic Vinegarette and Sparkling Red Wine (tasty...kinda like Sangria). That's all for now...can't wait for tomorrow morning...maybe we'll get to see the 430 Scuderia in the factory as well Hopefully they will allow photos and I'll upload them when I get back home. More to come...

 

As expected, they did not allow photography in the Ferrari factory so they collected everyone's camera at check-in. Not sure if it was because it was raining, but we were transported from the reception area to our first stop; Engine Assembly (after you pass the gate, it kind of resembles a movie studio lot except you see a couple 430's as well as the new Scuderia parked or being driven around). The transportation they provided was a customized Red minibus with carbon fiber detailed leather seating with detachable headrest cloths stitched with the prancing horse (I was tempted to bring one of those home, but remained respectful). There were 24 of us on the tour, so we were split up into 2 groups of 12, each led by one young lady dressed in their Red Puma Ferrari uniforms. They had 3 assembly lines; Ferrari 8, Ferrari 12, & Maserati. Each engine is built by hand from start to finish by one technician, some of whom were women . We reboarded the bus and were taken to another section; Car Assembly, where they had 2 main lines, one for the 430 & Scuderia and the other for the 599 (sometimes they will throw an 8 cylinder into the line of the 12 to meet production requirements - those 8 cylinders would face the opposite way on the 12 cylinder line). They also had another very short line to the back for the 612. Although we didn't see the Scuderia on the assembly line, there were 3 being worked on off to the front (it seems that they just came off the line); 1 in yellow with no stripes and 2 in the new Red, used on the current F1 cars, with the stripes. All cars were being assembled by teams of 4 technicians. We then went into the upholstery section in the same building where most of the craftspeople were women. The leather comes in a full cow's skin and is laid out flat onto a very large cutting board where it is cut by a computer programmed laser to minimize waste. All pieces are then hand sewn with sewing machines and then hand upholstered onto their respective parts. That's all that they allowed us to see...although I thought that they would show us a little more, it was still a nice tour and quite amazing to see the entire process of how a production Ferrari is built. By the way, I did not know until I saw another owner take out his Service Book, but they stamp it for you after your visit!!! As a parting gift, they gave us a booklet that includes the Ferrari Company profile, legacy, layout of its factory, amongst other things.

Here are some photos that I was able to take of the outside as well as the museum...
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Nope, sorry...

 

It's a Maranello

 

We're not that big into wine actually, so didn't pick up any. It was definitely beautiful at Cinque Terre. We actually did not eat outside in Santa Margherita...we went with a 40+ year old family owned restaurant with excellent food. We covered A LOT of ground...drove over 2000 miles over the 10 days in the rental...for all the tourist spots, we pretty much did all the tourist stuff. One of the fun things we did was drive our rental onto the ferry that took us and the car across Lake Maggiore. The roads were excellent all over Northern Italy...beautiful scenery, smooth curvy roads through the mountains...really wished we had our F cars there...