I’m sitting here working on these Ferrari Museum photos, but am finding I’m suffering from a bit of writers’ block. Perhaps it’s the distraction from the media wave surrounding the death of Michael Jackson, or perhaps it’s the fact that by time Dino and I arrived at the Galleria Ferrari, we were both pretty frazzled by a long day of Speedhunting in the Modena area.

Check the day’s agenda:

07:00 breakfast in the lobby of our Bologna hotel.

08:00 depart for the Modena area.

09:00 arrive at Pagani Factory. Shoot for several hours.

13:00 lunch with Pagani factory workers at local restaurant

14:30 arrive at Lamborghini factory for Reventon photoshoot

15:45 depart for Maranello

16:15 arrive at Ferrari Galleria in Maranello. Start shooting….

I’m glad you all enjoyed the Pagani factory tour stories. As you can imagine, it was a bit of a life-altering experience; something I’ll remember for the rest of my days.

It was a little surreal to find ourselves at the Lamborghini factory a few hours later, with the Reventon at our disposal….

And this was immediately followed by a drive over to the Ferrari museum…. by the time we reached Maranello, Dino and I were pretty frazzled. I remember being somewhat unimpressed by the museum, but looking back, I was probably just completely overloaded from the day’s experiences.

Unlike the low key ambience of the Lamborghini museum, the Galleria Ferrari is much more of a mainstream tourist pavilion-style experience. After walking through the entrance archway, we were greeted by this young lady offering to sell us a ten minute drive in a Ferrari 430…. all for 100 Euros… I’m not sure if she comes with you or not, but we politely declined. Our minds were more on getting a refreshment and cobbling together the energy to shoot the museum.

The museum cafe was filled with screaming school children (which put me off a bit)… so I wasn’t necessarily in the best state of mind when we entered the exhibit. This is what you see as you pass the turnstile… a 1981 Gilles Villenueve Ferrari 126C. After the late 1970s Renault F1 cars, this car helped to usher in the 1980s Turbo era in Formula One.

Looking at this car today,  I have mixed emotions. It was also one of these chassis types that the great Gilles was driving during that fateful day at Zolder.

Here is another gem from the Turbo Era.

A 156-85 as driven by the late Michele Alboreto. It’s amazing how far forward in the car the drivers used to sit back then huh?

The cars are lined up according to year, but unlike the Grand Prix Collection at Donington Park, there are massive gaps between the years…. It’s more a greatest hits collection rather than the complete discography.

These people know how to pull at my heart strings don’t they? Gilles Villenueve was a real childhood hero of mine, so it’s a bit of an emotional experience to see any of his cars in the flesh.

This is from the 1980 season as it sports a number 2… The sister car of Jody Scheckter would have sported the number one. You can see the sliding skirts under the car to help suction it to the road surface.

Behind, is a collection of 1950s and 60s machines… Personally I don’t have much of a reaction to any car without wings… they are before my time.

Safety? What safety? It’s no wonder that auto racing used to be considered a blood sport.

Check the side gas tanks on this Lancia-Ferrari D50.

It’s no wonder that drivers never used to wear seatbelts in this era. Your best chance for survival in the case of an accident was to be thrown clear of the car as it would likely erupt in flames….

Quite the thought isn’t it… This is a 1951 Ferrari 166 F2.

It’s hard to comprehend just how valuable this piece of racing is. There really isn’t much in common with today’s modern F1 experience is there?

So what do you think so far? At the time I was a little disappointed… I think I was expecting a more thorough experience of Ferrari history.

Images of Kimi and Felipe loom over a display of modern F1 engines.

This is likely the closest that proletariats like you and me will ever get to this type of high technology.

Check out the injectors.

It looks like a row of hungry mouths ready for a taste of racing fuel!

In my mind this is what the Ferrari museum should be!…. hahaha….

I’m sure there are people out there whose Ferrari die cast collections dwarves this display of F1 miniatures.

At the back of the F1 area is a small replica of Enzo Ferrari’s office. It’s the stuff of legend isn’t it?

Ok moving over to the next room we have more F1 engines set up against the wall.

This mid-80s V6 turbo unit caught my eye. Notice how the entire turbo assembly sits neatly on top of the engine. Pretty trick.

Off to the side is a re-creation of a modern F1 garage setup. You’ll notice the car on the right sports the recent return to the traditional Ferrari red, whereas the car on the right sports the Marlborough branded red.

An Alain Prost original from 1990.

This is the car he used in his fight against Senna during the famous 1990 season.

And we have a few Schumacher originals at the front of the line.

Indeed you can feel the shadow of Michael Schumacher in the museum. His recent achievements with the company ensure his presence at Ferrari will be felt for some time to come!

Next up I’ll look at the production car displays.

Talk in a bit.

;R

Galleria Ferrari Stories on Speedhunters

Donington Grand Prix Collection on Speedhunters

Automotive Museum Features on Speedhunters