From Trieste I rode to Modena, home to the Supercars of Italy – Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Pagani and Ducati (motorcycles) in nearby Bologna, motoring enthusiasts heaven 🙂 . I also visited the San Marino F1 track at Imola, this is where Ayrton Senna lost his life in the 1994 F1 race.

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I used the Autostrada (toll road) from Trieste to Dolo as I had already been on the B road going there, first time on the freeway in Italy and no different to any other freeway. After Dolo I took the B road to Modena a much nicer ride through the countryside.

The Ferrari museum and factory are in Maranello on the outskirts of Modena, the test track is nearby in Fiorano. I visited the museum along with a few tour busses of Chinese and Germans, this is a busy place. I also went on the Bus tour of the factory and the test track, this was a complete waste of time, they drive around the factory grounds saying, in this building they make the engines and in this one they make the bodies. You are not allowed to get off the bus and no photos. Next the test track and we did not even go on the track just drove around the car park hahaha, end of tour. Ferrari make around 8000 cars a year and all of them are made to order.

Next I rode into Modena to the Enzo Ferrari Museum, this is where Enzo Ferrari lived and worked. This place has a museum of Ferrari engines. On the way there I took some single lane back roads and was stopped by a peacock in the middle of the road with its feathers extended calling loudly, then I noticed another male peacock on the verge. By the time I got my camera out they were gone, astonishing.

I rode to Bologna about 30 km from Modena to visit the Ducati Museum and Factory. They actually take you on a tour inside the factory where you are dodging carts delivering parts etc hahaha close to all the action (no photos), very good.

From the Ducati factory I rode on to Imola, not allowed onto the track, only a small museum and shop, an F1 car exhibition and a movie about Ayrton Senna as this is where he lost his life in the F1 race in 1994, caused by a steering column failure.

The Lamborghini Museum is located in a small village called Sant Agata. They also have a factory tour for which you have to book at least 6 weeks in advance. I was lucky to get on the tour the same day due to a cancellation, very interesting. They only make around 3500 cars a year and like Ferrari all are made to order with 1-2 year wait depending on the model. The museum had a special Ayrton Senna exhibition showing all the racing cars he had driven.

The Pagani Museum and factory were closed for renovations from 2 – 18 June so I will have to come back another time.

Maserati do not have a museum just a new car showroom in Modena with some merchandise. But the Panini Motor museum located in a farm out of Modena has a collection of Maserati cars, a few other brands as well and some motorcycles. It would be a lot better if there was more space and the exhibits were labelled.