Ferrari Museum – Ferrari Sporting Spirit exhibition 2013

Montezemolo: “I want to see Ferrari back on the podium”

Maranello, 15 October –The “Ferrari Sporting Spirit” exhibition, which takes as its theme the sporting spirit that has always characterised the Prancing Horse marque, opened today at the Ferrari Museum. It features 25 cars, from the earliest 125 S to the latest 458 GT2, passing through the 156 F1 which Phil Hill took to the 1961 world championship title, Gilles Villeneuve’s 126 CK, the 330 P3 that won Daytona in 1967 and Nigel Mansell’s F1-89, the first Formula 1 car to feature a steering wheel-mounted gear change. These cars are the best possible representation of an element fundamental to all Ferraris. The logical car to round it off is the 458 Speciale, the very latest creation, which captures the essence of this spirit in its road-going version.

“Sporting spirit is in our DNA and this show symbolises that,” said President Luca di Montezemolo at the opening ceremony, which took place in the presence of the Mayor of Maranello, Lucia Bursi and the Mayor of Fiorano, Claudio Pistoni. “I am very pleased with the way in which the Ferrari Museum is growing. This year will have welcomed around 300,000 visitors from all over the world: that’s a significant figure for our whole area, not just for us. The busy schedule of special exhibitions – this one comes on the heels of one dedicated to Pininfarina and supercars, where it is possible to admire an incredible car like the LaFerrari, – helps a lot. I hope we can develop this structure still further and, in order to do that, to be able to count on the support of the local council and businesses.”

Montezemolo also spoke briefly about all aspects of Ferrari: “We are working on all front, all over the world, from the cars, the brand and collectors. Next Saturday, I will be in Hong Kong, where we will celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of our presence in this market, with an event that brings together five hundred Ferraris.”

Finally and inevitably, he also had a comment about the Formula 1 season that is coming to a close. “I read about assumed bellyaching or about the team concentrating only on 2014,” said Montezemolo. “I don’t even want to hear that kind of talk: there are still four races to go where we will field Ferraris that are fighting for the podium with maximum determination from the drivers and the whole team. As for next season, there will be time enough to talk about it, and in fact I am pleased to see that the group dedicated to that task is working very hard with maximum concentration. Everyone is well aware what they must do.”

aranello, 15 October 2013 –The Museum in Maranello has curated a very interesting show that has as its theme, Ferrari’s sporting spirit, whose exhibits include the very latest 458 Speciale.

The show aims to offer an unmissable attraction over the winter weeks given that, among the cars on show are some very rare models, such as the famous P3 which won in Daytona and the 312 P and 512 M that starred in the great endurance races. Of the cars that took part in the most famous sports car races on the road and on circuits, there is also the chance to compare two generations, that of the 750 Monza and 500 TRC, the very beautiful early Testa Rossa and those that took the early laurels for the Prancing Horse, with the 1947 Ferrari 125 S and its evolution, the 225, in a very rare competition version.

Among the single-seaters, apart from the Formula 1 cars that won the World Championship from 1999 to 2008, in the entrance hall there are models that tell the story of Ferrari: from the modern F60 to the F1-89, driven by Mansell which featured the first ever steering wheel-mounted gearchange  invented at Maranello, which became known as the “tipo F1.” Going further back one can find the two most important turbo cars in the history of Ferrari, the 156-85 driven by Alboreto and Villeneuve’s 126 CK.

Finally, there are two cars that symbolise the glory of Ferrari: the 166 F2 with which the Scuderia recorded its first ever victory at Silverstone with Gonzalez is a one off, recreated from the original drawings and fitted with a period engine and gearbox and what many regard as the most beautiful Formula 1 car ever built by Ferrari, the 156, nicknamed the shark nose, for obvious reasons.  Even if it is a replica, this car is very important, not just because it won the title in 1961, but because Enzo Ferrari had all of them destroyed when he realised they were not more competitive. This version therefore allows fans to see for themselves what can only be seen in photos and documentary films.

But maybe the most interesting chapter for those who love Ferrari, is to be found on the upper level where the history is told of the cars that took part in GT races from the 70s to the present day. Indeed, surrounding the new 458 Speciale are all the GT cars that raced and won in that period. Working backwards, one starts with the 458 GT2 which Fisichella, Bruni and Vilander took the 2012 GT2 world title, the 430 GT2, equally successful at world level and in the Le Mans 24 Hours, as was the 360 on show alongside it.

The collection of GT racing cars, for which Ferrari also availed itself of the skills of the specialist company Michelotto from Padua, continues with a rare example of the 575 GT1 and the IMSA version of the 348. Finally, there are two very interesting versions of the 308: the one fitted with a longitudinal engine which predated the development of the GTO Evoluzione and the Group 4 version which dominated international rallying for many years with drivers of the calibre of Andruet, Toivonen  and Waldegaard.

The show runs to March 2014 and is open every day from 9.30 to 18.00. Other shows running at the same time are “Da Cinecittà a Hollywood, la Ferrari nel cinema” and “ Ferrari dell’altro mondo: Mulotipi e Avventure”.