Ferrari Factory Tour

[FalconWood]

Hi
I am off to Italy in April in a Ferrari and was keen to get a proper tour of the Ferrari factory. I have heard that the general tour is not too good and was wondering if other Ferrari drivers had managed to get a proper factory tour where you might actually get into the factory itself - perhaps something provided to Ferrari owners. If anyone has managed to do that and enjoyed the tour please would you let me know how you managed it and who to contact. Would be grateful!!

We are staying a week in Lake Como and a week in Lake Isio. Hope to get some great touring and drives whilst we are there. Any advice on this region would also be gratefully appreciated.

Cheers

[johnnyreggae]

For owners tour book through local dealer and/or FNE Slough as soon as as possible - also much to see in Modena (eg Casa Enzo) as well as Maranello (Galleria Museum & restaurants Montana & Cavallino) - fairly regular query - might be worth a Google or similar

Edited by johnnyreggae on Saturday 10th January 18:16

Edited by johnnyreggae on Saturday 10th January 18:18

[mon the fish]

We did this in June, booked through a dealer (a dealer I've not given a single £ to it has to be said, so you don't need to be a 'favoured' customer). Dealer also booked Cavallino for lunch and Montana for dinner, brilliant day all round. Seen inside the Corse Clienti, over 30 F1 cars in the one room!

We stayed in Lake Como also, make time for a visit to Monza to see the old banking - you can feel the history. Enzo museum in Monza is brilliant, much better than Ferrari one in Maranello - you can lose hours in there, it's all about the history of the Modena auto industry, so lots on Maserati as well.

Mille Miglia museum in Brescia not too far away either, well worth a visit

[rjn21]

Definitely book through a dealer and ask for an email from Italy (not Slough, who have history of not getting it right) that it's a "Tailor Made Tour", so its just your group. The general tour is on a bus and not worth doing. The factory owner tour is good, but you can be with a larger group, whereas a 'tailor made' tour you are on your own and should be able to specify which parts of the factory you want to see. Note tailor made tour is nothing to do with tailor made vehicles.

Entirely subjective, but I thought Cavallino was very average, at its best.

[FalconWood]

Thats great feedback guys. i will contact the Dealer tomorrow and see what they can do for me. I pot all cars through service with them so they shouldn't mind helping. Interesting feedback re Monza - we will definitely do the Enzo museum. Thanks again!!

[Mike Brown]

We thought the Cavellino was only average as well, it's the place itself with the history that's the draw, proper factory tour was great and the museum in Maranello was included in the dealer price, we £75each through Lancaster Colchester but it was worth every penny, Mike

[tomtom]

I went to Maranello with my 355 in the summer, having been there (by plane) back in 2005 too. It was really interesting to see the changes over ten years.

Food at Cavallino was indeed pretty average and it was quite expensive too as I recall. That said I didn't really begrudge it as it's one of those things you have to do in Maranello... I suppose that's how they justify it. Pass the time there by watching your fellow patrons; the evening we went it was almost exclusively portly older men with their bored looking wives . We ate at the Montana in 2005 and it was fantastic but couldn't get a reservation this time around, possibly because it was Monza F1 weekend.

There's much more choice in the way of bars now - in 2005 we were limited to that cafe in the main square and I think they were sick of the sight of us after 3 days drinking there.

Taking a Ferrari there is a fun experience regardless.

[tomtom]

Re: advice for the region and an excuse to post some photos.

After Maranello we drove up to the F1, staying at a rather grand, and incredibly cheap, agriturismo in a very small hamlet called Monzambano (http://www.palazzodimonteoliveto.it/). The driveway off the main road is a little... rustic, but the 355 handled it fine. You have some incredibly beautiful villages on the doorstep for a short drive for dinner too.



After Monza we went up to Como. Well, after dropping off my friend and collecting my girlfriend in central Bologna - which was 'fun' in a Ferrari. I took a wrong turning and ended up driving across a pedestrianised market square in the centre which nobody seemed to mind... Anyway, at Como we stayed in an apartment by the water in Ossuccio (http://www.residencecomacina.com/) which was much cheaper than one of the larger towns or villages and, I thought, a lot more pleasant for being quieter.



The car park was a nightmare to get the car in and out of but I managed, just, and it had its own garage to live in for a few days.




The drive up the southern part of the west coast of Como is quite nice, but once you get north of Bellagio it's mainly tunnels.

From Como we hopped back over the alps to Switzerland, via the St Gotthard pass which was spectacular. Don't do what my friend did a few days before me and miss the turn-off for the pass, then get stuck in the tunnel instead!



