Ferrari Museum. Maranello.
Until April 15th
Seventy years of Prancing Horse victories at Le Mans are celebrated in this exhibition, which looks back over the 36 wins recorded on the French track, with the help of some of the cars that competed in the famous races plus multimedia and interactive contents.
Visitors are welcome by the 166 MM Barchetta Touring. With a similar car, Lord Selsdon and Luigi Chinetti triumphed on 26 June 1949, on Ferrari’s debut at Le Mans. The British aristocrat and the Milanese driver transplanted to America faced a large number of British and French professionals whose cars had twice the engine capacity of the Ferrari. Nevertheless, they won with an average speed of 132.946 km/h. Chinetti went down in history by driving for over 23 hours, handing the wheel to Lord Selsdon for just 30 minutes. I bet the latter was happy!
The exhibition also includes the 275 P in which Jean Guichet and Nino Vaccarella won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1964 with an astonishing average speed of 195.63 km/h, ahead of two Ferrari 330 Ps. The 275 P is part of the legendary and incredibly successful P series; the number refers to the unit displacement, while the letter P stands for prototype.
Then, of course, there is the 488 GTE with which Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Daniel Serra won the last edition of the French marathon, gifting Ferrari its 27th class victory, 70 years after the first triumph of the 166 MM. In order to get you into the right mood, Ferrari has created “Le Mans Experience”, an exciting film that combines evocative images of the race with some of the most important messages recorded by the drivers and the team during the 24 Hours.
If you fancy yourself a Le Mans racer, you can have a virtual go at the wheel of the 488 GTE on the circuit of Le Mans, in the simulator set up inside the exhibition area.
Many other historical specimens are on display within the two current exhibitions in progress at the Ferrari Museum in Maranello, ‘Hypercars – The evolution of uniqueness’ and ’90 years – Scuderia Ferrari, the complete story’. They are open every day from 9.30am to 7pm.
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