Luxury, elegance, predatory beauty, insane speed and accessibility only to the elite - and this is all about Ferrari. However, one word is enough - Ferrari. To create such a truly brand of brands was only possible by the genius of entrepreneurship. Enzo Ferrari, who achieved the fact that his name is pronounced almost with a voluptuous aspiration - was just a genius. But geniuses have their weaknesses and weaknesses ...
But today it is not about them, but about the Ferrari museums in Italy. There are two of them, but both can be visited within one day. Fortunately, they are relatively close to each other - one in Modena, and the other in Maranello.
BlogoItaliano will dwell on each of them in detail, tell you how to get there, about the work schedule and buying tickets. But to understand why there are 2 of them and how they differ, you need to go back 100 years and say a few words about Enzo Ferrari himself.
His terrible joys
Continuous knocking of hammers - to this “music" kid Enzo and his brother woke up every morning: my father had a metalworking workshop on the outskirts of Modena. The Ferrari family lived on its second floor.
It was in this workshop that the future genius of the place received the first professional skills, and it was in this house that he first saw a single-cylinder car company "De Dion-Bouton". Father went bankrupt for an interesting novelty, but a 5-year-old boy was not interested in cars. Enzo wanted to be either an opera singer or a sports journalist. Although the vector has already been selected, young Ferrari strove for fame, records, speeds ...
Ferrari began as an ordinary test pilot, Alfa Romeo
At age 10, Enzo and his father went to Bologna for a motor race ... and it began ... It began that lasted 80 years during the life of Ferrari and continues in the present - a passionate, almost delusional love for cars, embodied in every bend of rampant sports cars flying over the tracks . However, before the realization of this dream was still a long 40 years.
In his youth, he dreamed, together with his brother, how they would become famous throughout Italy ... What the hell - around the world! Let Ferrari's surname and non-staff - especially in Modena - they can, they can do it ... Enzo already got into a car repair shop, raved about racing, his brother became a journalist ... But then a black streak came: in one year he lost his father and brother, who died in the First World War, himself almost died of pleurisy, for a long time could not find a job.
Enzo Ferrari (1898-1988), Maranello, 1986
He was unlucky for a long time: rare races, work in a workshop riveting cars from trucks - all this did not bring any special money, nor, moreover, the national and world fame, to which he aspired so much. The dawn dawned only upon entering work at Alfa Romeo, where, of course, they didn’t take anyone anyhow, but they were in no hurry to nominate leading roles.
Enzo and his Stable
It took Ferrari 20 long years to go from the ordinary test pilot Alfa Romeo to the head of the company's sports division, Alfa Corse. He knew everything about cars ... No, he more than knew - he felt them with every cell of the body, like a mother feels her child. And the more he felt a desire to create his own car!
Even the emblem was already for him - a prancing horse on a bright yellow background (by the way, the coat of arms of Modena). She was given a promising racer and engineer by the family of Counts Barack. The plane of their son, one of the aces of the First World War, wore this combat badge on his wing. Ferrari decided to gradually "tie" with the race - albeit on behalf of Alfa Romeo - and focus on designing his own car. The one whom he could be proud of and to whom he could give his - so far quiet and little-known - name.
Ferrari emblem - prancing horse on a bright yellow background
Already in 1929, he created the famous "Ferrari Stable" - La Scuderia Ferrari - a team of the best racers, designers, designers and mechanics, now thundering around the world, and then it was just a workshop on the basis of Alfa Romeo. Formally, it belonged to Enzo, but in reality it just brought to mind the racing cars of the parent enterprise. However, the official status and genius of the entrepreneur helped Ferrari attract the really best of the best to the team.
For PR "Stables" Enzo remembered his journalistic abilities, writing a series of articles for leading auto magazines. In 1938, he finally created the first model with an engine capacity of 1.5 liters, which, in his opinion, would be able to “put on the shoulder blades” of the Germans from Auto Union and Mercedes-Benz, which had become by then almost unattainable race leaders. But Alfa Romeo’s leadership has long been looking askance at Ferrari for a long time, and friction with Germany was not part of the Italian automaker’s plans: both there and the Nazis were in power, and the raven wouldn’t take out the raven’s eyes, especially since in Europe already seriously smelled of a great war. The first brainchild of Ferrari was not allowed to race.
