[Nikhilb2008]

Dad and me recently visited Bologna, Italy, the home of the famous Spaghetti Bolognese for an autoshow, Autopromotec. Many companies we deal with had big stalls in that show and it was a must visit for my dad and me.

Bologna is very close to both, Maranello and Sant'Agata Bolognese!

Every motoring enthusiast knows what that means. We were very close to the homes of Ferrari and Lamborghini. We worked through the week from Tuesday till Saturday.

On Sunday, we had planned to visit the Ferrari museum. Modena is just 25 minutes or so from Bologna. From Modena, we were supposed to take a bus to Maranello. There are buses every 1 hour and the journey takes about half an hour. The bus ticket is about 3 Euros. The train ticket, costs about 5.4 euro, for a first class seat.

We had booked our onward journey's tickets the previous day and we wanted to take the 08:26 train to Modena. Bologna Centrale, the main station of Bologna is completely wierd! The display boards just said our train was coming to Platform 8 and even till 8:35, there was no sign of the train and the train had disappeared from the display boards!

Later on, we realised that there are two different levels! There are 2 No. Platforms, 2 platforms for EACH number! It was completely wierd. Finally, we found the correct platform and were waiting when my dad noticed the train to Modena had arrived on another platform itself! We ran like madmen and JUST made it in time.

Because we left Bologna at 9:26 instead of 8:26, we reached an hour later than expected. It was a Sunday and the next bus to Maranello from Moden was only at 12:15! And it was just 10:00am.

We decided to take the taxi. It is expensive. 25 euros, compared to 3 euro per ticket by bus. So, if you do plan on visiting, make sure you plan accordingly and catch the bus.

To catch this bus, you need to take a bus to the "Autostazione". From the Autostazione, you get buses that go out of Modena.

We got dropped off right in front of the museum. You know when you enter Maranello as you see a Ferrari every 5 mins and you can hear it every other minute! And I am not exaggerating! It is true!

When we got out of the taxi, a couple of ladies came up to us and asked us if we wanted to drive a Ferrari. I brushed her aside thinking it was a scam of some sort or it just meant we would be in the passenger seat.

We followed them to the gift shop anyway where we saw a fleet of Ferraris. A 430, 2 458s, 2 Californias, a Scuderia, a Gallardo LP560-4, a Murcielago.

I then saw that the professionals were getting into the passenger seat and normal people were driving it!













We got the rates for the cars and dad and me decided to book our drives. I chose the 458 Italia and my dad chose the 430. Unfortunately, he had left his wallet with his Indian DL in the hotel! He always carries 2 wallets when he travels abroad. His Indian wallet was in the hotel and he couldnt drive! That lady did tell him that if he could ask someone to scan the license and send it by email, it would be accepted but being a Sunday, his office was also closed. A scanned copy of his license was at the office but it was not possible to get it that time.

Before I get into a detailed account of the museums, let me cut to the chase: I drove a Ferrari 458 Italia in Maranello and a Lamborghini Gallardo LP 570-4 Superleggera in Sant'Agata Bolgnese.

By far, these two were the BEST days of my life.

The Ferrari drive here: The fun starts 3 minutes into the video. Gets better from 3:45 onwards.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGrzkmBSo98

The Lambo drive here: A little boring compared to my Ferrari drive due to the crazy amount of traffic, but still AWESOME!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYSR2dAqJRM

We then went inside the museum, bought our tickets and had a look at the beauties displayed there.

I dont need to say much and I will just let the pictures do the talking.

[Nikhilb2008]

Ferrari F166 F2 from 1951














Ferrari 250 GT Competezione from 1958










Ferrari 512 LM


Ferrari F1 126C. Gilles Villeneuve's car.

[Nikhilb2008]

The Enzo!







The hall of champions! This hall had dozens of trophies won by Ferrari's drivers. It also had all the modern championship winning cars of Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikonnen. The way Ferrari is going I don't think they will be adding anything anytime soon.

