24 members Visiting Maranello and the Mille Miglia 2016

24 members went from the 16th until the 21st of May 2016 on a trip to Maranello and the Mille Miglia with TheFerrarista.com. In the program, visits to the factories and museums of the Terra di motori around Modena (Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Pagani), the legendary Mille Miglia race, but also good Italian restaurants linked to Ferrari ... among others. What have they lived, seen, shared during that week? Why has it also been discussed about the LaFerrari Spider, just announced, and about Fernando Alonso? You'll find out later in this article.

The meetings and the atmosphere

Guillaume84, Oliv, Laelankar, Askim, Kani56, Camille, 308 GT4, Pascal71, Eric77, Pierre, CharlyBoy, Denis360 and their companions were on this trip. This is an opportunity to meet other members of Ferrarista living at the other side of the country. The group is restricted to 12 Ferrari maximum in order for everybody to discuss together and for the atmosphere to be excellent from the start. Some lend their Ferrari, jokes fuse, assistance is omnipresent. This is a week that changes you from the ordinary.

Within a week around Maranello, meetings are numerous: Jacky Ickx at the Mille Miglia, Safet Rastoder at the Ristorante Cavallino ... but the most extraordinary was to find Fernando Alonso at the Ristorante Montana during our farewell dinner. Very friendly, he agreed to pose for a photo with everyone in our group. A superb keepsake for all!

Ferrari

The visits of the Ferrari and Maserati factories were achieved through the Modena Sport concession in Toulouse. We first visited the Carrozzeria Scaglietti where the bodies of all the Ferrari are assembled. They are then sent to the Maranello factory to be painted then be returned to the assembly lines. The main highlight was the discovery of the Ferrari LaFerrari Spider! Hardly announced a week ago, we were among the first in the world to see it and to view that the gullwing doors were preserved. The director told us that 130 copies will be produced, validating it with a phone call. Nobody has broadcasted this figure. Parts of the carbon body are carried out by the Scuderia Ferrari, as in Formula 1.

Another interesting detail: when a customer orders the carbon blades (blade on the rear vents) on the Ferrari 488, they are first in aluminum body. It is only later, on the assembly line, that they are replaced by carbon, after the paint has been finished. On the paint chain, they don't know not to paint blades only for those who are in carbon.

We then visited the assembly line of V8 and V12, the interior assembly plant, assembly of engines (V6, V8 and V12), the machining of engine parts, F1 Clienti (tens of F1 belonging to customers ), the program XX (tens of FXX, 599XX and FXX K with a matt black) ... the big news was the visit of the Scuderia Ferrari in its new buildings. We could see the 5 F1 mounting box, going to the Grand Prix of Monaco, the part quality control, and the engine and electric areas. The old buildings of the Scuderia Ferrari are now destroyed and a new construction project is underway but our guide did not know what.

Maserati

At the Maserati factory in Modena, we visited the production lines of the Maserati GranTurismo and GranCabrio, but also Alfa Romeo 4C Spider and 4C. A magnificent registered Maserati MC12 Corsa, in blue, welcomes us in the showroom. I also noted the Alfa Romeo 4C equiped with an Akrapovic exhaust  (two central tailpipes instead of pots on each end) and a beautiful Alfa Romeo 4C white with a black roof and beautiful rims. On the chain, most of the Alfa Romeo 4C produced were red or white.

We learned that the factory in Modena is now a development center for the sports models of the Fiat group. We noticed numerous Alfa Romeo Quadrifoglio Verde and Maserati Levante tests on roads around Modena but they will not be produced in the region. We find them in the Maserati factory that develops them.

Pagani

At Pagani, we still have two factories to visit: the former, which includes the showroom and the production of carbon parts and the new, where they assemble the Pagani. A museum, a new showroom under construction and the whole activity should be moved to the new factory by July.

In the showroom are present, this time, the Pagani Zonda "nonna" and a beautiful yellow Pagani Huyara, with a black interior and yellow stitching. The "Nonna", which means "grandmother" in Italian has been driven 1 million kilometers. This is the chassis number 2 on which all changes to the Pagani Zonda have been tested over the years, before being put into production.

In the assembly area, we find ten Pagani, among which a Pagani Zonda whose owner requested an upgrade to the latest version of the Pagani Zonda. Cost of the operation: € 2 million. We also find, among the more exotic specimens, a purple carbon Pagani Huyara with pistachio inside. It is intended for an Asian customer.

Lamborghini

The novelty we hear about at Lamborghini throughout the visit is the Lamborghini SUV! The Lamborghini Urus is placed right at the entrance of the museum with the LM002 very near. Previously the LM002 was hidden at the bottom! It's a sign ! This SUV will be produced from 2018. A new building for its production lines is being built behind the existing buildings. Maybe a car park will be added for visitors, which is not a bas news, as it is difficult today for visitors but also the employees to park. At present, the Lamborghini SUV is not yet fixed: V8 or V10, rates, etc. are not known. We noticed during our visit a beautiful dark green Lamborghini Miura SV, fully restored at Lamborghini, that came out for its first laps.

During the visit, we go through the production line of the Lamborghini Huracan and Avantador, as well as the interiors production line. For the Lamborghini Huracan, it is only assembly, all parts coming from subcontractors. The engine comes from Germany. For the Lamborghini Aventador, we visited the assembly line of the Lamborghini V12. Unlike Ferrari, the engine parts are not produced by Lamborghini.

Mille Miglia

The only rainy day of the trip was the one that should not be: on Thursday the departure of the Mille Miglia in Brescia! That does not stop us to admire many old cars there, rolling, being parked, smelling the same as cars of that time, and you can talk to the driver. This is much better than a museum!

Among the Ferrari present, there were beautiful Ferrari 250 GT Coupe Boano, Ferrari 250 GT Europa, Ferrari 500 TR Spider Scaglietti (photo), Ferrari 750 Monza Spider Scaglietti, Ferrari 857S, Ferrari 250 MM Berlinetta Pininfarina, Ferrari 212 Europa Berlinetta, Ferrari 375 MM Spider Pininfarina, Vignale Berlinetta Ferrari 225S, etc.

And it is not finished

We also visited the Enzo Ferrari Museum in Modena, the Panini collection (former Maserati museum) in the heart of an organic farm, the famous Toni Auto, which restores and maintain superb old Ferrari, the old town center of Modena, etc.

If you were present during this trip, what impressed you the most? What stories would you add? If you were not there, what details would you like to know? Will you be present at the next trip?

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