Inside exclusive Ferrari Foundry factory: how Italy’s most iconic supercars are made

Ferrari makes some of the most powerful vehicles of all time, but exactly how and where are they made?

The Italian sportscar manufacturer was founded in 1939 by racing driver Enzo Ferrari. 

It was founded in Modena, Italy, and today it still has its headquarters there at the famed Maranello factory. 

Here’s what goes on the plant and how some of your favorite cars are built.

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Inside the Ferrari factory

Ferrari built its very first car in 1940 and since then has earned itself a reputation for creating some of the most desirable and iconic vehicles to ever grace the road. 

Alongside its famous Big Five –  the 288 GTO, F40, F50, Enzo, and La Ferrari Aperta – the luxury marque has created Grand Prix winners and record breakers. 

And all that magic starts at its factory in Maranello, Italy.

Current models being built at the factory include the SF90 Stradale, the Purosange, the Daytona SP3, and the upcoming F80 hypercar.

As you may know, isn’t your typical mass-production carmaker, like Toyota or Volkswagen – so it doesn’t churn out tens of thousands of cars per year.

Instead, the company favors quality over quantity, keeping numbers strictly limited.

In a typical year, the marque builds around 8,400 cars – and all of them roll off the production line at Maranello. 

Maranello is also home to the famous Fiorano test track, a completely private track, which is regularly used by the F1 to test out its new F1 cars ahead of the upcoming season.

Alongside that, the site also contains the Ferrari Museum where gearheads can get up close to some of the most beautiful cars ever built.

How Italy’s most iconic supercars are made

So, that’s where Ferraris are born, but how are the supercars actually built?

Ferrari proudly builds its vehicles by hand at the Maranello plant.

The only part of the production process that’s automated is the connection of each vehicle’s valve mechanics, other than that, it’s down to the team of around 130,000 to get each and every car made.

Its engines are made in the legendary Foundry, where – despite vast technological advancements – things haven’t changed too much since Enzo’s days of crafting engines.

“Solid aluminum ingots are heated in two large melting furnaces; when they become liquid, they are poured into sand or steel casting molds to produce machine components,” the carmaker explains.

As you’d imagine, it gets hot. Very hot.

The furnaces are kept running year-round – aside from two days when they’re shut off for maintenance work – and they hit a tempreture of around 1,292F (700C), which is hot enough to keep around 4400lbs (2,000kg) of alloy in a liquid state. So, yeah, it’s hot. 

That liquid alloy is then poured into machine-made molds that are carefully watched over by the factory’s experts to ensure that the entire process runs smoothly.

Once the engine is cast, it – like the rest of the vehicle – is built by hand.

Older cars are also looked after at the factory

The factory doesn’t just produce new vehicles, it also has a special workshop where it works to restore, repair, and revive its stunning older cars – giving them a second chance at life.

The Ferrari Classiche is powered by a team of dedicated specialists who can get older or damaged Ferraris working again and looking brand new.

Introduced by then-president Luca di Montezemolo in 2006, the specialist workshop provides support for both older racing cars as well as road-going vehicles. 

To help assist the team, the workshop also contains a huge archive of original technical drawings, prints, spec lists, and images – so the experts always have years of knowledge to draw on. 

A truly remarkable factory for a truly remarkable carmaker.

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