Just being in this room is FANTASTIC! There are some videos playing on loop. The videos have clips from old F1 races and quotes from Enzo himself. Just being here in Maranello is wonderful and being in this room, you can't help but soak in the success of Ferrari in F1.

[Nikhilb2008]

1966 275 GTB4 in bright yellow.








Dino 206 GT





Ferrari 360 Spider. My first love. I fell in love with Ferraris in the 1990s and this was the most modern Ferrari coupe/spider that time. This was the first car to grace my desktop as a wallpaper. I have fond memories of this car and seeing it in the flesh gave me goosebumps!




The 458 Italia

It looks so utterly dropdead astonishingly gorgeous! I don't have words to describe it. When I saw this car in the museum I just couldn't think. It looks spectacularly beautiful. It looks even more amazing in real than in pictures. And glowing there in bright yellow under the bright lights, it just took my breath away. If I had even an ounce of poetic brilliance in me, I would have written a dozen poems talking about the beauty of this piece of art.







The F40 needs no introduction!

[ajmat]

what a thread! Thanks for this. Bumping it up and going live

[ethanhunt123]

What the hell dude ! Ferrari ! Awesome How much did it cost ?

[Nikhilb2008]

The 599 GTO.







This is a very nice concept. Most car companies show the colours their cars come in on a sheet of paper. Ferrari feels that paper will not show the true shades of colours on the curves of the cars. So, they had various pieces in weird shapes which were in the various colours used by Ferrari for it's road cars.



And now, I come to the most exciting part of the journey. The drive!

Even before I got a chance to sit in the 458, the sight and sounds of that area blew my mind. Ferraris EVERYWHERE! Mostly in red. It's a sight that has no parallel for an automobile enthusiast.

And to make things better, most of the cars were running and I could feel the thunder and the rumbling of various V8s. I honestly don't have words to describe my feeling. Even now, more than 2 months after that experience, I still do not know how to express my thoughts when I think back to those minutes I was surrounded by rumbling V8s.


This was the actual car I drove. When I took this pic, someone else was taking it for a spin.






See this pic: I could hear the approaching Scuderia from miles away and when it came, it sounded FANTASTIC. At the same time, there were other Ferraris revving around me. Honestly, there is simply no better sound!













Since you are on TBHP and are reading my post, I'm assuming you are an automobile enthusiast. Just look at the picture below and try to imagine what it would feel like. A 458 Italia, a 430 and a Ferrari California have passed in front of you and are about to take off one at a time. I never use the word orgasmic, but I think it could be justified in this situation.

[sachinj12]

Lucky you, Nikhil! Mixing business with pleasure, a very apt saying!!


Heck so many Ferrari in a single frame, man, tell me I ain't dreaming.

You surely have lived many of TBHPians dream!

Any more pics?

[akbaree]

Just fantastic. Thanks for sharing. I can only imagine the fun you would have had...

[plain.vanilla]

Nikhil, that's one heck of an experience! Loved the 458 video. They gave you the car on an Indian license? International license? The steering response is amazing and acceleration got me nervous for some time but got used to it after a couple of minutes.. Reminded me of my corvette experience.

I was looking at the pushcart website. Their rates are pretty good for such beauties. Definitely worth the pleasure.

Ferrari's way of showing off their colors is such a bright idea like everything else they do.

[moralfibre]

What a thread! You lived every automotive enthusiasts dream Nikhil. Bring us some more.

[rahul_sinha]

Man, you have attained nirvana , but thanks for sharing this for the lesser mortals. Feeling privileged.
What was the cost of the drive? They should start some version in India too. Its so much better than waiting for a test drive for ownership

[Fauji]

Hey Nikhil, What a treat!! Loved every bit of the TL. Thanks for sharing.

[Nikhilb2008]

More pics are coming. This thread has been 2 months in the making and I couldn't keep it in Assembly Line any longer.

[Nikhilb2008]

I know what I will be saving up for!