Balsamic vinegar. Luciano Pavarotti. Enzo Ferrari. Food, music, fast cars. Modena knew what to do to attract people.
I know nothing about cars, but I’m a proud owner and one of the biggest fans of Italian cars starting with an F. Fiat. Even though I’m an ignorant and I’m driving not the F I should, I was really enthusiastic about going to the Ferrari museum. A good design is a good design and I will appreciate it. Always. So we went.
Ferrari=Maranello, so we went to Museo Ferrari in Maranello (a small town next to Modena). I still have no idea if it was a right choice. Apparently one museum wasn’t enough, so Italians opened two: Museo Ferrari in Maranello and Museo Casa Enzo Ferrari. According to the internet, you’ll find more or less the same things in both places, tickets cost the same (16 EUR), so what should you choose? I have no idea. So let’s assume that Maranello was a good choice.
As I’ve already mentioned, I know nothing about cars. So it would be smart to let someone more qualified to share his thoughts. Błażej is taking over this post and he’ll tell you more about Museo Ferrari in Maranello:
Ferrari Museum tells not only the history of cars, but also the history of Enzo Ferrari with a focus on his approach to cars – making cars to race and win races and sell them only to afford racing. When other manufacturers were racing to showcase their cars and sell them, Enzo just wanted to race. And win. And you can feel it in the museum.
There’s a room fully dedicated to F1 and cars which were driven by Raikkonen, Schumacher and Lauda. If you look carefully, you can notice how cars evolved and how aerodynamics influences the shape. Take a look at older F1 cars. Can you imagine driving 200km/h on wheels which are almost as wide as in your bike? Drivers had to have cojones…
I’ve always thought that there was F1 Ferrari and regular cars Ferrari. That’s how it usually works, but commercials are convincing us that there’s F1 technology in Renault Clio. Can you imagine Fernando Alonso in Renault Clio? What if he had to… Apparently, “civil” and race Ferrari have more in common than I thought.
It’s really impressive how cars were designed in the past. Everything was handmade – aluminium body was formed with a hammer on a wooden form.
Old technical drawings are quite funny. They have as much in common with modern ones as Renault Clio with F1.
First Ferraris were very “mechanical” – their construction seems to be very simple and very different from modern cars which you can see in next rooms.
My faves
Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta
F40 – a supercar from 1987, which is still very impressive. Its performance and driving experience is extraordinary. It’s considered the best supercar in the world.
Aperta – a black car in a black room, La Ferrari without a roof. It accelerates to 200 km/h in 7 seconds. All 210 cars had been sold before they were even completed. The price of the last one was 8.3 mln EUR. It’s beautiful.
250 GT Coupe “Pinifarina” – if you ask me, it’s the most beautiful car in the museum. Beauty lies in simplicity.
365 GTB4 (Daytona) – it was a yellow coupe, but in my head it was a black one, driven by Crockett and Tubbs.
Dino – a small Ferrari, named after Enzo’s son. Dino is actually a separate brand and it’s not really considered a Ferrari. It’s Karolina’s favorite (she shares a weird taste in cars with Richard Hammond) from the museum, together with:
812 Superfast – a beautiful, big, very powerful Gran Turismo. And of course very expensive. It has a very creative name, how Italian…
Modena
Museum done, it’s time for a bit of Modena. The city center welcomes us with an orchestra playing in the piazza. How nice! I guess there was a music event in the city – we heard orchestras several times.
Modena is not the first place which comes to mind when you think about visiting Italy. The atmosphere in the city is totally different. More real? Maybe. It even felt a bit weird to walk around locals and be a typical tourist taking pictures.
Going back to the automotive theme… What is going on with this area? Is there something in water, soil, air? The biggest brands are from Modena and around: Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini, Pagani and De Tomaso…
