Official Team Polizei 144 Blog - by Alex Roy

I preface the following by saying if you love cars, especially Italy’s finest, and are presented the opportunity to visit Modena, Maranello and Sant ‘Agata for a short two day tour of the Maserati, Ferrari, and Lamborghini factories…GO!!

This trip was covertly dubbed "The Italian Exotics Tour 2008" by its chief operational strategist, Brian Wiele. The first stop on the tour was a scheduled visit to the Maserati Factory in Modena at 4pm on Thursday, April 3rd. After a long journey from JFK through Dublin to Milan early Thursday morning, we rented cars and headed to Modena.  What should have been a fairly direct drive yielding ample time to rendezvous for lunch, turned into a rush to make our 4PM tour. The group convened at the factory harried, but no more than a few minutes tardy. We were greeted by Francisco, a young, well-dressed Italian who spoke good English and was an all-around great ambassador for the company. Not only did he know the history of the company and all of the historic dates, he fielded every question without hesitation, and above all else, he seemed more than enthusiastic to share every bit of his knowledge with our group. The tour began in the main showroom where a Quattroporte, a Gran Tourismo and an extremely rare MC12 Corsa were on display.

This MC12 is not something you’ll see every day. They are a limited production, Enzo-based, supercar whose production run finished at 12 examples. Francisco picked up on our interest in the car and gave us the rundown. He said that it was a customer car on display. The 12 MC 12 Corsas were built to meet an exclusive customer demand to own the 2005 FIA GT Manufacturers Cup winning Maserati MC 12 GT1.  The car was developed as a non road-going, track-only version of the MC12 GT1 making 755 hp from an Enzo derived V12. In addition to being hand picked by Maserati, the lucky 12 valued customers also liquidated $1.7 million in exchange for having the ultimate track toy.

After leaving the showroom, we made our way to the assembly facility.  I snapped a picture of the storage building with a few painted Quattroporte bodies outside before Francisco politely requested that be the last shot taken. Francisco gave us a detailed background of some of the company’s milestones, ranging from its ownership by Citroen in 1968, by De Tomaso in 1975, and of Fiat in 1993, who sold half of the company to Ferrari in 1997. In 1999 Ferrari took full control and made Maserati its luxury division. Then in 2005 Maserati came back under full control of Fiat. Francesco made sure to infuse the history with some racing heritage highlights which included wins in Gran Prix, Indy 500, and most significantly, the 1957 Formula One World Championship at the helm of famed driver Juan Manuel Fangio. After which, Maserati began applying some of its racing technology to their street cars throughout the 50’s and 60’s (none more successful than the Quattroporte in 2003).  Adjacent to the assembly building was a covered area where palettes stacked high overhead were filled with Maserati motors, of three colors, Blue, burgundy and red that had been machined and built not far away in Maranello. The blue motors were the 4.2L V8 motors, the main power plant of the Quattroporte and Gran Tourismo, and in Burgundy the 4.7L V8 motor of the Gran Tourismo S. All of the Maserati motors are wet sump and designed to be quieter and more refined than their race bred Ferrari brethren. The third motor on site stood out in a brighter red and was not intended for the luxury Maserati cars.  We finally got into the factory where 2 assembly lines were working on the Quattroporte the Gran TourIsmo and the Gran Tourismo S and something else I was pleasantly surprised to see, the new Alfa Romeo 8C. Then I realized what the third motor was for.

