AM850.com, in Maranello: Ferrari’s house
The city of Cavallino, the only team with perfect presence in F1. Its factory, the museum, the models that can be rented to take the taste of handling … excursion to the world of the Rossa.
How are you not going to ask for the Tifosi that the Visit to Icola follows in the calendar of Formula 1! The appointment at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari Autodrome is the local career for Ferrari. Yes, it is true, it is Monza, but the Boloñés layout is just 85 kilometers from the Cavallino factory. Being so close, the visit to Maranello is forced. That is why it is not surprising that the day after the Emilia-Romagna GP, several Scuderia t-shirts are seen at the Central Station of Bologna. From there, train modern for 4.30 euros. Upon arrival, you have to walk about ten blocks to the Autozione Buswhich is about 200 meters from the Modena stadium, a club that plays in series B and that had its last step through series A in the 63/64 season (descended in a rapport that lost with Sampdoria).
Already in the Autozione, you have to wait for the 800 collective, which goes to Maranello and passes each hour. Data: The ticket costs 3.30 euros and should be validated in the machine that is in the front of the bus. An English, two Chinese and a Japanese who were traveling near AM850.com did not do it and came out expensive. In the second of the 23 stops that the trip would have, the controls went up. For more explanations that the British gave, that he had just bought it, that he did not know that he was validated and so on, he had to pay the fine of 77 euros! The Japanese, the last one of the non -validated, avoided the discussion, only spent his credit card for the postnet.
Any questions about the possibility of moving from Maranello or not knowing where you have to get off the bus disappears. The 800 rises a small slope, crosses a bridge and, suddenly, to the right, the Fioran circuit is in sight. Ladies, gentlemen, welcome to Ferrari’s house.
As it cannot be otherwise, a black Ferrari turns on the path. “Diego La Vuole Nera,” comes to mind. More in the background, the autodrome tower, painted red, with the shield of a brand in yellow and black. From that road you can see perfect when a car turns. How many will have been placed there to see some little girls like Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso or Lewis Hamilton, just to mention some.
Two blocks later, and crossing the route, the historic Ferrari plant appears, which was commanded to build by Enzo Ferrari in 1943. Il Commendore created the brand in its Modena workshop and moved to that Maranello plant. Everything is red in the area: the front of the premises, lThus fans who expect the traffic light to cut to take a picture from the middle of the street, the clothes of the employees who come out and enter. It is time for lunch. Many workers are dressed as if they were mechanics of the F1 team. Plant security people are attentive, because there are hardly a sweeping and some, in their eagerness to have a better image, they practically get inside. “Please,” is heard in Italian. They seem to be accustomed.
When crossing the avenue again and returning to the side of the circuit, a street makes a curve and flows into the new plant. With a modern design, far from the ancient part. Fiat Ducato Electric Ducato, a sacrilege for Ferrari, enter and the environment must take care of it, but the environment must be taken. A group of fans wait at the door, a score in hand, hat ready, telephone with the prepared camera … the voice was ran inside is one of the pilots, perhaps the two. The presence of Lewis Hamilton or Charles Leclerc does not seem illogical, just one day before they had run in Isola. Each employee who comes out is respectfully approached: “Do you know if the pilots are?”, They ask in English, Italian, something is heard in French, something in knowing what language … the answer is always the same: “I don’t know.” Nor would they say, of course. Every time the noise of a car that is about to leave is heard, everyone puts themselves on guard. Meanwhile, a Ferrari and another are seen through the door. What’s happening?
Near the plant, in addition to merchandising premises where there is absolutely everything that someone can imagine, there are five places to rent Ferrari. Yes, you just have to have a record, and silver, of course. The price varies according to model and time you want to use. Yes, he manages the one who rent, nothing from a driver. Some examples: Portofino V8 is 120 euros for ten minutes and you can make nine kilometers. And there are more, always in ten minutes: Portofino M V8 (140), GTC4 Lusso V12 (150), 296 GTS V6 (210), Hurricane Pereformante V10 (180). There is also an 812 GTS Superfast V12 that starts with 15 minutitos at 370. The most expensive in the list of the place visited by AM850.com, two hours with the 812 GTS Superfast V12 for 2,850 euros.
