The House of Ferrari

June 1, 2015
Story By
John Brooks

Situated in the virtual shadow of the Maserati factory, right in the center of Modena, the Museo Casa Enzo Ferrari is the latest tribute to the iconic Italian marque and its founder and guiding spirit. The Museo is a mix of the traditional and the contemporary with the workshop of Enzo’s father, Alfredo, being complimented with an ultra-modern display hall containing many examples of Ferrari from the earliest days of Maranello and prior right up to the latest hyper cars.

The exhibition is divided between a display illustrating the journey of Ferrari’s road cars plus some of the pre-World War Two Alfa Romeos racers all housed in the new auditorium.

In the original workshop there is an exhibition of Ferrari engines encompassing all aspects of Ferrari both on and off track, including one aquatic record breaker.

At present there is also a regular multi-media presentation on the stage celebrating Enzo with local operatic mega-star, Luciano Pavarotti. Other than being hometown boys that the Modenese are rightly proud of, it is hard to see what connection there is between the two men. Perhaps the message gets lost in translation, perhaps I am just a philistine. At least we got Pavarotti singing and Enzo building cars and not the other way round.

We all have particular favorites when we get access to the toy shop and I am no exception. And in the spirit of the contrarian that I am I felt drawn to an Alfa Romeo while in the midst of a celebration of Ferrari. Of course Enzo had a major part in the BiMotore that attempted to fight the onslaught of the Silver Arrows back in the '30s with two engines. As you might expect it was very fast and brave does not even come close to describing the drivers such as Nuvolari and Chiron who wrestled with it. However it was not particularly successful on the tracks.

In the Museo dei Motori there is an embarrassment of riches, largely of the V12 variety, but everywhere there are beautiful Red Heads.

Perhaps the most unlikely machine on display is the record breaking speedboat that dates back to 1953, setting a World Record of 242.708 km/ph (150 mph) that year. It is powered, naturally enough, by a 4.5-liter V12...what else in the land of Ferrari?

For those attached to their pets there is even a themed house to keep them safe while the owner enjoys the exhibition.

Ignoring the showbiz elements the cars and engines are well worth the journey to Via Paolo Ferrari 85 and the rather reasonable entry fee of €15 (discounted if combined with a visit to the Museo Ferrari in Maranello) makes the experience an even better value. Go on, you will not regret it.

The House of Ferrari

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