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Gordon Ramsay approves of the fast food at Ferrari

Gordon Ramsay approves of the fast food at Ferrari

It was full marks for the fast food chefs at the Ferrari factory restaurant after Gordon Ramsay paid a visit today!

The famous British Chef, who has been a Ferrari owner for many years, finally got the chance to visit the Ferrari plant in Maranello. It was a special day for Ramsay, who went around all the production facilities and was truly impressed by the working environment in Ferrari.

“You can feel the passion of the people working here –  it’s incredible, I couldn’t imagine such a place: bellissimo”.

Ferrari’s employees could not believe their eyes either, and warmly welcomed Gordon asking for autographs and photos.

The taste test started at 12.30 (before the road test!). While visiting il Podio, Ferrari’s company restaurant, Chef Ramsay tasted today’s entrees, including classic bolognese tagliatelle.  There was a moment of silence, the classic pause before he described the food as “delicious”. It was relief all around for the Podio’s chefs who had their uniforms signed by the famous three star Chef.

The visit then continued to Tailor Made and the Atelier, where Gordon Ramsay met Amedeo Felisa, Ferrari’s CEO, who showed him the newborn F12berlinetta.

Ferrari Test drive

After his food test came the track test as Ramsay was taken by test driver Raffaele de Simone to the Fiorano circuit. There, the British Chef had the chance to experience 740 HP and the handling of the 12-cylinder F12berlinetta and to sit behind the wheel of a 458 Italia.

It was a busy day for Gordon, who even managed to dedicate some time to a long interview that will be published in the next issue of the Ferrari Official Magazine.

Gordon was asked “What impressed him the most today?”

“The perfection. I work for perfection every day and winning 3 Michelin stars was a dream, but my second biggest dream was having my first Ferrari. From the minute you step inside to the minute you get out of the car and of the Factory you have one word in mind: perfection. I mean perfection 100%, absolutely incredible. And the passion, you can feel the passion in every corner of Ferrari from all the staff: from the stitching, to putting the engine together and to these amazing test drivers. Great day: I’ve had the thrill of a lifetime…Grazie mille…Thank you”.

Ferrari customers head to Italy for historic drive

Ferrari customers head to Italy for historic drive

From tomorrow, Thursday 28th June until Saturday 30th June, more than 100 Ferrari customers from all over the world will discover places in Emilia Romagna and Tuscany connected to the birth of the manufacturer from Maranello, on the legendary roads of these Italian regions.

Ferrari

They will drive on the roads of the Mille Miglia and on the Savio circuit, but also on the tracks where Ferrari has raced and won several times, such as Imola and Mugello as well as Fiorano, where the cars from the Prancing Horse are developed.

The Ferrari Cavalcade will start in Bologna , heading towards Imola and the “Dino e Enzo Ferrari” race track at the Santerno river, where the participants will carry out ability tests for the regularity race. The first day will be dedicated to the roads of the plain in Emilia-Romagna: Lugo, home of the Baracca family, where the Prancing Horse will be celebrated, along the roads of the river Po delta to visit the Pomposa Abbey, coming back via Ferrara degli Estensi on wonderful roads through the so called Pianura Padana.

Friday will be dedicated to the area around Modena and the places connected to Ferrari with a visit in Maranello and laps on the Fiorano track. On the final day, the cars will drive through the Apennine to arrive at the Mugello circuit and later on at the Piazza della Signoria in Florence. The final stage of the 600 kilometres will lead to Bologna on the roads of the Mille Miglia with the legendary Futa and Raticosa passes.

The list of the participants’ countries underlines the internationality of the Ferrari brand: USA, China, Lebanon, Hong Kong, UAE, Mexico, South Africa, Russia, and naturally Europe with France, Germany, Belgium and the UK, just to name a few. The Cavalcade event is a way to introduce the customers of the Prancing Horse to the wonderful landscape, the artistic wonders and the exceptional cuisine of Italy. This will also be the philosophy of the upcoming Cavalcade events, which will bring Ferrari clients to Italy’s most important places to discover hidden gems of this marvellous country.

