The world’s largest Ferrari and Maserati showroom was officially opened in Egham, Surrey, last week when a £500,000 enlargement and refurbishment of the famous Tower Garage was completed. The historic home of Maranello Sales Ltd, the 70 year-old building beside the A30 has retained its distinctive all-white, art deco exterior and landmark tower.
Inside, the showroom now has space to display fifty new and used cars. It also houses ‘The Maranello Store’ where a wide range of accessories, clothing, models and books will be on sale.
HISTORY OF MARANELLO SALES
The story of Maranello Concessionaires and Maranello Sales can be traced directly back to Britain’s first world motor racing champion, Mike Hawthorn. Hawthorn won the 1958 Formula One world title at the wheel of a Ferrari and at the end of that season concluded a deal with Enzo Ferrari to sell Ferrari road cars in the UK.
Selling the glorious but undeniably expensive 250GT was not easy in the cash-starved 1950s. Hawthorn showed two examples at the London Motorshow in 1958. While one of them sold comparatively quickly, the second was not so easy to move.
Eventually it was acquired by car dealer Colonel Ronnie Hoare, then a leading light in the UK racing scene. Hoare quickly realised the potential of the Italian marque and, following Hawthorn’s tragic death, he approached Enzo Ferrari with a view to becoming Ferrari’s official UK concessionaire. A deal was struck and Maranello Concessionaires Ltd., named in honour of Ferrari’s Italian hometown, was formed in July 1960 and initially operated from a small corner of Hoare’s successful Bournemouth Ford dealership, F English Ltd.
In its first year, Maranello Concessionaires sold just four cars in the UK. Today, Ferrari sells more than 450 new cars in the UK every year. In 1987, the company founded by the Colonel was sold to TKM which, in 1991, was taken over by Inchcape.
The distinctive building that Maranello now operate from was originally built as a Vauxhall / Bedford Sales & Service operation, for The Egham Motor Co. It then became a Shell petrol station before Hoare acquired it in 1967.
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