We visited the automotive fantasyland that is Ferrari's Maranello factory complex

The analogies won’t stop dueling.

Is visiting the Ferrari factory a bit like stepping inside Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory had he made cars? Or is it more akin to striding into the Vatican if the Pope was a leader of automotive craftsmen?

As we’ll see during a rare tour of this famous facility, the answer is a bit of both.

Ferrari's factory floor is both high tech and high touch

Ferrari

First things first: tape over your smartphone's camera lens

On a recent fall day, I presented myself at the factory gates, with my golden ticket being an invitation from Ferrari brass to take in their multi-acre compound just outside Modena where for nearly 80 years, magical vehicles have been created for customers and celebrities alike.

While the nearby Ferrari Museum can be accessed with a ticket, nothing of that kind happens at the factory. Tours like this are made available to Ferrari clients, sponsors and partners, and the occasional reporter. After roughly a dozen of us assemble under a grey northern Italian sky, our phones are taken by staffers who cover the cameras of each one with red tape. Whatever we see over the next two and a half hours will be recorded only by our unbelieving eyes.

A Ferrari Purosangue four door makes its way down the line in Maranello

Ferrari

Where are all the Ferrari Purosangues? On test runs around Maranello

As we pile into the small campus tour bus that will take us to various key facilities as well as the F1 and Corse Clienti building near the fabled Fiorano test track, I get a sense from the Italian and French being spoken that many of these dapper retirement-age gentlemen are waiting for new Ferraris.

That notion is confirmed when I comment to one man that while few have yet to see a Ferrari Purosangue SUV on the road, dozens seem to dash by us every few seconds on their way to local test runs before being shipped off.

“Which one did you order? Mine will be red of course,” he replied.

Caught off guard for a moment, I reply by noting that one well-known friend of mine indeed has been waiting patiently for his for months, which seems to satisfy him that I’m worthy of being on the tour, never mind that my $500,000 Purosangue lives only in my dreams.

12Cilindri and F80s in camouflage are standard fares on the streets just inside the factory gates

Ferrari F80 Side View

Ferrari

Seeing that radical new car - Ferrari’s first four-door “don’t call it an SUV, it’s a Ferrari Activity Vehicle” - by the dozens hammers home how special it is to be inside Ferrari HQ. Countless other seldom-seen machines scurry about, like the elegant new 12Cilindri coupe and Spyder and even a camouflaged version of the striking new $4 million F80. Your head just spins, like those kids who toured Wonka’s lair.

A Ferrari legend in the flesh makes a surprise appearance

Ferrari chairman John Elkann addresses the company's work force during a recent meeting

Ferrari

We’re just ten minutes into the afternoon trip when that same Purosangue fellow yells out for the bus driver to stop, which needless to say, has no effect. And yet after a whisper to our capable guide, she agrees. The bus stops, and he hops off. I’m baffled, but I follow.

And there he is-: Enzo’s son, Piero Ferrari, vice chairman of the company that bears his name, hugging the man I was just chatting with. I’m clearly in rarified company, even if I have no clue who these folks are. Soon we’re off again, but it truly felt like we just saw the pontiff of this hallowed city-state.

Ferrari's Formula Uomo focuses on worker satisfaction

Ferraris make their way through the high-tech factory in Maranello, on the outskirts of Modena

Ferrari

It would be impossible to share every single detail of a Ferrari factory tour, in part because every auto enthusiast likely would seize onto something different. Maybe it’s the SF90 FXX-K sprinting down the street, or perhaps the vintage 288 GTO sitting roped off near a few new engines. Here are a few things that struck me.

The first stop was the engine building facility, which was not only spotless but also featured quiet machines, well-circulated air, and even green spaces inside the factory, all part of what Ferrari calls its Formula Uomo focus, or Formula Man.

White robots help humans make the most high-precision Ferrari parts

It must also be said there appear to be just as many women as men on duty among the 4,000-plus employees here, all clocking in at a company that for many years has been voted among the best places to work on the European continent.

A Ferrari factory worker surveys the job being done by one of countless high-tech robots used for jobs that help humans keep the line humming efficiently

Ferrari

That human emphasis aside, there are also countless state-of-the-art white robots on hand to take over more tedious or exacting tasks, like making sure valve guide rings are millimeter precise or gluing windshields in place. Two robots have even been named Romeo and Juliet. We’re in Italy after all.

Simply seeing those gleaming silver 6, 8, and 12-cylinder cases being carefully mated to Ferrari’s famous red cylinder heads (the genesis of the original Testarossa nickname, or “red head”) immediately triggers in my mind the high-revving, shredded-linen roar of the resulting engines.

Ferrari makes a V6, a V8, and its legendary V12, but there's no doubt which remains king

Ferrari employees, each dressed in tan jumpsuits with red accents and a Shell logo on the back, work in a hushed camaraderie, appearing to be neither stressed nor wasting time. Currently, it takes about 3 days for a V6 or V8 engine to come to life, and five days for a V12, which one worker will shepherd from start to finish with his or her name affixed to the beast at the conclusion.

Engines make their way down the factory line. Only the V12s are built by one specific factory worker, whose name is slipped inside the components

Ferrari

If you guessed that Ferrari's famous 12-cylinder powerplants get the real royal treatment, you'd be right. That said, they could soon be a thing of the past as Ferrari races toward its first fully electric vehicle while also dabbling in myriad new hybrid engines with fewer cylinders.

