Lots of surprises await after the holidays. Because work never stops in Maranello
Formula 1 took a holiday like everyone else this summer. FIA made the decision to give participants a breather at the halfway point of an extraordinarily long championship. It was holiday-time too in Maranello for the GT division which is the GES Formula 1 division’s road car counterpart.
However, that didn’t mean that the summer ticked by in complete peace and quiet on Via Abetone. Quite the contrary, in fact: to borrow theatre terminology for a moment, no sooner had the actors exited the stage, than the stage hands moved into change the scenery. And how! Take the leather and saddley section and the Ferrari Classiche area for example – the former moved house while the latter was extended.
The leather section, where the Prancing Horse’s magically skilled stitchers and leather workers devote themselves to crafting our cars’ interiors with old-fashioned passion, was actually the only department still left in the old factory which has been virtually empty since production began in the new facility. This summer our talented car interior artists and artistes were rewarded for their patience by being moved to the best-lit and finest area of the new Jean Nouvel-designed facility. They’re now happily installed on the second floor, cheek by jowl with the FF production line, in fact. Fantastic!
Also interesting is the work currently underway on extending the Ferrari Classiche area, where our restoration and authenticity certification processes are carried out. Given that this is a historic area, the decision was made to enclose an older area previously covered by a kind of veranda-style roof and adjacent to the workshop pavilion. The result is very subtle indeed and very much in line with the history of the place. The Classiche department won’t be the only area to benefit from the extensions – the Showroom will now have a larger floor space as will the personalisation areas which are vitally important to the ongoing development of a service beloved of clients the world over.
So, to sum up: work forged ahead all through August at a blistering pace, particularly given that every year all of the plant and equipment in the factory complex has to be given its annual service too. So holiday time isn’t really holiday time in Maranello after all.
PUBLISHED IN Editor's corner BY Antonio Ghini ON 09.02.2011
Credit: Ferrari S.p.A. (www.ferrari.com)
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