so over the last month I've had the pleasure of travelling around Italy and thought some of you might appreciate some pictures and a quick story seeing as we all (mostly) appreciate fine precision machinery? The Ferrari, Ducati, pagani and Lamborghini factories were all visited within a few days while visiting in-laws in the bologna/reggio emiglia area, you could do all 4 in a couple of days if you like or 3 in one day assuming you have a car to get between. Have had a blast visiting this lovely country, the people are a lot nicer than I expected, still passionate and can be a bit dramatic but so lovely. The food and wine, well we all know it's good, but wow, it's seriously great! My fiancee told me early on a part of the reason it's so good is that the Italians simply wont accept or buy inferior quality so unlike back home where all the best produce is exported, you can still find exceptional quality at supermarkets in the city. Purists please forgive me if I have accidentally captioned anything wrong...but do tell me and I'll correct it. Motoguzzi 1955 ma95(?) Was the chassis number o could see. 3000gt in red, Miura in orange, Early Countach in green. This is the car that Horacio Pagani loved and still owns and keeps in the Pagani factory. He still drives it often apparently. Diablo in Gold, Miami vice!!! Wine by the litre!!! Only ~2.10€/litre too. Lambo's first attempt at an SUV was not a success! Overweight and powered by an underpowered (something along the lines of 150hp) american diesel. I think only 2 were made and the project canned. Lamborghini's second attempt at an SUV with a carbon tub body and powered by a v10 engine. Cant remember what model this went in (early I think) but it has the engine block and gearbox housing in one casting! Lambo GT racers. horacio Pagani'fs first racer, powered by Renault he built the chassis with a friend. The Zonda R!!! I could stare at race engineering for hours, love it! Zonda Cinque terre; special request for the Pagani Hong kong dealer. 5 built and apparently valued at a cool €7 (or was it 17?) million...either way makes speedy's look cheap. Handbuilt AMG engines specially for Pagani. They now have a special section at AMG that is dedicated to the pagani engine builds. Zonda "La Nonna" (the grandmother) for being chassis 002 and having over 550,000kms of test driving performed. Recently restored for the museum. Chassis 001 was destroyed as part of the crash test certification. horacio Pagani's first project he built out of university. the new Huayra, the interior as with everything pagani is incredibly detailed and extravagant! I did the factory tour at pagani, very cool to see a lot of handbuilt carbon work going on, so time intensive and the assembly of everything is so immaculate and detailed with a lot of passion. They make a point of taking time to build the cars, each one takes around 2 months start-finish and they only produce around 40 per year as it's very time consuming. theyre aiming for 50/year soon but want to keep the emphasis on the hand built, quality process. The factory itself is beautiful (no photos as phones locked outside) very open and airy with lots of natural light. Horacio Pagani's son(sons?) Are archotects and they wanted it to resemble a classic italIta Town square right down to the working clock tower with bell(!) Street lights and brick facades. Again if I recall this was the model Ducati rode around the world in the early 50s. The original Ducati Scrambler. If I recall this was the first Ducati with the desmodromodic valve train? The current Ducati Scrambler The Senna special edition 916. I'll take one please!!! Or even a regular 916 will do? The changes in safety gear from 1956 to 2008. Ducati's first proper motorcycle instead of just putting thtir engine into a push bike frame. Helped propel Italy and ducayi post war. Ferrari built a boat in 1953! Would be a hell of a ride The ferrari "Scarlett johannson" petite, stunning and curves in all the right places. Absolutely stunning car in the flesh! The ferrari family home; Enzo's father had his workshp downstairs and the family lived upstairs. Now hosts the Ferrari engine museum section. f40 engine. Even up until 2007 they had external fuel injection in formula1 Alfa spider, Lovely way to see the countryside! Pair of motoguzzi's in Chianti Ape50's like a 3 wheel piaggio scooter with a body and tray, all over italy in various states of repair and modification. Dont get stuck behind one up a hill thoough! Badia a Coltibuono, beautiful winery. They have bottles back to the early 1900s though apparently not drinkable until the 1930s they tell us. They're covered in a Very thick layer of dust and mould, helps keep the minimal light there is in the historic Abbey cellar out. Can't imagine you want to breathe in too much while scraping it off! certainly not Italian but surprised ive never seen so many landorover defenders in one country, obviously very popular with the army as seen but also with famers and country folk too. The freccia rossa (red arrow) trains. Lovely machines capable of 400km/h apparently though now cruise at a cool 300km/h Hope you all enjoyed!
Was expecting a post about Panerai's but this was much much better. Thank you! Are the wine bowsers in one of the car/bike museums?
The wines were at Badia a Coltibuono in an area right on the edge of Chianti region. It's a very beautiful old Abbey that has grown grapes for centuries, has a lovely courted garden and a massive cellar full of red! They still do the vintaging for the reserves (cant remember the correct term now?) In big oak barrels there but the majority of the grapes are grown off-site and the wines are now made at a new site I think as of 2016(?) Brought a few bottles of Chianti reserva from them, highly recommended!
I’m originally from this area, but currently abroad for my company. Big moment of nostalgia... Anyways, even if I’m abroad I don’t lower certain standards! Have a good evening everyone!
Haha too familiar with that. Not going to lie I was excited when the last hotel I was at had cereals available for breakfast! Love the Italian way but I was also ready for a bit of home
Thanks for sharing. That Ferrari boat is plain madness (in a good sense), I'd love to witness this machine cruising at 200+ km/h !
Thanks - some really good pics, and several of them would really well qualify for the Automotive Pornography thread.
Just picked up some watches in Parma. But oh boy I am soo in love with Italy. Need to learn Italian though
I too salute Gandini. His mastery of angularity was comprehensive. A favourite book of mine now is the two-volume catalogue of his work by Gautam Sen.So many to admire and covet, but right at the top I think are the Silhouette and the Khamsin.
Gandini was a master that’s for sure. What a legacy. Along with Giugiaro he was in my top two designers. Fortunate to have a car by each. Planning my Italy trip for down the track, my wife might be surprised by how many car museums we happen to stumble upon…