Much has changed in the Italian village of Maranello since Enzo Ferrari relocated from his hometown of Modena in 1943. Wartime Italian laws required factories to be moved outside of built-up areas which forced his move to the countryside. When the war ended, Enzo established his new company, Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947. Maranello has been Ferrari’s home since the company’s birth.
Ferrari is the business of Maranello. The town existed before Ferrari but the town is known for Ferrari. Buildings of all shapes and sizes with Ferrari logos and signage make the grid of streets feel like a Ferrari campus. Shuttles and trucks continually move parts and people. New Ferraris on shakedown runs circulate on public roads before heading to new owners around the world. Disguised prototypes and pre-production mules blend in with the traffic.
Shiny manufacturing buildings, state of the art Formula One operations, and high-tech cars for the road and track are evidence that Ferrari is active in the present and continually looking to the future. But Ferrari’s present is inextricably intertwined with Ferrari’s past. The Speed Journal recently spent two days embedded with Ferrari ’s operations, taking a close look at how Ferrari honors both the modern and the classic.
The Present – Road Cars
Ferrari produces over 13,000 vehicles a year and each one is born in Maranello. Three shifts work around the clock and very little comes from outside suppliers. While the public roads and museums are filled with Ferrari flavor, access inside the facilities are tightly controlled. The Speed Journal’s visit started at a reception area with a Ferrari introduction before loading into a shuttle to the manufacturing facility.
The enormous pride about making everything in-house was palpable. Building a Ferrari could not be subcontracted elsewhere. Suppliers play a role, but only for very specific needs.
For all the focus on exotic body shapes and luxurious interiors, the heartbeat of a Ferrari is the powerplant. Natural lighting along with green trees and plants gave the engine shop environment an artesian feel rather than a cold industrial sense. Ferrari machinists produced parts, checked tolerances and specifications, and fit them together to produce complete engines. Humans and machines worked together to produce a hand-crafted result. More than anywhere else, the engine shop felt like the soul of Ferrari. Engine production is a common thread that links so many engines and so many Ferrari staff over the years. The sheer quantity of engines produced for today’s needs gives a sense of Ferrari’s scale.
The assembly line was a modern manufacturing marvel. Ferrari maintains three lines where any model car can be assembled to allow greater flexibility for production needs. The highly orchestrated process for bringing powertrains together with body shells made production highly efficient. The parts started to look like a car when the body was lowered to join the running gear and chassis in a process known as the “marriage.”
Technicians used high tech tools to track a precise sequence and help manage the physical tasks. Each station had its own trolley box with the specific parts needed for that portion of assembly. A conga line of new Ferrari road cars made their way down the line, adding pieces with every step. Installing seats and interiors made the mechanical bits feel like something that would be driven. Quality control checks confirmed expected operation of the engine and exhaust and inspected the bodies under bright lights for blemishes. Every Ferrari gets several dozen kilometers of road testing before delivery.
The Present – Racing Programs
Ferrari’s famous fan following is highly visible at any motorsports event where the Ferrari flag flies. The Formula One program is fully run out of dedicated facilities at Maranello. A look from a second-story balcony showed an operation of a high-tech laboratory of metal and glass. Team members in white lab coats huddled around individual stations with specific tools and tasks. The Formula One building had large windows with natural light and green gardens to soften the hard edges.
The cars themselves had individual bays where technicians fettled and tinkered with the tiny parts that combine to make a modern Formula One car. Engines are locked down to limit cost, but each car is otherwise rebuilt after running a Grand Prix. On race weekends, about fifty engineers in Maranello work remotely and support the trackside team.
Keeping the Past on Track
The Speed Journal’s next stop was the Corse Clienti building that houses the XX and client-focused heritage Formula One programs. The XX program began in 2005 with the Enzo-derived FXX and has continued with the 599, La Ferrari, and SF90 variants. The track-specials are privately owned, but Ferrari held and maintained. Ferrari also collects data from the Corse Clienti cars for research and development purposes.
