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Maranello
Concessionaires' 40-Year Anniversary
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Happenings page.
25.10.00
A unique art exhibition showing Ferraris on road and racetrack is to
be staged in London to celebrate Maranello Concessionaires' 40 years
as a Ferrari distributor in the UK. It will be held at The Air Gallery,
32 Dover Street, London W1.
Some of the world's leading automotive artists have been invited to
produce paintings specifically for the exclusive exhibition to depict
Maranello Concessionaires' remarkable racing record from 1961 to 1972.
The exhibition will also feature Ferrari art right up to today's championship
winning Formula One cars.
Entry is free and opening times are 11am to 7pm each day from
Wednesday 22 November to Friday 1 December and then from 11am to 4pm
on Saturday 2 December.
The story of Ferrari UK (Maranello Concessionaires Ltd.) can
be traced directly back to Britain's first world motor racing champion,
Mike Hawthorn. The brilliant Hawthorn won the 1958 Formula One world
title at the wheel of a Ferrari and at the end of that season concluded
a deal with Enzo Ferrari to sell Ferrari road cars in the UK. Selling
the glorious but undeniably expensive 250GT was not easy in the cash-starved
1950s. Hawthorn showed two examples at the London Motorshow in 1958.
While one of them sold comparatively quickly, the second was not so
easy to move.
Eventually it was acquired by car dealer Colonel Ronnie Hoare, then
a leading light in the UK race scene. Ronnie Hoare quickly realised
the potential of the Italian marque and, following Hawthorn's tragic
death, he approached Enzo Ferrari with a view to becoming Ferrari's
official UK concessionaire. Maranello Concessionaires Ltd., named in
honour of Ferrari's Italian home town, was formed in July 1960 and initially
operated from a small corner of Hoare's successful Bournemouth Ford
dealership, F. English Ltd.
In its first year, Maranello sold just four cars in the UK. Today several
hundred Ferrari cars are sold in the UK every year. These sales mean
the UK is one of Ferrari's most important markets.
In 1987, the company founded by the Colonel was sold to TKM which, in
turn, was taken over by Inchcape where it has remained to this day.
Inchcape operates in more than 20 international markets, representing
many of the world's leading car manufacturers. The Group's activities
include import and distribution; retail of new and used cars; financial
services, including consumer and dealer finance, insurance and leasing;
and e-commerce.
There are now more than 5000 Ferrari cars in the UK and in March 1994
the company's name was changed to Ferrari UK (Maranello Concessionaires
Ltd.). This move was designed to align the company more closely with
the world famous Ferrari marque
