[shankar.balan]

We have made some memorable holidays in the EU Zone, my wife and I, amongst which was a “Trip to Italy” in 2018, in which we enjoyed renting a nice powerful little Alfa Romeo Giulietta in Rome and burbled along visiting multiple places, Pisa, Bologna, Tuscany, down to Maranello and Modena and then up to Milano.

It was very important to me personally, as a car enthusiast, to go and pay homage at the Museo Ferrari at Maranello and Casa Enzo Ferrari at Modena a few short kms away.
Yes indeed, I have taken a verylong time to get around to writing this, but then, of late I have felt like writing and curating some of the photographs that I liked best, from various travels. Of course, all these were taken with an iPhone XS.

So here we go. I am not going to bombard this Forum with all the photos, but only a few.

We were staying in one of those quaint little Agriturismo “Farm Stay” places which offered wonderful food and a lovely rural ambience. This was up near San Gimignano and the drive down to Maranello/ Modena in that Alfa was one more of my movie moments to relive and cherish. I keep making this analogy of Edward Fox in The Day of the Jackal. Well, my renting an Alfa Giulietta was a tribute to that. Anyway, let’s move along to the main agenda, the Ferrari Museum.
My Beautiful (SIXT rented) Silver Alfa Giulietta.


The Entrance to the Museo Ferrari


I like this old sepia photo of Enzo best. He was a handsome man no doubt about it.




And that saying of his, resonates deeply with me, because I have always been a bit nutty about red cars. I used to draw them all the time as a kid. My Parents gave me a pedal+battey operated little red car when I was 2 and it had 007 painted in white along the side. My first ever car was red, even though it was a humble little Maruti 800 DX. And after a long hiatus, I now have one red car with me, my Cooper.


Now to go to the meat of the matter, the cars.


Everyone, be they car enthusiasts or not, will appreciate beauty and aesthetics and the cars made by Ferrari just ooze passion. They are modern sculptures in the best tradition of the Italian Renaissance. Their sculptors are true Artists.
Writing this, the memories of multiple visits to Italy keep flowing in my head and one is transformed by the sheer beauty one sees everywhere.

[shankar.balan]

I have always somehow been fascinated by the wonderful cars of the classiest era of motoring, the early, mid and late 20th Century. Until date I am enamoured particularly by the 1950’s and 1960’s because thats when the world came out of its shell after being ravaged by a useless war for too long. Suddenly Art found a superb vehicle of expression in the automobile! (Pun most definitely intended.)

Visiting Modena and the Casa Enzo Ferrari was also an evocative experience.



The pictures of Il Commendatore - Enzo Ferrari will always be timelessly classy.




I have put out a collage of photos of my favourite cars from that visit.




















But I must end this photologue only after giving special mention to one of my all time personal car racing icons, Juan Manuel Fangio and his D50, of which (amongst many many others and many many marques) I have a scale model.




Thank you for viewing!

[carobsessed]

Lovely thread and pics. Did you try the Ferrari rental car experience that is available in Italy?

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by carobsessed

Lovely thread and pics. Did you try the Ferrari rental car experience that is available in Italy?

Nope I didn’t. The museum chaps have put out notices everywhere that those rentals have nothing to do with official Ferrari and to take them at our own risk. That put me off.
Ive observed these supercar rentals being available including Ferrari, Lamborghini and all in several places including Paris (near the Champs Elysees) and Dubai (somewhere along the back roads of Al Barsha) and so on. Mostly run by groups of folks from the ‘Levant’ and somehow gives the impression of being a ‘cartel’. I’ve generally admired the cars but never gone closer than that. Perhaps one day I shall experience such a thing from an official source either at the Abu Dhabi Yas Marina Circuit or at the Dubai Autodrome.

[gauravdgr8]

Lovely thread sir and captivating pictures. You've showcased their history really well. The fact that you still remember the details after so many years, shows your deep fond love.

