10.6.07
After almost a decade it was great to be back in the Emilia Romagna region
of Northern Italy and the opportunity to take a tour of the Ferrari factory,
enjoy the Mille Miglia as it passed through the Scaglietti body plant
and join like minded enthusiasts for the inaugural RM auction at Ferrari’s
F1 logistics centre at Fiorano....
The Factory
Dominating Maranello is the Ferrari factory which is undergoing significant
redevelopment with a budget of €200 million to upgrade every element
of the production facility ( which currently produces 5,700 units per
year of the 430, 599 and 612 models) and will include a new assembly
shop opening in mid ’08.
With a total headcount of 2,800 (900 of which are devoted to the F1
programme) one of the factory’s current priorities is to build
a new staff canteen to cope with the burgeoning workforce!
During my tour I was introduced to Romeo and Juliet, who although somewhat
lacking in personality are the models of efficiency (as you would expect
two robots to be) and work in harmony to fit valve seats to cylinder
heads with the assistance of liquid nitrogen, whilst a walk through
the trim shop revealed that each car requires four hides to produce
the leather interior.
On the ground floor of the engineering building where noise levels were
low, temperature a constant 22 degrees celsius and humidity 42%, were
cars illustrating the varied history of Ferrari – a 166 Touring,
250PF coupe and the stillborn, controversial Indycar.
With a 2 year waiting list and emerging markets, (especially China and
Russia) the company is increasingly aware of its heritage and continues
to build its brand, culminating in the recent appointment of ex-Red
Bull man Danny Bahar as Global Brand Director.
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“It is because of the Mille Miglia that the Italian automobile
industry exists” – Enzo Ferrari.
Ferrari won the 1,000 mile sports-car race from Brescia via Rome to
Brescia 11 times in its 27 year history, although for many the best
known memory of this epic road race is the 1955 win of Sir Stirling
Moss and Denis Jenkinson in the factory Mercedes 300SLR in a record
10 hours and 7 minutes.
Now a 1,000 mile, three day regularity trial over a comparable route,
375 crews assembled in Brescia for the start on Thurs May 17th and with
Mariella Mengozzi’s (from Ferrari’s brand marketing team)
help I was able to watch the surviving competitors pass through the
gates of the Scaglietti factory on their return leg to Brescia.
On hand to present competitors with a memento of their visit were Piero
Lardi Ferrari and Ferrari’s master coachbuilder Sergio Scaglietti,
with a complete range of current road car production adjacent to a gold
prancing horse and a silver globe celebrating Ferrari’s multiple
world championships in F1.
The entry took almost two hours to pass through the checkpoint and on
a warm Saturday evening in mid May, I saw more Mercedes SSK and BMW
507 V8s ( two of my all time favourite motors) than I feel I am likely
to see in one place again.
Proof of how important motor manufacturers still perceive this event,
there was factory presence from BMW, Porsche, Mercedes, Alfa Romeo,
Audi and Ferrari. Former Arrows and Brabham Grand Prix racer Marc Surer
is a long-time BMW ambassador who drove their Mobile Tradition’s
pre war 327, whilst Director of the Porsche Museum Klaus Bischof drove
a 550RS and Mercedes fielded Jochen Mass in a 300SLR.
Normally Alfa Romeo Storica’s Disco Volante is a huge attraction
but this year the most popular entry was Prisca Taruffi in John McCaw’s
Ferrari 315S – the same car her father Piero drove in the race
50 years ago. Prisca is a respected Rally Raider and with the support
of the Ferrari Classiche team she finished the event, handling the 360bhp
racer with considerable skill whilst dodging the cameras!
RM Ferrari Only Auction
With an early start (to avoid the congestion created
by the Giro D’Italia cycle race passing through Maranello) there
was an excellent opportunity to view the entries for RM Auctions inaugural
European, Ferrari only sale held in association with Sotheby's at the
F1 Logistics Centre, adjacent to the Fiorano test track.
The significance of the event was not lost on Ferrari SpA as both Luca
Montezemolo (President) and Jean Todt (Executive Director) were in attendance,
with Todt staying for the duration of the auction.
All cars offered had been approved by the Ferrari Classiche programme,
so buyers were assured that what they were bidding on was the real deal
and not a replica! RM presented 33 lots with a broad spectrum of tipos,
the earliest of which was a ’53 340/375MM consigned by noted US
collectors John and Mary Shirley and the latest, Scuderia Ferrari’s
248 F1 car driven by Felipe Massa in last year's Hungarian Grand Prix.
For those with more modest budgets there was the opportunity to purchase
a sales brochure for a 250LM or Kimi Raikkonen’s race gloves.
Respected auctioneer Peter Bainbridge has been with the Blenheim Ontario
based RM several years now and along with Max Girardo they kept the
1,000 strong audience entertained for nearly 4 hours of frantic bidding,
which resulted in 32 cars selling for almost US$45 million and all to
private buyers. The individual results are reproduced elsewhere
but some lots are worthy of note ….
This was a dream start for RM in Europe – the combination of
excellent organisation + well selected lots + good presentation = record
prices and a clear indication that tipos with a limited production,
complete history and excellent condition are increasingly sought by
both established and emergent markets. As Peter Bainbridge said –
“sold the RM way” is a phrase we are likely to hear more
of very soon in Europe and for some of their competitors it's likely
to be an unwelcome wake up call!
Thanks to Mariella Mengozzi from Ferrari and Terry Lobzun from RM Auctions
who gave me the opportunity to experience the Mille Miglia and a special
day in modern Ferrari history.
So the pasta is finished, the Barolo gone and I didn’t get chance
to remove the Daytona “buck” from outside the Galleria or
wish Luca a happy 60th birthday for August 31st.....
See you at Silverstone on June 8-10th!
