The day dawned bright and sunny again in Modena. Is it always like this? Seems so at the moment, although apparently just a week or so ago it was raining constantly. There is a God! And I thank him very much for ensuring it is bright and sunny for my visit. We still could do with a little reduction in ambient temperature but I’ll take that over rain any day.
My journey’s today were with My Motor Land, whom I had arranged a private tour with everything ‘non-Ferrari’. This included a tour of the Lamborghini factory arranged via my Lambo contacts back in Australia.
I was greeted at my hotel door at the allotted time by Rosella from My Motor Land and my town car and driver. Cool! Our first stop was to be the Maserati Private Collection.
Basically the story here is that Umberto Panini bought a whole range of cars that were to be auction off by Maserati a number of years ago. He did this so they could be retained in the local Modena region, in this case on his farm.
Now you might be wondering what the farm actually does? Well, it makes world renown Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. I got to see where they milk cows, then use that milk to create cheese and finally to see where they age the cheese (as you see above). The cheese is aged for 24 – 36 months and each one of the cheese rolls weigh about 30 kgs and there are about 3,000 or so of them here currently. You can find out more information about the farm here – www.hombre.it. I also got to taste some of the product in the shop they have here, from which you also purchase a range of produce.
The private car collection is housed in a separate structure and contains a surprising amount of not only cars (on the lower floor) but also bikes (on the upper floor).
From there we headed to the Lamborghini factory for what I thought would be a tour organised by my contacts in Australia, however it appears that the wires got crossed and it wasn’t to be. Luckily, Rossella arranged for me to attend an afternoon tour (as you need to book in advance). Can’t tell you how handy it was having a native as a tour guide.
With my factory tour arranged for later in the day we now headed off to the Ferrucio Lamborghini museum. This museum is dedicated to the man Lamborghini and to everything he achieved over his life time. Don’t forget that Lamborghini is now owned by Audi.
The museum is quite out of the way, so it really doesn’t get many visitors, which is unfortunate as it is a good little museum that houses things like Ferruccio’s own Mura (above).
Apart from the cars, Lamborghini is most famous for the tractors he created.
You’ll even find a working helicopter that he designed and built in here.
After an authentic Italian lunch we returned to the factory with enough time for me to also take in the museum prior.
The museum basically has two floors with a range of cars.
from old to new.
The factory tour takes about 40 minutes and you once again have to surrender your phone and camera as no photos are allowed inside the plant.
At the moment there only two type of cars being built, the Huracan and the Aventador (V10 and V12). The plant is much smaller than the Ferrari factory and much more manual than Ferrari. The assembly line concepts are similar but Ferrari to me seems far more automated and modern. The Lamborghini plant has a much ‘smaller’ feel to it.
Interestingly, Lamborghini are soon to start building a third model of car, an SUV like you see above. They reckon there is a market, but we’ll soon see eh?
Tour over, I returned to my ride for the 30 minute or so return trip to my hotel.
At about 6pm I headed downstairs to register for my Corso Pilota. After basically signing my life away I received the above ‘swag’. A backpack, polo shirt, baseball hat, program and bag.
After a cocktail reception at the back of the hotel we headed into a room to receive an overview of the course and to have any questions answered.
We then jumped on a bus to head off for dinner at a famous local restaurant, Montana’s.
I’d been give a number of recommendations to attend and certainly had it on my ‘to see’ list but actually being here as part of Corso Pilota made it even more special.
Here you can see the walls adorned with all sorts of memorabilia from drivers to celebrities all leaving their mark.
I was lucky enough to sit with some of the course instructors and managers, getting a good overview of what’s in store starting tomorrow. Also again, enjoyed a fantastic Italian meal. I highly recommend you come here if you are in the vicinity.
It’s now time for a good night’s sleep because tomorrow’s going to be a big day. So excited.
Love the F355 