The same two-story house-workshop of Ferrari, where he was born and lived
That was enough for him to leave with Alfa Romeo. Soon, he opened his own company - "Auto Avio Construzione" (under the contract, he had not the right to create cars under his name for 4 years and send them to the race against Alfa Romeo). But already in 1940, the first "swallow" created in Enzo's personal workshop - "AAC-815" with an engine capacity of 1.5 liters - went on the road. She didn’t reach the finish line, but it wasn’t in Italy then either: war was already raging all over the world.
In 1943, Enzo, fearing for the production, so vulnerable during the Allied bombing, transferred him from Modena to Maranello, a place 17 km from the city. Only in 1947, he - finally under his own name - released only 2 copies of the Ferrari 125 S.
"Auto Avio Construzione" again became La Scuderia Ferrari - Ferrari Stable. And in 1948, another model released by the team in Maranello - Ferrari 125 F1 - became a sensation in the market for racing cars. From that moment on, the story of Enzo Ferrari - a provincial obsessed with the Great Dream - turns into a legend.
Ferrari Museum in Modena
The Modena Museum, located on Via Paolo Ferrari 85, is originally the house-museum of Enzo Ferrari, dedicated to his busy life and unique work (MEF for short). It was opened relatively recently - in 2012. The total area of the complex is about 500 square meters. m
Next to the ultramodern bright yellow building in the form of a hood on a concrete pedestal is the very two-story Ferrari workshop where he was born and lived, and which he had to sell in order to open his own business. With difficulty, but many years later, the house was bought out. Now in it - or rather, in it, the workshop of Alfredo Ferrari, the father of Enzo - is the exposition of the so-called Museo dei motori ferrari.
An extensive exhibition of cars occupies a hall with an area of 2,500 square meters. m
This is not a typical house museum, where personal belongings and furnishings are presented. Inside, the former workshop was converted into a single style with the new building - of course, high-tech. But Enzo’s office is carefully preserved in the form in which the owner left it. Along the corridor there are interactive stands with a biography of Ferrari, imperceptibly flowing into the biography of the car concern.
The exhibition contains everything that somehow relates to the history of Ferrari - man and car. From the first newspaper clippings with information about the races in which Enzo took part, and then his first models based on Alfa Romeo, to parts of unique cars, Ferrari watches, numerous cups and even visors of famous racers with their autographs.
Numerous cups of famous racers with their autographs
The architects of the modern bright yellow building, repeating with their outlines the seductive forms of the best models that the Ferrari Museum in Italy is rich in - Jan Kaplitsky and Andrea Morgante. On its territory there is an exhibition hall, conference room, shop, cafe, restaurant. This part of the museum in Modena, as it were, continues the story of Ferrari, but now through a variety of automotive and sports wonders - from the 30s. XX century to the present day.
The vast exposition of Ferrari cars occupies almost the entire hall in the form of a soft ellipse with an area of 2,500 square meters. Sports cars from Enzo’s personal collection, including those from the Alfa Romeo plant, are also represented.
Everything here is subject to History: with the help of 19 projectors on the walls, the documentary history of the concern’s creator and his unsurpassed cars, which have become Italy’s national pride, is continuously demonstrated.
Enzo's personal account is kept in the form in which the owner left it
Ferrari Museum in Maranello
"A dream in reality!" - this is the slogan of this museum located in Maranello, on Via Dino Ferrari, 43, and visitors have no doubt about it. And what doubts can there be when it’s only 300 meters to the factory where “cars for celestials” are made, and the best of the best Ferrari models flaunt on the catwalks of the exhibition halls! But the main thing - here you can ride on one of them!
Though not the fastest - not everyone has the driving skills of Schumacher or Alonso - but the real Ferrari. The attraction, of course, is not cheap, and there are no decent tracks in the district, but the brand’s strength is such that those who want to drive one of the legendary cars are not translated.
