Back in 2023, I was fortunate enough to go to Italy for 10 days, and during that trip, I spent a day in Motor Valley. My time there was a dream for any car enthusiast.
Motor Valley is the area around Emilia-Romagna, in the heart of north-central Italy. After spending the first half of the trip in Rome, Bologna became our hub for two and a half days, before we continued northward towards Milan. One of those days was all about diving into Italian car culture, probably my favorite part of the entire trip.
This trip is the reason I’m an automotive photographer again. I used to take photos like crazy in high school, but after graduating, and in large part due to covid, my interest petered out to roughly 1 event per year in college for my first three years. I picked it back up after this day because I realized how much I missed it. 3 months later, I did my first race event solely as media, and the rest is history.
Our rental car for the trip was a Lancia Ypsilon. A gutless 1.0L I3 hybrid making an astonishing 68hp. We had issues during pickup, putting us behind schedule, thus making us late for the Pagani Factory Tour. We also went to the wrong Pagani building by accident, so that didn’t help our punctuality.
Interested in more pics from my time there? I did three posts back in November of 2023. Go check them out
Pagani: https://www.instagram.com/p/CzUQaIYvfTy
Lambo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CzZU77wvLsA
Ferrari: https://www.instagram.com/p/CzeVnCWpBm-
Pagani
The good news is that we didn’t miss much of the tour itself. From what I can gather, this portion we missed basically talks about Horacio and his early life, nothing I can’t find on Wikipedia. Since the man himself wasn’t there, I wasn’t bothered. Like I mentioned in the Instagram post from today, in the factory, we saw several unreleased cars. The coolest was the Codalunga Hermés made for Manny Khoshbin over a year before it was set to be delivered, as well as several Huayra R models.
The first photo in this set is of the Zonda Revo Barchetta. This car was commissioned by Horacio’s son for Horacio’s 60th birthday. The story goes that the car was supposed to be a surprise, but Horacio discovered it during the build process and decided to shape it in his own way. It was originally based on a model he made as a child, with the livery based on his favorite Can-AM racer of the time.
This photo shows the detail of the hand-laid carbon fiber and hand-painted exterior. A leather strap on each side, attached to an engraved titanium rivet, holds the entire front clamshell closed. I’m curious why they chose blue leather here, instead of one that blends in with the red stripe.
Our second photo today is of the front end of the Zonda R that set the Top Gear lap record, as well as the back fender of the Zonda Revo Barchetta. The Zonda R was the fastest car around Top Gear at the time, and even now, 14 years later, it still sits 3rd on the leaderboard. Or at least it would if it wasn’t disqualified for not being road-legal. Going back to the Barchetta, I find the blue of the wheels alluring.
Lamborghini
20 minutes later, we found ourselves in Sant’Agata Bolognese, standing in front of the Lamborghini Factory and Museum. We arrived during the 60th Anniversary of Lamborghini, so there were several displays showing Lamborghini’s history. Their museum is a 2 story affair attached to the factory for the supercars. The Urus is made somewhere off-site. The first floor was their historic exhibit, with vintage cars like the 350GT, Muira, Countach, and LM002, while the second floor contained their modern lineage along one wall, and their one-off/limiteds on the other. That wall was my personal favorite, with a Reventon, Sesto Elemento, then Veneno, Centenario, Sian, and the new Countach.
Photo 3 is a Diablo GT finished in Gallio Flash. It was sat at the end of the line, followed by a Murcielago SV, Gallardo Squadra Corse, Huracan Performante, Aventador SVJ, and then an Urus. The Diablo GT was made for the European market only, so I’ll probably never see one again, unless I make the return to the factory.
The fourth photo is of a Veneo, with a Sesto Elemento behind it. This Veneno might be the rarest car I’ve ever seen (excluding the Revo Barchetta one-off. They only made 4 of the coupes, with 3 going to customers and one staying right here at the factory. Based off the technical specs, this should be faster than the Zonda R. It has higher corneing G, more power, and AWD, but i guess we’ll never know.
Ferrari
The Ferrari Museum was a complete masterpiece. Ferrari knows they’re king of the mountain here and acts like it. We exited into the gift shop and then returned to the museum through the gift shop exit. Turns out you aren’t supposed to do that and we got yelled at by security. Playing the dumb American card worked, though, so we were able to stay until closing, but only in the final room. Despite that, the experience was cool enough that I left as a Ferrari fan and Tifosi.
The Ferrari Museum is split into five rooms. I took our fifth photo today in the second room. This room was dedicated to the Enzo, LaFerrari, and FXX-K. Unfortunately, the FXX was missing. The photo features the FXX-K front and center, with its road-legal counterpart in the rear. To me, the FXX-K is the last true XX car, and the SF90XX destroys the moniker, but don’t get me started on that.
The museum tour reaches its climax in the Trophy Room. This is the room dedicated to all of Ferrari’s championship winners. The wall opposite the cars was covered in all their trophies. I wish I had stayed longer, but with time winding down, I planned on returning after seeing the final room and gift shop. Silly me assuming the gift shop was part of the museum. (also, there were no signs saying “No Re-Entry” or anything of the sort, even in Italian. The cars in order from left to right: F2007, F2004, F2002, F1-2000.
Get them Here! (only available until 1/15)
(or copy and paste this link)