Hi, so I did it, had a factory tour last wednesday!! What a beautiful experience it was.... when arriving Maranello, first Ferrari that we saw driving, was masked prototype, probably the F149. All tour had to be made in bus, 'cause new car was around & out there : ) Anyway, after touring the museum & beautiful Ferrari store across the main entrance it was time to go to the tour. We started the tour from engine assembly line, which was unbelievable and really surprised me with it's technology level and clenliness! It was a very nice place for worker's also!! After that we saw painting, where all Maserati's & Ferraris were painted. Then we moved to - in Ferrari bus, which had carbon inserts in seat + F.logos on the headrest + painting scheme from 360 Challenge Stradale- assembly line: the high light of the tour: around 15 F599's in the other line and appr. 30 F430's in the other. 612 were not seen in assemblyline. So of those 30 430-s on the line were 10 Coupe's, 10 Spiders and 10 Scuderia's!! I don't know if the conclusion can be made than 1/3 of 430's sold now are Scud's but that was most certainly the case that day!! It was so great to see all different exterior & interior color's with all available options!! It really helped me to understand how to work with my next Ferrari order!! Anyway, most beautiful car I saw was Scuderia with non metallic grey ( similar to Galardo Superleggera) with grey wheels & light grey alcantara----- that car was absolutely amazing!!! I do hope the owner is from this forum!! Beautiful beast!! About 9/10 of those Scud's were ordered with the stripe- which in my opinion even with it's high price is MUST with Scuderia. There was also very bad combinations in Scud interior- which I would not like to specify not to make anyone feel bad, but one thing was clearly seen: there were quite a few cars with non metallic red color, which I haven't seen before. I think this color is something that peaople were mistaken to the red the Scuderia was introduced with. There were 3/10 in that color- and the color was horrible. It was something like Monza red but non metallic- I do not know the name of the color, Stay away!! After seeing these Scud's I wanted them so bad.... too bad I passed the opportunity for Scud to wait for new F142.....
I thought factory tours were invite only....or was yours? Just wondering because next time I go over the pond I want to make a stop.
Yes, and I participated to Corso Pilota driving course also!! That' was so GREAT experience!!! It really gave me more confidence driving my 430!! Only waiting next course!!
You mentioned 9/10 Scuderia had the stripe. Was the stripe always in the standard color we have seen before? Thanks for the nice story about your visit to Ferrari! CH
I've been to Maranello twice and been on a factory visit once.....bloody brilliant. If you ever get the chance to do it, you've just gotta' go.
would really like to see a picture of the non-metallic red. I'm intrigued, I feel as if I would like it! Sounds like a truly great experience, you are blessed!
You need only be a current owner of a Ferrari to set up the factory tour with FNA. Then they, invite you if you wanna be technical, but it is not an invite only to tour the factory. They aren't drawing names out of a hat and asking people to come over. Robert
No, I did not see black ones there.... but at Fiorano track, where our driving course Corsa Pilota took place, tehre were two black Scuderia's which were used in this course! Beautiful beasts, other with black interior & tech insert + red stitching and other with black interior & tech inserts.
Head out in three days for my trip to the mecca. Tour is a week from Monday. Can't wait!!! I'll post when I get back.
Great write up- thanks for sharing. FYI I remember reading that Ferrari received an award for the quality of working conditions at the factory- one of the top places in all of Europe to work is what they said. There is a show on the factory which is pretty good done by the National Geographic Channel. The video used to be on You Tube and Google Video but its no longer. However, I did find it here though: http://flixreel.com/index.php?v=ufx45c7411c4543f There are one or two inaccuracies- most notably they show a 430 body in white when they are still discussing the 599- but overall, I really enjoy watching this video. best regards, Jerry
Yellow calibers but white stitching, if I remember correct. Are You waiting one with yellow stitches?
I'm still a bit puzzled about where all of the 430 Scuderia have gone..... I was in the factory 7 months ago (mid-September 2007) and the 8-cylinder line was 15-20% 430 Scuderia then. One would think that we'd see more pictures and video of them on the road in Europe and the East. Not proposing anything nefarious, just puzzled.
