Ferrari - Modena, Italy

In the motoring world, the small town of Modena in Italy is probably most well known as the birthplace of Ferrari. It is here that Enzo Ferrari first set up Scuderia Ferrari. At the northern part of Modena sits Museo Enzo Ferrari, a museum that celebrates the life of Enzo Ferrari with exhibits of the company's notable road cars.

The museum itself is a fine piece of architecture, with a hangar style interior that does not distract from the cars on display.

Beginning with the Alfa Romeo race cars that are the roots of Ferrari, you are then shown the progression and evolution of the company.

Notable models such as the Testarossa are present.

You also cannot go past the F40 when thinking of iconic Ferraris.

As you move to the modern era, there are the F50 and Enzo.

And finally, we finish with the 458 Italia and hybrid LaFerrari.

Adjacent to the main museum building is the Museum of Engines.

In here, you'll find the engines that powered famous Ferrari models.

A selection of classics and race cars are on display too, including this beautiful Dino and Formula 1 models.

There's also a model of the man himself.

There are too many engines to show in this post, but you can see all of them here.

Pagani Automobili - San Cesario Sul Panaro, Italy

The next car related visit in Europe was in Italy. We stayed in Modena, which would be the base for all our manufacturer outings. The first stop was at Pagani, one of my favourite car companies. Pagani is located in San Cesario Sul Panaro, about 10 km south east of Modena. The Google Street View of Pagani's headquarters and factory is quite a sight.

Being a small boutique manufacturer, Pagani does not have an automated production line with robots assembling the cars. At this facility, all the carbon fibre body parts and hand crafted by artisans, with each layer of carbon laid one at a time into moulds. The parts are then vacuum sealed to ensure all air pockets are removed from between the layers of carbon fibre. After this, the parts are baked in an oven for hours.

The cars are then hand assembled over a series of stations, and each one takes months to complete. Pagani cars are only made to order and customers have to wait up to two years from the time their order is placed until their car is delivered.

In the showroom were a pair of Zondas - one was a Zonda F and the other a (track-only) Zonda R Evolution.

The attention to detail is just mind blowing...

And the interiors are over the top and appear to be straight out of a yacht.

The engines are supplied by Mercedes AMG.

Everybody likes a nice rear end...

Especially when that rear end is naked.

The Zonda is no longer in production, but Pagani will make one-off Zondas for special customers. After the visit to the original factory, we were taken to Pagani's new factory a couple of kilometres down the road. The new site will also be the home of the future Pagani museum.

At the new factory, we were shown the production line of the Huayra but as with other factory tours, photography was not permitted. So here's a picture of a Huayra model.

This factory tour was memorable because it really showed that from humble beginnings, great things can be achieved.

More photos can be viewed here.

Nurburgring Part 2 - Nurburg, Germany

Nurburg is obviously famous for the race track that surrounds it, but there's more to the place than just car racing. Our hotel the Lindner Hotel Eifeldorf Grune Holle is a quaint little German style building.

Across the road is the Eifeldorf's parent hotel - the Lindner Congress & Motorsport Hotel. In the background, you can see the roller coaster that is next to the main straight of the Nurburgring GP track.

Walking around, there's no denying that you can't escape the reminder of cars and racing. Here we see the main straight of the GP track.

There was some open wheeler practice on the GP track the day we were there.

The visitor center provides a huge facility to hold functions and displays.

Preparations were taking place for the Nurburgring 24 Hour race event the following week.

Nissan has a large presence at the ring, given the amount of testing that took place there for the R35 GT-R. There is a showroom and fan shop.

A Juke Nismo...

The current model year R35...

The 370Z Nismo...

In Nurburg town, there is one main road looking up at Nurburg Castle which dates back to the 1100s.

Spring in Germany brings out the tulips.

There is a BMW test center in town, where M cars are brought to be tested on the Nordschleife.

Here we are at the castle.

The view from the castle is absolutely beautiful. It really shows why the place is called the Green Hell.

The hills are alive, with the sound of engines...

After having a taste of driving the Nordschleife, it is an experience that leaves me wanting more. People who love track days will know what I mean. I will be back, and I highly recommend making the trip there if you are at all interested in cars.