My personal favourite from your pics is the 250 California and the 212 Inter coupe

Well all the three cars in my house are surely red

[carobsessed]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Nope I didn’t. The museum chaps have put out notices everywhere that those rentals have nothing to do with official Ferrari and to take them at our own risk. That put me off.
Ive observed these supercar rentals being available including Ferrari, Lamborghini and all in several places including Paris (near the Champs Elysees) and Dubai (somewhere along the back roads of Al Barsha) and so on. Mostly run by groups of folks from the ‘Levant’ and somehow gives the impression of being a ‘cartel’. I’ve generally admired the cars but never gone closer than that. Perhaps one day I shall experience such a thing from an official source either at the Abu Dhabi Yas Marina Circuit or at the Dubai Autodrome.

Hope you and all of us bhpian's get to experience events like driving a Ferrari/Lamborghini etc. And yes we need to be careful about rentals especially after the incident that happened with the billionaire Vikas Oberoi in Italy only recently.

[14000rpm]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

in which we enjoyed renting a nice powerful little Alfa Romeo Giulietta in Rome and burbled along visiting multiple places, Pisa, Bologna, Tuscany, down to Maranello and Modena and then up to Milano.

Nice thread Shankar. Some TLog's are timeless. My 1st Italian road trip was back in 2013 on pretty much the same route as yours and in a Alfa Giulietta too..



Seems like it is somehow the preferred route. Hope you drove off the highway and on the back roads. They are spectacular.

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

It was very important to me personally, as a car enthusiast, to go and pay homage at the Museo Ferrari at Maranello

True. the Museum is quite good and I'm sure they have changed it up a bit now.

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

.... and Casa Enzo Ferrari at Modena a few short kms away.

Interesting. This I did not visit. I don't have any Business Trips to Italy anymore to mix a trip to Modena again.

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Nope I didn’t. The museum chaps have put out notices everywhere that those rentals have nothing to do with official Ferrari and to take them at our own risk. That put me off.
Ive observed these supercar rentals being available including Ferrari, Lamborghini and all in several places including Paris (near the Champs Elysees) and Dubai (somewhere along the back roads of Al Barsha) and so on. Mostly run by groups of folks from the ‘Levant’ and somehow gives the impression of being a ‘cartel’.

Now that you say it, it does seem like a front.
That is not the reason I didn't go for it. The roads they let you drive on are narrow and have traffic. Can't have fun anyway. Better to pay for a track day experience somewhere else.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by 14000rpm

pretty much the same route as yours and in a Alfa Giulietta too..

Seems like it is somehow the preferred route. Hope you drove off the highway and on the back roads. They are spectacular.

Now that you say it, it does seem like a front. .

Good coincidence about the car. On my earlier travels I have mostly used Trenitalia and Freccia etc because it was largely business with a bit of tourism thrown in. But then that particular visit in Italy was planned with a lot of ‘driving’ in mind. The Alfa Romeo Giulietta is a superb machine. Very solid and really enjoyable especially in its manual form. I wish they would come to India but then, thats a dream which will probably never come true considering the various circumstances around Stellantis in India and the customers reception to its brands.

Yes I agree that the South to North route in Italy is usually considered the nicest and most experiential from a kaleidoscope of culture and food and wine and Art point of view. The whole drive isn't on the Autostrada alone. There are plenty of back roads one can take, (and which indeed we did take), especially if one is at leisure like we were, staying at quaint little Agriturismo places as we did. Lots of beautiful places and fantastic vistas abound along with gorgeous little medieval hillside and seaside towns and all. Siena, San Gimignano, Vinci, Casale di Valle and all. Many of these roads and towns even feature in the annual Historic Mille Miglia event for Classic cars, as they always have. Indeed it was great fun. And the memories are still fresh.

The one thing I want to do sometime is to rent an old open top classic tourer and drive about France and Italy. (Perhaps an old red or green Triumph TR6 with a black ragtop a twin-cam and a growly exhaust.?!) - Maybe retrace the route (at leisure) of the Targa Florio or Paris-Bordeaux. There is a certain Joy in the History of Motoring and I am a huge aficionado.