The final check of the route has been carried out by the official website Ferrari.com with a 458 Spider, the perfect open car for such an exciting tour, with its stunning sound of the 570 hp V8 engine, which won the “Best Performance Engine of the Year” Award for the second year running.

Updates from the Ferrari Cavalcade stages will be available on Ferrari.com with exclusive photos and videos.

If you’re heading to Italy and driving to Ferrari then do call in at Plunhof.

Marc Gene to race Ferrari in Qatar

Marc Gene to race Ferrari in Qatar

The first Ferrari Formula 1 car to hit the track in 2012 will be the F2008, with which the Scuderia took the last of its sixteen Constructors’ titles to date. It’s nothing to worry about, not some sort of surprise test, but in fact a debut appearance for the Reds in Qatar. Driving the Maranello car along the seafront of the capital Doha will be Marc Gene. The event is one of several being staged as a prelude to the Qatar Motor Show and is organised by Shell, the Diamond Sponsor of the QMS.

“It’s always nice to bring Formula 1 close up to the public on this sort of occasion,” said Marc.

“In this part of the world, the growth in interest in motor sport is visible to the naked eye, partly down to the efforts of major companies like Shell.”

The Spaniard is in Qatar until Monday, when he will take part in the opening of the Show. Marc is also due to visit the industrial city of Ras Laffan, which is home to the world’s largest GTL extraction plant, established by Shell along with Qatar Petroleum.

Ferrari Tailor-Made for customers to add that little bit more to their cars

Ferrari Tailor-Made for customers to add that little bit more to their cars

Now you can really make your Ferrari unique and have your car in your chosen specification with the new Ferrari Tailor-Made service.

Ferrari Tailor-Made is the exclusive new personalisation programme from Maranello developed specifically for clients wishing to create a truly bespoke car that will be a clear expression of their own unique personalities and tastes.

The Tailor-Made programme continues a longstanding Maranello tradition which began in the 1950s and 60s, a time when clients personalised their cars as a matter of course and enjoyed huge freedom when it came to materials, colours and finish. The result was genuinely unique cars tailored to suit the desires of each individual owner.

That prestigious past has now been revived through a programme that permits owners to specify every last detail of their Ferrari, from the exterior livery colour to the cabin trim, via a completely unprecedented choice of finishes, accessories, materials, treatments and colours. All of which are the fruit of the ongoing research and development by the Ferrari Styling Centre, taking inspiration from the company’s core values of innovation, elegance and passion.

The client’s personal wishes and aspirations lie at the very heart of the Tailor-Made Programme. Owners are assisted and guided through the selection process by their own Personal Designer who is charged with guaranteeing that the resulting cars are both unique and consistent with the Ferrari brand and its tradition. Once the car’s details have been defined, the client can then track all of the various processes involved in its creation, right up until they take delivery. Naturally, they are very welcome to come to Maranello to pick up their car in person if they so wish.

Creativity, research, original materials, superb craftsmanship and attention to detail are the cornerstones of the Tailor-Made programme which offers three collections inspired directly by Ferrari’s DNA: Scuderia, Classica and Inedita.

Scuderia takes its inspiration from Ferrari’s sporting history, offering a choice of racing-derived materials, finishes and liveries. The Classica collection, on the other hand, provides a modern twist on the styling cues and features of Maranello’s iconic GTs. Lastly, Inedita lives up to its name by introducing an element of experimentation and innovation in terms of styling, colours and materials.

Clients are given enormous freedom in their decision making, being able to select everything from traditional and luxury materials, of the likes of cashmere, to trendy ones like denim, and high-tech, innovative carbon-fibre, available to them. This allows clients to achieve a level of exclusivity that’s absolutely unprecedented in the automotive sector. In fact, this is the first time many of the materials offered have been adopted and homologated for use in cars.