I also saw this unexpected sight when I'd pulled over at the top to have a look at the view!

[Kyodo]

Lovely, good advice too. We've only been over to Europe in our Boxster but plan to take the 360 this year. My only real reservations are parking issues (door damage etc…) and perhaps trying to navigate small towns/narrow streets. A fair bit of homework to do I reckon but I take all the advice on offer with thanks. It seems we all have to do this trip at least once

[FalconWood]

Well thanks all for the advice regarding the factory tours etc. We have booked a Private Tour of the factory through the guys at Maranello and look forward to that very very much. we are taking a 599GTO across so that will involve lots of epic driving in the Lakes regions - cannot wait now - only 70 more sleeps!!!!!!

[Modificata]

I was considering doing something similar this year too for my 40th treat. Just before Christmas drove to North Wales and back and the 456M was perfect. Drive around Italy and South of France sounds very doable.

I visited the Factory back in 2005 when the 575 Superamerica and the Enzo were coming off the production line. The tour was fantastic then, can only imagine what its like now.

[tomtom]

Modificata said:

I was considering doing something similar this year too for my 40th treat. Just before Christmas drove to North Wales and back and the 456M was perfect. Drive around Italy and South of France sounds very doable.

I visited the Factory back in 2005 when the 575 Superamerica and the Enzo were coming off the production line. The tour was fantastic then, can only imagine what its like now.

Hello! I remember giving you a lift to the airport for that trip. Seems like ages ago (I suppose it was 10 years ago...). The trip I reference above was for my 30th - it was a great way to celebrate.

[tomtom]

Kyodo said:

Lovely, good advice too. We've only been over to Europe in our Boxster but plan to take the 360 this year. My only real reservations are parking issues (door damage etc…) and perhaps trying to navigate small towns/narrow streets. A fair bit of homework to do I reckon but I take all the advice on offer with thanks. It seems we all have to do this trip at least once

Sorry, I had a point to add here and I forgot to reply. I was worried about damage too but you sort of have to forget about it for a couple of weeks - it can be fixed after all.

I left my car in a multi-story, NCP-style car park in the centre of Bologna overnight and it was absolutely fine. I did manage to find an end-of-row space and park a bit out of the space but in general I found Italians were very respectful.

edit: I wasn't too precious about it on the trip though. This was the approach to the first agriturismo we stayed at (not the grand one referenced above, by the way). The next day when leaving we found there was a tarmac'd road we could have taken if only we'd read the map properly...

Edited by tomtom on Thursday 15th January 18:15

Edited by tomtom on Thursday 15th January 18:16

[Bebs]

mon the fish said:

We did this in June, booked through a dealer (a dealer I've not given a single £ to it has to be said, so you don't need to be a 'favoured' customer). Dealer also booked Cavallino for lunch and Montana for dinner, brilliant day all round. Seen inside the Corse Clienti, over 30 F1 cars in the one room!

Could I ask which dealer as I am currently planning a trip down in the 360 myself in May.
Many thanks!

[johnnyreggae]

Any official dealer should be able to arrange it - if not talk to FNE SLough

[mon the fish]

I emailed Maranello direct, who told me to contact my local dealer, which is Graypaul Edinburgh. But I would try the nearest dealer to you. They need to log you on their database with your cars' chassis number as it's owner, but I think that was all I had to do

[Kyodo]

We're doing the trip in September and just yesterday I popped over to Maranello Egham for a chat about it, and an excuse to ogle the LaFerrari in there. As mentioned previously £75pp, extra for a guide if they can't tag you onto another group.

[rjn21]

Try another dealer. There are some (generally more Northerly in their locale) that will absorb the cost, if you bought a vehicle/service it with them.

Is the 75 for a general tour or tailor made? 75 for the general is a bit over given what you get.

[FalconWood]

I wrote to this email address [e-mail] with a general question and had a very efficient response from a lady called Kim. She offered me a tour at £75 per head and for an additional £100 we now have a private tour for two - £250 plus VAT. May sound a lot but I think it is something we will only do once so wanted to make sure we got the most from it. They were very easy to deal with and arranged everything.

[FalconWood]

Only 3 weeks left until my trip to lake Como and Lake Garda and the factory tour!! Cannot wait. Took the GTO out for a spin to check all was ok and to test which cases fit the boot- looks like we are going to have to reassess the luggage downwards!!! Car ran beautifully as usual and will get a thorough clean this week for its return to it's birth place. I am as excited as a dog with two appendages!!!!!!!!!