I gave my husband a Ferrari for his birthday

If you’ve ever dreamed of gunning it in a cherry red Ferrari at an eye-watering 320 km per hour in the birthplace of Ferrari itself, this one’s for you.

By Leonie Jarrett

I gave my husband a Ferrari. Well, a ride in one anyway.

But I do score extra points for the test drive being in Maranello, Italy – the birthplace of Ferrari itself? As our tour guide said, “When will you get to drive a Ferrari in Maranello, Italy, again? It is a once-in-a-lifetime experience!” 

I couldn’t agree more.

A Portofino Rosso Mugello coupé-cabriolet

I chose a Ferrari where I could be a passenger – a cherry red (Rosso Mugello in Ferrari language) Portofino coupé-cabriolet. I sat in the snug backseat with the roof off as we motored around the streets of Maranello.

The company that provides the Ferraris don’t let you loose on your own. We had a navigator – a lovely Italian man called Elli, who had been a race driver for Lotus and Mazda, and a test driver for Ferrari and Lamborghini. He spoke perfect English, which I was grateful for, as he directed my husband, Andrew, around the streets of Maranello.

Elli had started go-kart racing at 5 years old and is now what he describes as a “retired professional racecar driver”. I asked Elli if he missed racing and he said he did, but he also said that you have to be single-minded when you are racing, competitive to the point of having no balance in your life. Now, he told us he gets to drive in these amazing cars and, every so often, rent a car and drive at a racetrack for fun.

Flooring it around the track

We left the main road and Elli told Andrew that he could “floor it.” So floor it Andrew did. Well, I thought he did anyway – I felt like I was on a ride at an amusement park! Elli told us some drivers go a lot faster!! The car’s maximum speed is an eye-watering 320 km per hour. And the acceleration? An amazing 0 to 100 km in 3.5 seconds!

We drove past the Ferrari factories and the Fiorano Circuit test track, watching all the Ferrari workers dressed in their red uniforms. 

Enzo Ferrari founded Ferrari in 1947 in Maranello. There are two Ferrari museums you can visit in the area – the Museum Ferrari in Maranello and the Enzo Ferrari Museum in Modena. There is a shuttle that Ferrari provides between the Museums or you can self-drive (which is what we did). Of course, if you self-drive, you need to be prepared to drive on the right hand side of the road and also be able to drive a manual transmission. Automatics are hard to rent in Italy.

We were staying in Bologna – about a 40 minute drive from Maranello. We hired a car from Bologna airport, drove to the Maranello Museum, then onto Ferrari Portofino and finally another 30 minutes to Modena where we visited the Enzo Ferrari Museum.

A new respect for F1 drivers

A 40 km drive later and we were back at Bologna airport. A great day, even for a non “rev-head.” After all, apart from the technology aspect of the cars, Ferraris are a thing of beauty, especially when the racing element comes into play. I have a new respect for Formula One drivers after seeing how small the cars are and how tiny the driver’s area is.

I thought the Maranello museum was the better one. There was a wealth of information, in both Italian and English, together with the beautiful Ferraris and so many amazing photos. You could pay extra to have a photo seated in a Ferrari or to sit in a mock Formula One Ferrari simulator.

The Enzo Ferrari Museum also had information in Italian and English and beautiful Ferraris but, for me, the focus was more on the engines and the development of the engines. Fascinating for some but not so fascinating for me.

“The best Ferrari ever built is the next one”

What was cool, though, was that the museum was spread over three buildings – a purpose-built building to display the cars, the house where Enzo Ferrari was born and the adjoining mechanical workshop which his father built. 

There’s also a quote from Enzo Ferrari on the wall where the cars are displayed – “the best Ferrari ever built is the next one.” 

When I was a little girl, I used to tell my Mum that I would buy myself a red Ferrari one day. I long ago decided that that childhood dream was not going to happen but I saw more Ferraris on our “Ferrari day” than I have seen in my life. And most of them were red!

Back to my gift of the Ferrari. Andrew loved it – and, surprisingly, so did I. What an incredible experience. We rented the Ferrari Portofino from I Love Maranello. Now all that’s left for me to do is to work out what Andrew’s gift to me on this trip will be ;). Maybe paying a visit to some of Italy’s most underrated cities…