Clients are invited to Maranello as part of the Tailor-Made programme. There they will find a dedicated area that looks and feels very much like a haute couture studio with a huge array of samples of materials, treatments and colours to browse. There is also a material scanner that will provide owners with a preview of the final result.

The Tailor-Made Collections

Maximum performance, tradition, innovation. These are the Ferrari brand core values that underpin all three collections created by the Styling Centre to inspire clients interested in the Tailor-Made programme. Scuderia, Classica and Inedita are the three different “worlds” to choose from to create bespoke Ferraris through unique combinations of the many options available.

Guided and advised by their Personal Designer, new owners can make their selections from the collections to reflect their own personal tastes. They are also welcome to suggest innovative, new solutions and materials which the Styling Centre will then assess for compatibility.

Scuderia

Racing has always been the lifeblood of Ferrari which has enjoyed unparalleled success on the world’s circuits since its earliest days. The Scuderia collection is therefore very much homage to the track, a fact reflected in the materials and finishes it includes. The list of options in the Scuderia collection ranges all the way from carbon-fibre trim to technical fabrics, chamois and rubberised leather, Alcantara, microfibres, Kevlar, satin-finish and matte metals. Clients can work with the Scuderia collection to ensure their Ferraris epitomise the very pinnacle of sportiness.

The 250 Testa Rossa, which sold at auction at Pebble Beach in August 2011 for a record $16.4 million, provided the inspiration for the 458 Spider sporting blue and white NART stripes over an historic Rosso Racing body colour. The latter’s seats are upholstered in the same leather used in the Formula 1 cars of the past – a trim that’s light, breathable and feels very much like chamois leather to the touch. The original 250 Testa Rossa had an aluminium dashboard which has now been given a innovative twist in the form of Alutex, an extremely tough, light fibreglass and aluminium material. The cabin is also trimmed with a diamond-quilted fabric inspired by the original Testa Rossa motif.

Classica

In the Classica collection, the styling cues and features of Maranello’s iconic GTs are given a more modern yet still classic look, through the use of the latest materials and production techniques. Elegant pastel colours of the past; the use of vintage leather, or wool, cashmere or velvet; special treatments for the hard areas of the cabin to match the exterior; chromed elements, stitching details and more natural leathers – these are just some of the options available from this collection.

Another icon that’s been given a modern reworking in the Classic collection is the FF inspired by the 250 Europa: it has three-layer Ingrid silver paintwork with dark grey sills and rims. The cabin is a hymn to classicism with a few unusual flourishes mixed in: pinstripe cloth and dark brown semi-aniline leather seats, cashmere roof lining, grey carpet mats, interior trim inserts in the same colour as the exterior, teak-trimmed boot. The overall result is a sublimely classic atmosphere harking back to the original 250 Europa without detracting in any way from its uniqueness and elegance.

Inedita

Inedita does exactly what its name suggests: it introduces novel, innovative styling cues which nonetheless respect the marque’s core values. This is the most experimental of the three collections and we feel it may well give rise to some of the classic trims and finishes of the future. Denim, bold leather upholstery, suit fabrics and technical fabrics are just a few of the innovative and intriguing options available to owners who choose to personalise their cars from the Inedita collection.

The denim-trimmed Ferrari California is a good example of what the collection offers: pale blue leather alternates with denim trim in certain areas of the cabin and seats as well as on the door panels and lower part of the dash. The areas of the cabin normally trimmed in aluminium are now dark blue carbon-fibre. The car sports a Blu Scozia livery, a historic Ferrari colour here given an all-new matte finish. The wheel rims are unusual too as their external surface is dark blue while the inside is pale blue in a nod to the contrast seen in the cockpit. A proposal that, from a point of view of styling, really does push the boundaries and sets a new benchmark in the automotive sector today.