Modena

Jun 132007
 

We rented a car in Venice for the leg to Modena. After not seeing a car for two days in Venice it was quite frustrating to get stuck in a major traffic jam getting on to the autostrada just across the bridge. Otherwise uneventful except for decoding the toll system.

The directions we had to the Maserati factory from the highway seemed simple – a quick exit and a couple of turns. But without a detailed map of the area, and a series of roundabouts and missing traffic lights, we were hopelessly lost. We stumbled our way into a bar, far from where we were supposed to be, and asked directions. None of the three people there spoke any english, and our meager understanding of italian didn’t work at all. Luckily we had a piece of paper with the Maserati logo on it and the address, but the barkeep gave up trying to explain to us how to get there and volunteered one of the other people to drive there so we could follow. This worked out great, and given the route we had to take I’m not sure we would have understood the directions in clear english.

Sarah pointed out to Eric and Kevin that italian sounds nothing like spanish (we had just been fooling ourselves).
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Jun 132007
 

The Maserati Factory in Modena.

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We waited in the reception room, which housed a GranSport convertible, two Quattroportes, a GT3 racecar, and another Quattroporte under wraps that would be presented to its owner the next day. We began our tour by walking out into one of the two parking lots, the one used exclusively for Fiat-group cars. The other, larger, lot was nearby and had pictures of famous Maserati road and race cars on it. Two Gran Turismos, one left-hand-drive, one right, drove by as we looked at the parking structure.

We continued by walking by the staging facility where they gathered all the components that would be installed in cars the next day. There were mountains of engines, transmissions (both automatic and semi-automatic), dashboards, driveshafts, and everything in between. As I stared drooling at this pile of mechanical goodness, two more Gran Turismos went by.

We then entered into the actual production line, which was probably 95% Quattroportes, with the remaining 5% being pre-production Gran Turismos (there were no Coupes, Spyders, or GranSports to be seen anywhere on the production line). There were two similar production lines that the cars would go down, then they would go down a third. One stop on the second line consists of lifting the entire, pre-built drivetrain into the chassis. During the third line, the cars get their doors installed, but not until about ¾ of the way down the line. The doors start at the beginning of that line as hollow shells, but slowly get built up to their full spec. When they are installed, it is about a 30 second process involving a vacuum-sucker thing that grabs the window of the door, and it is put into place.

The painting process was then explained, most of which is actually done at the Ferrari factory. The guide told two stories, one of a woman who wanted the color of her car to match the color of her lipstick, and one of a man from Dubai who had his car painted gold. 8 pounds of gold were used in the paint, and the interior was red ostrich-hide (unfortunately, they didn’t have either of those cars there).

When the cars leave that facility, they do so under their own power. Every car then goes on a 60-mile shakedown to make sure that everything is working correctly. You probably know that auto companies balance the tires. Maserati balances the gearbox as well. The cars are also put through their paces in a small facility out back, which includes a suspension test. The last place we stopped was the final quality-control room, which housed four more Gran Turismos which were being rigorously checked (our guide told us that four people from Pininfarina had been in the day before). Any small paint imperfections or dents are fixed, and the cars are sent off to wherever they will end up.

Jun 142007
 
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One of the main stops planned for our trip is a visit to the town of Maranella, home to Ferrari. (Map) So last night we had dinner at Ristorante Montana, next to the Ferrari test track, a favorite of drivers, racing celebs and fans alike. Nevermind that it took the hotel twenty minutes to figure out directions for us, or that the directions were wrong but we managed to spot it anyway. The walls are covered with signed cloth napkins, racing suits, parts of F1 cars, helmets, and the likes.

ferraribanner.jpgWe headed back over this morning to see the rest. Not having a VIN number of our own, we couldn’t arrange a tour of the factory, but we did get to see it from the outside and visit the company’s own museum, Galleria Ferrari. Eric was in his own Mecca, and acted as our tour guide. He took about 270 pictures, here are a few:

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