Late May 2012 saw participants of the inaugural Gumbaw Euro trip heading down through Europe to Monaco for the Grand Prix. The journey there and the race weekend were superb and to complete the trip a couple of us continued on to Maranello where we’d organised factory tours at Ferrari, Lamborghini & Pagani. If Carslberg did holidays… I couldn’t wait!
Note: unfortunately photography isn’t allowed on any of the factory tours.
The first on the list was Pagani which is on a small unassuming industrial estate just outside of Modena and doesn’t really look like home to one of the worlds most exclusive hyper-car manufacturers. The visit didn’t get off to the best start as on arrival we were informed that our tour had been cancelled due to recent earthquakes. They’d sent me an email but it turned out to be fortunate that I hadn’t read it as after looking round the showroom for awhile they said they could give us a quick tour after all!
Once through the mirrored showroom door and into the factory, the first thing that struck me was how small an operation it was. Nothing like a large production line with robots everywhere – this was just a few small industrial units with the majority of the work being done by hand. At the time they were only producing approximately 25 cars a year although this was due to double with production of the Huayra.
In the first area, Huayra chassis’s 4, 5, & 6 were in various states of construction. The incredible attention to detail that goes into these cars was immediately obvious – everything from the oily bits to the interiors looked superb and beautifully finished. Glass cabinets lined one wall filled with an assortment of the gorgeous bespoke CNC machined metal parts and boxes of the famous titanium bolts with the Pagani logo etched on were dotted around (approx €100 euros each – surely they wouldn’t miss one?). Although a lot of component manufacturing is outsourced to specialist suppliers, you definitely get the impression that Pagani take a no compromise approach to quality.
In the next area, we got to see sections of carbon fibre being layered up and a bare Huayra carbotanium monocoque was nearing completion. Again the quality and attention to detail was superb with a uniform pattern to the carbon weave throughout. On the other side of the room a stunning Zonda 760 RS was getting a few tweaks prior to delivery to its lucky owner. Although the tour was fairly short it was fantastic to see these bespoke hypercars being built close up and it confirmed to me that they would definitely be place for a Pagani in my lottery win garage!
The following morning it was Ferrari time and where as it is quite easy to miss the Pagani factory there’s no mistaking the fact that Maranello is Ferrari town! Ferrari branding and merchandise is everywhere and although it can seem a bit too much at times, the town does have a special feel about it.
The tour started at the Galleria (the official museum) where we had a quick look round before boarding a bus and driving through the iconic Ferrari factory gates – at this point I was more excited than a grown man reasonably should be when going into a car factory! Inside it’s like a mini town with all the streets named after famous drivers and an assortment of traditional factory buildings and modern facilities like the wind tunnel. It’s come along way since the original planning permission was granted back in 1942…
The first stop on the tour was the mechanical centre where the engines are built. This is a modern, clean & airy building with lots of natural light, trees, plants etc to improve the working environment. There’s also a display of various Ferrari cars to inspire the employees and remind them of the final product they are working towards – sure beats some naff motivational slogan!
All the components of a Ferrari engine are manufactured on site in their own foundry, these then go through a number of processes to refine them. Rough edges are deburred, valve guides and value seals are installed, crankshafts are balanced and cylinder heads are x-rayed. The process of installing the valve seals is carried out by two robots called Romeo & Juliet which get their names from that fact that Romeo dips the valve seal (ring) in liquid nitrogen to shrink it slightly before giving it to Juliet who inserts it into the cylinder head, the seal then expands at room temperature ensuring a very tight fit – clever stuff.
Next was the main V8 assembly line, again this is another very hi-tech, modern facility where the cars progress down the line stopping at each station for the various components to be installed. A lift system is used to raise/lower/rotate the car as required depending on which parts are to be fitted, it was fascinating to see to cars coming together and whilst robots are used the cars are still largely hand built.
From here we went to the F1 Cliente and FXX areas which are next to the Fiorano circuit. F1 Cliente is basically where very rich people get to buy the old F1 cars, have them stored and maintained at the factory and then bring them out to play at various events. It costs circa 1 million Euros to buy a car, 20K a month for storage plus transportation costs to the events so you need pretty deep pockets to join that club. Crazy money but it was amazing to see the old F1 cars and just imagine owning one and being able to take it out on track! The FXX programme is another similarly expensive hobby where customers buy GT cars such as the 599XX and get to drive them on trackdays and at special events. Again entry costs approximately a million Euros and for that you can’t drive the car on the road or take it home with you!
At the end of the tour we were given a nice hard backed Ferrari book, a wee goodie bag and dropped off at the Ferrari Store – of course! It was fantastic to be able to see inside the factory and hopefully I’ll get the chance go again sometime in the future.
Straight after the Ferrari tour had finished we headed over to Sant’Agata to visit Lamborghini. Unfortunately our luck wasn’t in this time and again all factory tours had been cancelled due to the earthquakes so this meant we had plenty of time to look around the great museum which is spread over 2 floors, the ground floor contains a wonderful selection of production cars while the second floor is dedicated to concepts and prototypes.
Appropriately, right next to the entrance was a 1964 350 GT, the very first Lamborghini, this shared floor space with a number of other classics including a Miura, Espada and a stunning bright green Countach LP400. There was also one of the crazy LM002 off roaders and the far end of the room contained some more modern machinery such as the Diablo and a Murcielago SV.
Upstairs was full of interesting prototypes and concept cars including the Estoque, a 4 door concept, some special versions of the Diablo, a Murcielago hanging on the wall (like you do) and the amazing stealth like Reventon, of which only 20 where built. On the other side of the floor was a Gallardo police car (beats a Volvo estate) and a selection of Lamborghini’s motorsport projects including a couple of F1 cars (a 1989 Lola-Larousse and a 1992 Minardi – something which I wasn’t aware of) and a huge powerboat engine.
While it was a shame we couldn’t get to go round the factory, the museum was great and definitely worth a visit plus it’s a good excuse to go back another time!
If you fancy a European road trip, there are two Gumbaw jaunts planned for 2014, the Monaco GP & Le Mans so check out the Events section of the forum for the details.
Tell us about your best ever motoring holiday over on the forums