The second floor housed dozens of Formula One cars that raced at the top tier before retiring and being made available to customers through a program of Ferrari care and custody. A customer is permitted to take the body for display but the engine and powerplants are not allowed outside of Ferrari supervision, especially with the complexity and risk of modern hybrids. Seeing a timeline of red Ferrari Formula One cars spanning decades was a testament to the strength and durability of Ferrari’s motorsport ambitions.
Recording and Restoring the Past
The Classiche department is Ferrari’s institutional memory. “Classiche” is pronounced “class-i-kay” with a hard C. Inspired by then-Ferrari CEO Jean Todt, it was formally launched in 2006. Records for every production car since inception are source material to restore or certify customer cars to original specification. The Speed Journal was greeted by a 1950s era Testa Rossa and 1960s era Ferrari GTO in the main entryway showroom. When price is no object and originality is paramount, the Classiche team can restore or repair any Ferrari that is at least twenty years of age or older. The garage was a mini-museum with Ferraris from across the decades in various states of progress.
An adjacent room with shelves of binders and books contained all the written production records. Samples of original orders from the 1950s and 1960s with handwritten margin notes showed how business was done in the early days. In some cases, Mr. Ferrari’s own notes highlighted specs or asked questions of his staff. In a breathtaking moment, a fellow visitor asked about a rare car of his produced in the 1950s. Within three minutes, the staff pulled out the original documentation for that car showing who worked on it, when it was completed, and every detail from its original documentation.
After a day of touring the various Ferrari facilities, Ferrari staff hosted a dinner at the Ristorante Cavallino located directly adjacent to the famous Ferrari front entrance gate. The well-known restaurant has been part of Ferrari since the early days. The farmhouse was originally the company canteen and then officially became a restaurant in 1950.
Mr. Ferrari regularly dined here, as did a steady stream of Ferrari drivers, engineers, staff, guests, and visitors. Photos on the walls pay homage to the history. The restaurant was refreshed in 2021 to give it a more contemporary design. Italian wines were perfectly paired with endless courses of Italian food which made for an enjoyable evening.
Driving the Past
In the 1960s and early 1970s, Ferrari used the Modena Autodrome for testing purposes. The track required upgrades and improvements that were not forthcoming and testing race cars on public roads was not ideal for testing or secrecy, so Enzo Ferrari opted to build his own track closer to the Maranello factory which became known as Fiorano.
When Pista di Fiorano was built, it was surrounded by farmland. Mr. Ferrari built a house and office inside the track – the well-known white building with red shutters. Over the years, the surrounding town of Maranello grew around the facility. There have been modest changes over the years, but the basic outline of the figure-eight testing course is unchanged. At just under 2 miles long, twelve turns are equally divided between right and left handers and several corners are inspired by corners at the world’s most famous grand prix circuits.
It has always been – and remains – Ferrari’s private playground. It does not host open track days or racing weekends. If you are there as a driver or passenger, you are a guest of Ferrari. Of all the places in the world where you could drive a Ferrari, Fiorano is very high on the list.
Instead of piloting the latest, greatest, and fastest of the Maranello stable, The Speed Journal spent the day driving milestones of Ferrari’s history. Ferrari’s Corso Pilota Classiche program is targeted for owners who want to experience the classics or share Ferrari’s history with their family. The program is only available through Ferrari dealers.
The day started with a walking tour that included the famous garage and a walk around the outside of Mr. Ferrari’s home and office. For the Ferrari aficionado, walking hallowed ground is an unrivaled experience. After a few laps as a passenger for sighting purposes, the driving program began with a red 1985 Mondial. The mid-engine V-8 coupe was always a grand touring car rather than a high-performance headline grabber, but a few laps aboard showed why it was a user friendly Ferrari with the right mix of power and handling.