At the Maranello Museum you can get acquainted with the intricacies of the production of unique machines
This Ferrari Museum in Italy first opened in 1990. The concern took over the management of the museum only in 1995. In 2004, a new wing of the building was added, and now its area is 2500 square meters. m. The exposition is located in 6 extensive rooms: Competitions, Glory, Concepts, Big Tours, temporary expositions, a cinema hall.
If the Ferrari Museum in Modena is a tribute to History, the Museum in Maranello is an opportunity to get acquainted with the intricacies of the production of unique cars (to a certain extent) and the real triumphs of La Scuderia Ferrari in Formula 1 and other championships.
On the catwalks of the exhibition halls, the best of the best Ferrari models flaunt
Collections are constantly changing - and not only in the temporary exhibition hall. To find out what the best sports cars look like from the inside, from the steering wheel to the engine, is in itself interesting not only for car connoisseurs, especially since photography is allowed for personal needs.
To top it all with interactivity - and this Ferrari museum is literally crammed with various sound and video sequences - some of the cars look as if they had just stepped off a race track or entered a pit stop and are about to rush at a frantic speed to the roar of admiring spectators.
How to get to the Ferrari Museum in Modena
It is most convenient to get to Modena, and then to Maranello from Bologna, where you can freely fly from almost any capital of the world, landing at the Guillermo Marconi airport. There are several options - by train, bus or taxi.
From the central station of Bologna to Modena from early morning until late evening, trains run every 15-20 minutes - both local and national. The distance is small - only 44 km - but, depending on the class of train and the travel time, prices range from 3.85 to 14 euros (September 2016). Tickets can be bought at the Bologna train station or online at the Trenitalia website.
The bus option is also convenient. From Bologna Airport to the center of Modena, the SACA shuttle runs 9 times a day: from 5.15 to 22.30 (every 2 hours). Ticket price - 15 euros, luggage - free of charge, and the journey takes 40 minutes.
Shuttle bus runs between both museums of Ferrari
Finally, there is also a taxi: you can order a transfer from Bologna to Modena using the popular online transfer service. Pleasure will cost from 87 Euros.
When planning a trip, while already in Italy, try to see the trains from your starting point to Modena and without checking into Bologna. You can also do this on the Trenitalia website. An alternative way is to rent a car. You can order a car online in any city in Italy through the popular European Rentalcars car rental price comparison service.
Further - that from the station, that from the bus station - just a few minutes on foot. Pointers and a navigator will help you. Just in case, once again the address of the Ferrari Museum in Modena: Via Paolo Ferrari, 85.
How to get to the Ferrari Museum in Maranello
The most optimal way to get to the Museum in Maranello, if you travel without a car, is a special shuttle from Enzo Ferrari's house-museum in Modena. Flights are operated from 9:40 to 18:45 every one and a half hours.
About how to get to the museum in Modena we wrote above.
Special Shuttle from Enzo Ferrari House Museum in Modena
Museums Opening Hours
The work schedule of both museums is identical and divided into 2 seasons: winter and summer.
In the summer season - from April 1 to October 31 - museums are open daily from 9.30 to 19.00.
In winter - from November 1 to March 31 - daily from 9.30 to 18.00. Both museums are closed for Christmas (December 25) and New Year (January 1).
Museum Tickets
There are always a lot of visitors in museums - both individual and as part of groups. The squares in front of the museums - especially in high season - are jam-packed with sightseeing buses. And, although museum squares allow hundreds of people to be simultaneously in the halls, they will have to stand up for tickets, and possibly a lot.
Independent travelers will either have to come to the very opening of the museum - in Modena or Maranello, or stand in line. Another alternative - without queues - to purchase tickets to museums online - via the Internet.
This can be done through the popular portal for travelers to Italy - Select Italy. Moreover, here you can buy tickets to both the museum in Modena and Maranello.
→ Online tickets to the Ferrari Museum in Modena
→ Online tickets to the Ferrari Museum in Maranello
It is noteworthy that the tickets are valid for 12 months from the date of purchase, that is, you can choose any day convenient for you to visit the Ferrari museums in Italy - it is not necessary to attach to specific dates.
Photos by: museomodena.ferrari.com, museomaranello.ferrari.com, Formulapassion, Livegp, Rahil Rupawala, Richard, enjoy my life !.
