Maranello and the Galleria Ferrari

We were prepared for our first married Christmas to be a quiet kind of holiday. With family and most friends an ocean away, we figured that we'd be hanging out with the dog for our long weekend. But, you know, things change. We decided to throw a party on Christmas Day and had our home filled with local friends. Things improved upon the arrival of two friends from Lagos who decided to come in from their current Western European postings to spend the holiday in Milan. After a quiet dinner out with our friends on Christmas Eve, followed by a 2 hour mass at the Duomo, then a big dinner party on Christmas Day, you'd think we'd just spend the weekend eating leftovers and recovering.

Instead, we hopped in the car and the four of us headed south - towards the Galleria Ferrari!


The Ferrari Museum is located in Maranello, Italy and all three boys seemed very excited about our little field trip. Though the autostrada lacked scenic views, the provincial roads from Modena to the Ferrari Museum was very much improved. When we arrived at the museum, we were surprised to see so many visitors just two days after Christmas.

As you might expect, the Galleria was filled with Ferraris! The entry level floor showed all the racing vehicles and the progression of the technology over time. The walls were littered with photographs of the cars - shown during racing, on the road, and in advertisements. There wasn't too much on the history of the company, this was clearly a museum devoted to the visual representation of the Ferrari!


Founded in 1928 by Enzo Ferrari, the company was initially involved strictly in the production and sponsorship of racing cars. The first road car wasn't produced until 1947. At that time, the company only produced street-legal vehicles in order to fund the development of the racing vehicles. Enzo Ferrari allegedly remained contemptful of his road car customers up until his 1988 death.


My favorite (i.e. the one I claimed I'd buy if I could have any one of the cars in the showroom) is pictured below. It's one of the initial street-legal Ferraris produced in the 1950s. I think it looks like something James Bond would drive, if he drove Italian cars.


However, since I don't know how to drive a manual transmission vehicle, the below Ferrari is more in my range of abilities (and price range, I suspect).