The Ferrari successful American Aluminium partnership and the F12 chassis

The Ferrari successful American aluminium partnership and the F12 chassis

The legend has it that Enzo Ferrari once said “when you buy a Ferrari you are paying for the engine and the rest you get for free”. Difficult to believe that those aluminium bodies that are works of art, patiently hand-hammered over sandbags, were once given for free.
Ferrari and aluminium are linked as Siamese’s and the company has been using the metal for engine blocks and bodywork since the mid-1940’s. In the late 1980’s, however, there was the idea that future Ferraris would be some combination of composites, perhaps supplemented with aluminium or honeycomb, derived from what they learned in Formula 1. Ferrari, however, was headed on another course. Ferrari started collaborating with ALCOA in 1994, when the company determined that the light weight metal was the way to go to reduce weight and improve the dynamics of it’s cars, and began producing space frames in 1998 for the 360 Modena, that were entirely made of aluminium. Until 2006 ALCOA produced the components at it’s own plants in Hungary, Germany and the Netherlands and sent them to the Ferrari factory in Italy where they were assembled by ALCOA personnel into full space frames at the Scaglietti works, Ferrari’s body panel facility. In 2006 ALCOA built a new state-of-the-art facility in Modena and since then has had a strategic partnership with Ferrari.
The F12’s chassis uses twelve different varieties of aluminium alloys and it is acknowledge by it’s excellent rigidity to weight ratio. The first picture below shows the F 12 Berlinetta aluminium chassis whose components are screwed together, welded and also bonded with adhesives. The second picture is an x-ray and shows the position of the chassis inside de F12’s body. The third picture is just to complement the second with a real side view of the F12. The fourth picture shows the chassis of the F12 Berlinetta, the California 2008 and the Portofino and it’s possible to observe that the California and the F12 chassis are built using similar components and frame principles . The Portofino chassis, however, shows already a substantial evolution with some of the bars existing in the F12/California, having been substituted by mono-block casted pieces.
If we take the examples of Pininfarina and Scaglietti we can conclude that Ferrari success was always associated with great partnerships.



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Mario - The rumor was the Portofino was first use of new modular chassis. Not sure I see that in your pic above. Can you confirm?

According with what has been written in some magazines the Portofino is using a new modular chassis ; CarMag for instance: “the new aluminium-alloy platform accounts for 40 percent of the total mass saving of 80 kg. Indeed, a proud engineer at the Scaglietti chassis plant in Modena pointed out the only steel parts used in the platform: tiny lugs for the seat attachment points.”
The picture below shows there are substantial differences between the chassis of the California and the Portofino with the later using more mono-block parts and less bars.




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Tom thanks for reminding us that the Aluminium we take now for granted was once a rarity . Due to tenacity and good use of the brain by two men the abundant on earth bauxite ore is now transformed into this light metal that is used in multiple applications. They say 60 per cent of the human adult body is composed by water but after reading a bit about the extended use of the light metal in Maranello I guess Ferrari's cars nowadays are composed by more than 80 per cent Aluminium in the form of different alloys.

 

Ferrari latest Aluminium Italian partnership

Ferrari long connection to American Aluminium through the partnership with Alcoa was disconnected in 2010 when Alcoa took the decision to sell its business unit Transportation Products Europe (“ATPE”). Cosma, which is a subsidiary of the Canadian Magma Aluminium group, purchased Alcoa’s two operations in Germany, one in Poland and also one in Hungary. Alcoa’s Modena operation, however, it was sold to an Italian group named OMR that is presently the strategic partner for the development and supply of all Ferrari cars Aluminium space frames. Below are the pictures of the Modena space frames factory in 2006 when Alcoa built it and the other is dated 2010 when OMR group took it over. This Modena ex ALCOA plant now owned by the OMR group is of vital strategic importance for Ferrari because that's there that are developed and produced the space frames equipping all the Ferrari models. When ALCOA opened this plant in 2006 it was to support its role as the sole supplier of Aluminium space frames for the Ferraris F430, 612 Scaglietti and 599 GTB Fiorano. ALCOA’s new plant replaced its former facility, which was located in Ferrari’s Scaglietti Works, also in Modena.The now OMR plant features two high-speed robotic machining centers , two robotic joining centers and 12 space frame assembly cells. After completion the assembled space frames are transported to the Modena Carrozzeria Scaglietti facility owned by Ferrari, where the body shells are coupled. Below there are several pictures showing how the space frames are assembled and how the body shells are joined to them later at Carrozzeria Scaglietti. Picture nr. 2 shows the top secret machine where the space frames Aluminium components are assembled welded and glued together.


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