The red 1996 550 Maranello coupe showcased the famous twelve cylinder engine. A manual transmission and coveted gated shifter fully engaged the driver. The slowest corner on the Fiorano track required second gear while the faster sections warranted fourth gear and brief glimpses of fifth. The music of the engine at full song was a vivid reminder of why V-12 powered Ferraris remain prized parts of Ferrari history. Excellent instructors offered useful tips for both the car and the track which flattened the learning curve. They encouraged more speed as drivers showed more proficiency. Fiorano is a private test track, but not designed as a full race course.
A wet skid pad beckoned next and the chosen instrument was a red 1980 308 GTBi. The 1980 model year introduced a fuel injected engine – shown by the “i” – rather than a carbureted engine. The plucky 308 was not endowed with prodigious power, but the skidpad required steady hands on the wheel and a deft foot on the throttle rather than raw power. With only 494 examples made across three years of production, finding another driving school that flings a 308GTBi around a skidpad is going to be a challenge.
The rarest car of the day was the 1962 250 GT Lusso. Only 351 were produced from 1962 through 1964. The Lusso was Ferrari’s civilized sportscar coupe at the time. The big brother 250 GTO may be more well-known, but the Lusso’s pretty shape, Boranni knock off wire wheels and V-12 engine gave it solid credentials and turned it into a sought-after collector car.
Driving the Lusso was a remarkable experience. The driver worked a large beautiful wooden steering wheel and saw classic dash gauges in full view. Far from just being a pretty shape, the Lusso was happy to hustle. Working quickly through the gears required heel-and-toe downshifts to keep the gears in sync and avoid grinding. More laps refined the technique.
It was designed as a grand touring car rather than a race car, so softer suspension and body roll slowed corner speed. What the Lusso gave up in handling, however, it made up for with the glorious sound of the 12-cylinder howling at full throttle on the straights. In modern times, the Lusso is most often seen in museums or concours fields. The opportunity for a glimpse of what Ferrari’s customers enjoyed in the mid-1960s – especially around Fiorano – was an unrivaled experience.
More track time came courtesy of a red 308GTS. The four Weber dual-throat downdraft carburetors along with the distinct high revving Ferrari exhaust note of the V-8 engine was a blast from the past. The pedals were well positioned for heel and toe shifting. A brief blip of the throttle encouraged the driver to do it again and again to match revs and experience audible delight. The traditional Ferrari gearshift was tactile and showed why drivers love gated shifters. The 308GTS handled very nicely and was a great fit for the Fiorano track.
At one point, the 308 GTS attracted the attention of a pair of mechanics. They opened the rear hatch and spoke quickly in Italian. One adjusted the Weber carburetors with a screwdriver while the other worked the throttle linkage to rev the engine. After a nod of satisfaction, they closed the rear hatch and sent a perfectly tuned carbureted 308 GTS on its way.
The afternoon allowed guests more track time to refine their skills and enjoy the hardware. Instructors set up two scored exercises. An autocross circuit with a challenging wet section required dexterity and agility. Another exercise challenged drivers to go a short distance on track marked by cones in precisely 12 seconds. The mental challenge required a sense of how long and how fast to go before pressing the brakes or accelerator.
Awards at the end of the day recognized the quickest autocross time and closest to 12 seconds on the second exercise. Good food and drink wrapped up the day. All took home certificates for successful participation – a souvenir unavailable from any dealership or gift shop.
More than the Sum of the Parts
Seeing the mix of history and present-day gives a sense of Ferrari in a way that visiting a showroom could never do. History is honored and preserved, but also driven and enjoyed. History is kept alive in the same place that the future path is being charted. An energy pulses around Maranello that feels like a caretaker of what makes Ferrari special. It is a collective effort that makes a car bearing a Ferrari badge much more than a collection of metal, plastic, and fabric parts.
The Speed Journal would like to thank Ferrari and the Corso Pilota Classiche team.