Tailor-made Ferraris take pride of place on the sparkling-clean factory floor

It is explained to us that the sinuous bodies of each Ferrari are crafted over at the iconic Scaglietti factory then painted and carefully transported over to where we are now. Doors typically stay off until the very last point of assembly in an effort to spare them from damage.

In due time, we head towards a cavernous building where most Ferraris are assembled. On the way, we drive down streets named for Enzo Ferrari, Kimi Raikkonen, and other legends of the Prancing Horse stable, occasionally spotting rare sights along the path. 

One such sight is a wild rose-colored 296 GTB with an oversized hand-painted Ferrari shield on its flank where a smaller metal badge would usually be. Our tour guide explains that this car is one of the factory’s tailor-made vehicles and is being fully customized to the customer's tastes.

The driver's side wheel of a Ferrari GTB gets some special attention by a factory worker

Ferrari

Ferrari's $3 million SP3 Daytona is a special car: how about seeing six lined up nose to tail?

Once inside the assembly plant, jaws start hitting floors. The first thing we see are four 12Cilindri in grey, green, red, and light blue, all awaiting minor adjustments before being taken around Maranello for shakedown rides.

As we stroll through the building, our guide explains how a timed ballet takes place every 10 or so minutes, with body shells advancing slowly on rolling lines, gradually picking up more parts and pieces until they are “married” to their fully assembled engine/transmission/suspension assemblies. That moment finds a half dozen Ferrari technicians suddenly swarming each car, whether a Rosso Ferrari Roma or Blu Pozzi 296 GTB, busy connecting hoses and torquing bolts.

Factory workers wield pneumatic tools to help mate a Ferrari engine to its body.

As if things can’t get more astounding, we are then escorted to an area with no moving-carpet assembly line. Here, six (count them) $3 million Ferrari Daytona SP3s are being hand-assembled by a select crew whose only job is to build these special sports cars, which follow the radical SP1 and SP2 Monzas in the heritage, taking them from mere parts to museum-quality collectibles.

Corse Clienti is for Ferrari's most special clients who have a background in racing

Thoroughly dazzled, we assume this must be the end of the show. Wrong. Back on the bus for the short drive past Enzo’s old office near the factory gates (where he reportedly checked every car that left the place) and down a few blocks to another gated compound with a variety of modern buildings that house both the headquarters of Ferrari’s F1 operations as well as its nearby Corse Clienti program.

Ferrari race cars in FIA

Ferrari

This first off-limits location is where engineers secretly plot out the details of next year’s F1 engine and chassis, under the guidance of aces Charles Leclerc and, starting next season, towering F1 legend Lewis Hamilton.

Corse Clienti is another matter. For years now, Ferrari has offered some of its most powerful track-focused cars, often denoted with an FXX or FXX-K suffix, to its best customers with proven track skills. The cars available to them also include former F1 racing cars, which are usually sold two years after they conclude their race season.

Ferrari looks to its racer customers for feedback to help hone the next gen of supercar

These red demons are stored and maintained here in Maranello and then shipped around the world at the client’s behest to a series of track events that allow them to exercise their steeds. These clients benefit from full Ferrari support in the U.S., Asia, Europe, and the United Arab Emirates. If you have to ask just how much that annual program costs outside of the cost of the car, you’re likely not a candidate, but seven figures wouldn’t be out of line.

Freshly painted Ferrari car bodies pass each other on movable platforms inside the Ferrari factory

Ferrari

Our guide is eager to tell us that these particular clients are not just custodians of very rare pieces of Ferrari’s racing history, both past and present. Rather, they are also “active participants” in Ferrari’s quest for finding that next tenth of a second, and as such are frequently called upon to share everything from track event telemetry to vehicle impressions with engineers looking for feedback beyond what a few on-staff pro drivers can provide. In essence, when you have this kind of money and the commensurate amateur talent, you’re buying yourself a very rare seat at the Ferrari family table. Heady stuff indeed.

As we summit the staircase in the Corse Clienti building, its white floors spotless, the largely red cars assembled before us defy description and, frankly, a dollar total.

Two dozen F1 cars all in Rosso Ferrari line a room that reverberates with racing history

In this next room, there must have been two dozen or more F1 cars from the past three or four decades, with names emblazoned near the single-seater cockpits such as Jean Alesi, Patrique Tambay, Alain Prost, and the GOAT (sorry Lewis), Michael Schumacher. Our group immediately falls into two camps, those of us who are speechless and others who just start blurting out expressions familiar to giddy 12-year-olds.

This historic and museum-quality assemblage almost makes the other nearby room seem pedestrian, with its selection of 599 and LaFerrari FXX-K machines, as well as several Le Mans 499P cars that recently helped bring Ferrari back to the podium at that famous race.

This Ferrari clearly is destined for a right-hand-drive country such as the UK or Japan

Ferrari

Quitting time sees Ferrari jumpsuit-clad workers whistling through the streets of Maranello

But that’s really the point here, isn’t it? An abundance of riches, everywhere you look. So perhaps the Willy Wonka analogy wins out in the end. While there is truly an air of almost hushed reverence about this place, there is also an unmistakable sense of giddy fun, of being in a playpen for car fanatics the likes of which is hard to top. One look at most workers' faces, and you sense they know they’re in Candyland.

The time comes for us to roll back to reception, thank our guide, untape our smartphones, and leave the gates of Ferrari. It’s 5 o’clock and the workers are all filing out as well.

For a moment, you imagine you’re one of them. Unlucky in the sense that very few humans will park these Maranello-made chariots in their garages, but lucky to be able to simply have spent any time around these unique and thoroughly alive mechanical creations.