A new Ferrari museum in honour of Enzo Ferrari opened at the weekend in Via Paolo Ferrari, Modena, the heart of Italy’s supercar valley.
The Museo Casa Enzo Ferrari opened on 10 March 2012, dedicated to Enzo Ferrari – the powerhouse behind the eponymous supercar maker. The new museum includes plenty of other sports car brands with links to the Modena area. It looks like petrolheads’ tours of northern Italy will get a bit longer…
So what’s inside the Museo Casa Enzo Ferrari?
The new museum cost €18 million and stands on the ruins of the old house where Enzo was born in 1898. His house and workshop have been preserved, but there’s now a new gallery crafted from yellow aluminium, the colour of the city of Modena and the background to the famous prancing horse logo.
The gallery, which was designed by London architects Future Systems, is packed with the key milestones of Enzo’s life, charting the story of his car company, but also the Mille Miglia, Scaglietti – and there are plenty of cars on show like works of art. It’s not just about Enzo; there are also exhibits explaining how Modena became home to other supercar makers, including Maserati, Pagani and De Tomaso.
Exhibits include the Alfa Romeo 40-60 of 1914, the Alfa Romeo RL Super Sport Mille Miglia of 1927 and the Alfa Romeo Bimotore of 1935. Naturally, there are plenty of multimedia exhibits, documentations, shops and cafes to feed little ones.
‘The Museum is dedicated to the life of a character who contributed to making Italian culture famous all over the world, a path that tells the story of sports car racingthrough symbolic individuals, places and races,’ said the brains behind the museum, Mauro Tedeschini. ‘It is an importantinvestment for the city of Modena and for Emilia too, confirmed once again as the focal point of the life and passion of Italian motoring. With the Museo Casa Enzo Ferrari we try to portray the imaginary bridge existing between past and future. The past as told by the old house where Enzo Ferrari was born in 1898, restored and preserved in its original structure, the future represented by the innovative architecture of the yellow aluminium “bonnet”, the city’s new emblem.’
‘This tribute to my father, who loved Modena profoundly, gives me immense pleasure”, Piero Ferrari says. “It provides an opportunity for anyone who wants to find out more about the man, his story and the link between the city and the world of engines. This new structure is perfectly complementary to the Ferrari Museum at Maranello, the other fundamental location in the life of my father.’
When can I go?
The new museum is open 363 days a year and full-price tickets cost €13 (under-26s and pensioners €11, children over six €9, five and under are free).
If you want to do the full Ferrari experience, you can get a joint, discounted ticket which includes the Maranello Museum too.