A red 8C hung overhead among a line of Maseratis on a rotisserie that allows the cars to be raised and lowered at each station and rolled like a pig over a spit. The space was state of the art and massive. Just as one 8C went by on the assembly line, another one was being rolled outside. Francisco informed us that all of the Maserati bodies on the line are steel and come painted direct from the Ferrari factory. The Alfa is different, unlike the aluminum Ferraris and the steel Maseratis, the 8C’s body is carbon fiber, which gives the 8C a head start in the weight savings department. Another tidbit we learned is that the mold for the CF bodies can be used for only 10 cars before it loses its shape and needs to be remade. I suppose Francisco knew why they were bringing the 8C outside because he suggested we follow him out behind it. Within a moment they had the engine fired up. That was the first sign of its beating heart and it sounded special. I had seen a few shots of the 8C in magazines and was impressed but seeing it in person was more impressive. Its design makes it an instant classic as it pays homage to the the Alfas of yore. From the low-sweeping, V -shaped hood back to its softly arched haunches, the Alfa is stunning. It’s athletic, elegant, and aggressive but not brutish. As I was trying to examine the lines on the car I was distracted by its exhaust note as the team jabbed the throttle. The sound tips you off to the fact that it is much more than sexy, sculpted, carbon fiber. The phrase "wolf in sheep’s clothing" seem to fit nicely. It is so ferocious sounding that it almost doesn’t seem to go with the car’s beauty…but it does, and in an awesome way. Whether it’s the motor, or the exhaust, or the combination of both, the engineers at Alfa definitely got the note right.  By no means does it share the signature tenor tone of the V8 Ferraris.   The 8C is a barking, burbling, baritone that will certainly turn heads but may also rattle your fillings. The engine generating the sound is a 4.7L 450 hp aluminum dry dump lubrication motor built and bench tested by the Ferrari engineering artisans down the road in Maranello. It comes with an F1 style paddle shift transmission (not as blindingly quick as the 430 Scuderia) but still quicker than you could manage with a manual. The production run for the 8C is set for 500 coupes and 500 rag tops. The 8C will get you from naught to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 4.2 seconds and see the north side of 180 mph and also set you back about 240K….but don’t plan on picking one up unless Alfa has already called you and asked if you wanted yours. Sorry, like the MC12 Corsa, these are said to be reserved for existing valued Maserati owners and collectors.

Back inside Francisco talked to more about the factory explaining the different stations on the production line. Each station was manned by a number of different men depending on the function of each station. He told us that the starting salary for the employees worked out to the equivalent of some $40 thousand USD, and that they rotate stations every three months to keep things fresh. The shop is open 8 hours a day for 5 days a week and can complete 41 cars per day. In 2007, Maserati produced some 7000 cars and it slated to increase the output to 8500 in 2008 (probably owing to the fact that the second quarter of last year marked the its first profitable one in 17 years). When the cars come off the production line, they undergo a series of tests, one of which is to make sure all the gaps on the body are uniform and the doors and decks and lids close properly. The workers at this station slide a piece of plastic through all of the gaps and adjust hinges by hand until everything lines up perfectly.  All of the cars are driven onto rollers and gradually sped up to 200kph (120mph) from which diagnostic equipment relays critical engine performance data. What struck me was that they run the cars up to 200kph yet they don’t even strap them down. So they’re on the rollers, speeding along (at a standstill), yet drifting precariously side to side. What was even more odd was the tour traveled directly in front of its path. In a second diagnostic booth, we had the opportunity to watch a Gran Tourismo S take its 200kph test. I was excited to hear it bellow at full song, but as soon as the doors closed behind it, it went dead silent. The test booths are completely soundproof to the point we couldn’t even hear a hum from 6 feet away.  The cars are also tested in a rain booth where water is shot from all directions to check for leaks. That was pretty much it for the tour of the factory. We were fortunate enough to have Francesco take us through one last building which he said many of the tours do not get to see. It housed the finished cars which sat ready to be picked up or shipped. This was the last chance any of the dealers could inspect the cars for defects. At this point if a dealer noticed something wrong, it was still under Maserati’s purview. After leaving that building, anything wrong with the cars is said to be the dealer’s problem. The Maserati factory was impressive, plain and simple, but what made the experience stand out was the exceptional treatment we received from our guide.

Part II, Ferrari, will be posted tomorrow.

Best, Dave