Hello, from Maranello

Hello, from Maranello

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Maranello, a home away from home to the rich and famous and the birthplace of one of the most legendary names in the supercar and motorsport world. It is a small town with a romantic love for red and a bucket list item for many that I was itching to tick. But at the end of the day, this treasured Italian town would be nothing without a fantastic story.

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The story begins with the Industrial Revolution, when a better quality of life for workers led to an improvement in product quality. It became a common practice for towns to revolve around a company, offering jobs, education, entertainment, and religious services to their employees and families. Skip along a few years, and in 1943 the town of Maranello was meshed with a brand that would put it on the map. And the mastermind behind the operation was Enzo Ferrari.

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Before the now-famous town took over the supercar world, it was a factory that produced small tools and aircraft components during WWII. After the war, the focus was then shifted to cars, which would change the local transport demographic forever. 

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Every Ferrari that we have seen through their various generations since 1943 was birthed in Maranello. A factory positioned in the middle of endless, level, grounded farmlands and tested to its breaking point on the test track, which resides behind the facility. To think of the sheer size of the dreams and achievements one brand has created from this place reminds me just how complex the automotive world is. Producing a well-known and globally respected name, not to mention a fan base that extends beyond the enthusiast but that few actually get to experience, I had to see what it was all about.

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On the day of our scarlet red adventure, I managed to encourage my younger brother to tag along for the ride. He is a motorsports enthusiast with a keen interest in MotoGP, and cars have never been a particularly exciting topic for him. So, after some persuasion and a two-hour drive from Florence, the surrounding flat farmland offered an intriguing improvement in road quality, and it wasn’t long before we saw the first of many prancing horses stretching their legs on its very own driveway. 

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As you can imagine, aside from the factory, museum, and track, the locals are very proud of their claim to fame, as almost every restaurant, hotel, and store features a Ferrari bumper, logo, or even a car on display.

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On the surface, the Ferrari Museum is a museum like any other, only the display items are tens and even hundreds of millions of Rands, all in operational order, and many can only be found here. As we entered, we were greeted by the first of many stunning cars, the 812 Superfast, which has always captivated my imagination, thanks in part to its sound. This iconic V12 supercar would normally reign supreme in and amongst most car show-attending enthusiasts, but the three pieces of metal in the adjacent room would soon leave the 812 in their shadow. The 288 GTO, F40, and F50. Legendary performance cars that are so highly sought after that you will likely never see one on the road.

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Obviously, a thorough walkaround was required, but a glance into the next room provoked a sense of urgency. Now, as you can imagine, there are a near-endless number of Ferraris to talk about, and I shouldn't bore you with a set-by-set playthrough, but I need to mention a few. For starters, the adjacent room provided my first glimpse of a LaFerrari and an Enzo, as well as an equally impressive, if somewhat less iconic, monster known as an SF90 XX Stradale. 

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As my brother and I stood staring into the headlights of the Enzo, I could see the realisation dawn on him as he finally came to the realisation of exactly where he was. But the Formula One room—which honours Ferrari's successes in the F1 sport and must be on any racing enthusiast's bucket list—truly captured his imagination. A round display provided an up-close look at the legendary V10 and V8 F1 cars we fell in love with years ago, along with many of their winning trophies throughout the years. It was a room dedicated to celebrating the engineering of a winning F1 car and the sheer determination that a driver needs to bring home the win. 

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Back on the tour through every Italian's dream, a selection of classics like the 315 8, 166 MM, and the 268 SP helped me maintain a level of childlike excitement. Even the recently victorious Ferrari 499P Le Mans Hypercar was strutting its boastful yet race-damaged body. The visit then ended in the sim racing room, where the wealthier visitors can battle it out at virtual Imola in the latest Ferrari F1 car. 

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We thought the trip was finally at an end as we headed to our car when the Ferrari team blasted down the main road in what I assume to be a 268 SP, driving faster than a typical GTI driver, bombing it into a corner and blasting down the road leading to the test track. We later learned that the Carlos Sainz father-son duo was most likely having a final blast in red that day, so we could only guess who the driver was.

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Nevertheless, our time in Maranello was short, but my word, was it a truly inspirational experience.

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While I've never been entirely dumbfounded by the idea of Ferrari, I'll be the first to admit that its home is alive, and its people bleed Ferrari Rosso red. It is a place of passion, a love for speed and exclusivity that breeds motivation, all backed by history. Although I would likely take a 918 Spyder over most of the cars we saw, my respect and appreciation for the brand is at a new height. I wonder what automotive home I'll get to explore next…

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