The walk continues. A couple of blocks after the plant is the museum, visit absolutely unmissable. You can visit both (Modena and Maranello) or one. If only one is entered, the entrance costs 27 euros. It is convenient to get it early online to avoid the tail when you arrive. An help datito: if it is in the tail, take just the cell, buy right there and goodbye to the row. The first part of the tour includes a review of the brand’s history, with cars from different times and you can even see the office that Enzo Ferrari used. How many decisions will have made Il Commentatore in that desk.
The final part is reserved for the competition and, of course, at one time the history of F1 is reached. The image and background music bristle the skin. It matters little if you are a Ferrari fan, there is the story of the only team with perfect presence in all the World Cup seasons, which only missed the first race, in the GP of Great Britain of 1950. The debut was in the second, in Monaco. And never left. It is the team in which every pilot wants to run, it is pure history.
Trophies, the image of all the pilots who were champions with La Rosssa, from Alberto Ascari, the first, to Kimi Räikkönen, for now, the last. In the middle, Juan Manuel Fangio (1956) and, of course, Michael Schumacher, with five crowns. There are different F1 chassis, with preponderance from those used by Schumacher. It is not for less, the German was the most laureate with the Italian brand. There is that incredible creation of Ross Brawn that was the F2004, with which Kaiser got his seventh title. There is the 156/85 model used by Michele Alborto in 1985, the F2007 with which Kimi was champion. Also, the 2020 SF1000 with special decoration that Charles Leclerc used in Mugello, in full pandemic, for the 1000 Ferrari races in the F1. Really, never want to get out of there. V12 engines in sight … pure magic.
After that room, andThe tour leads to the history of Ferrari in the competition and, of course, José Froilán González, the Argentine who gave the Scuderia the first triumph in F1 in the GP of Great Britain of 1951, in Silverstone, in Silverstone, cannot be missing, in Silverstone. And other iconic models that accelerated on the tracks of the world are added. The closure of the walk is in the classic merchandising stand where you can buy caps for 60 euros, shirts per 100 or 120 and even a steering wheel of the SF-24 for 7,990 euros.
Just a walk through the city. Rather, the little town. It’s very small. In the center, right in front of the cathedral, there is the roundabout that receives visitors with the Citta Di Maranello cartel. And there is no source or a statue of a hero, no, there is the rampant cavallino in black. Visiting the Church does not seem the best plan, there is just a funeral. It’s 14, the sun squeezes and there is no one on the street. Everything is closed, except for a flirtatious ice cream shop. In Enzo Ferrari Park is the monument opened in 2013 to commemorate the 25 years of the death of the Creator of La Rossa. The work carried out by the Swiss artist Franco Carloni was blessed by the chaplain Sergio Mantovani, the same one that reproduced the bells of the Maranello cathedral every time Ferrari achieved a triumph.
It will not be the only memorial in the city. A monument reminds Gilles Villeneuve 100 meters from the main entrance of the Fioran circuit. His bust is surrounded by a bush that simulates a laurel crown. The Canadian, who died in the 1982 Belgium GP in Zolder was Enzo’s weakness. In fact, the street entrance street also bears the pilot’s name.
The city walk gives Ferrari flags through several places as scenography. There are masts, in balconies … “I worked 40 years in Ferrari. The best pilot I saw in my life was Schumacher,” a man who is about 70 years old tells AM850.com. Schumi clearly marked Ferrari’s story. When asked what pilot he likes now, he doubts: “Leclerc”, loose, but not very convinced.
It’s almost 18, you have to take the return. Walk under the sun to that same bridge where it all started. 815 arrives. “It’s the same as 800,” says an Italian, fan of Inter, who had been in Icola’s career. The trip to the planet Ferrari was over.