I am firmly convinced that those Ferrari rentals out in Maranello are slightly ‘questionable’. I would think twice for sure before buying. And what is the use of driving one of those cars on crowded roads unless one just wants to wear one’s sunglasses and try to look cool. For that it is better to rent one in Monaco by the Marina and splutter and burble up and down the F1 route and up to Le Grand Casino and the Hotel de Paris and the Palace and back down to the Marina. One will definitely receive more eyeballs there!

By contrast, the way Porsche offers the Official Porsche Rental Drives in so many Porsche Zentrums/ Centrums/ Centres across the EU and USA, means indescribably much more to me by way of their Trust and my own Peace of Mind.

If at all Ferrari and Lamborghini and all want to allow normal common folk a taste/ sampler of their fine machines, then they need to take a leaf out of Porsche’s book and become a little more ‘inclusive’.

[14000rpm]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Good coincidence about the car. But then that particular visit in Italy was planned with a lot of ‘driving’ in mind. The Alfa Romeo Giulietta is a superb machine. Very solid and really enjoyable especially in its manual form.

Indeed a good coincidence and I agree. It's a good looking and good handling car.

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Yes I agree that the South to North route in Italy is usually considered the nicest and most experiential from a kaleidoscope of culture and food and wine and Art point of view. The whole drive isn't on the Autostrada alone. There are plenty of back roads one can take, (and which indeed we did take), especially if one is at leisure like we were, staying at quaint little Agriturismo places as we did. Lots of beautiful places and fantastic vistas abound along with gorgeous little medieval hillside and seaside towns and all. Siena, San Gimignano, Vinci, Casale di Valle and all. Many of these roads and towns even feature in the annual Historic Mille Miglia event for Classic cars, as they always have.

I'd say the diversity of Italian food, wine and art are equally good from East to West as well.
Over several years of traveling for Business and for Pleasure, I've driven down till Naples, Trieste on the east and Genoa/Cinque Terre on the west. The cultural overflow from France in the west to the Austro-Hungarian influence on the east is quite evident.

Autostrada's, much like German Autobahns, tend to become boring after some time. The back roads are where the joy of driving is.

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

The one thing I want to do sometime is to rent an old open top classic tourer and drive about France and Italy. (Perhaps an old red or green Triumph TR6 with a black ragtop a twin-cam and a growly exhaust.?!) - Maybe retrace the route (at leisure) of the Targa Florio or Paris-Bordeaux. There is a certain Joy in the History of Motoring and I am a huge aficionado.

I'm sure there is somebody out there capitalizing on this very idea.

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

And what is the use of driving one of those cars on crowded roads unless one just wants to wear one’s sunglasses and try to look cool. For that it is better to rent one in Monaco by the Marina and splutter and burble up and down the F1 route and up to Le Grand Casino and the Hotel de Paris and the Palace and back down to the Marina. One will definitely receive more eyeballs there!

By contrast, the way Porsche offers the Official Porsche Rental Drives in so many Porsche Zentrums/ Centrums/ Centres across the EU and USA, means indescribably much more to me by way of their Trust and my own Peace of Mind.

Right said. Ferrrari doesn't care about the Plebian money and hence doesn't bother appealing to the mass. Their cash registers keep ringing regardless of what they make. This goes with Lamborghini as well.

Porsche is in a different league altogether and sells 3x more in numbers.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by 14000rpm

I'm sure there is somebody out there capitalizing on this very idea.
.

Actually I do know a fellow in la departement du Var en region Provence-Alpes-Cotes D’Azur et le Midi de la France, who rents out his classics for a day along with a picnic basket and a bottle of wine. But he is rather expensive. Saying that, it will be the experience of a lifetime and that alone is worth it to me.

If you watch that lovely old film Two for the Road with Audrey Hepburn, and the newer film Paris can wait with Diane Lane, you’ll get the picture…