Visit to Maserati factory , April 2010
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Parisien
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Countdown begins.......to visit on 1st April Thursday .........weather might not be perfect......for the Easter period, but will be enjoying myself regardless!
Thanks for all your tips and help guys!
P
PS I wont be posting for a week or so guys......am sure you will understand!!!
PPSS But I might try to sneak an hour or two on a computer...
Thanks for all your tips and help guys!
P
PS I wont be posting for a week or so guys......am sure you will understand!!!
PPSS But I might try to sneak an hour or two on a computer...
Parisien
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To finalise the story about our visit to Modena.
As a number of you are aware, Modena can be added to the long list of Italian cities with no road signage of ANY kind, once inside the town/city boundaries.......in an almost Mafiaesque way they want to keep the inner workings and location of any visitor in their towns a complete and un-revealable secret.......
And so it turned out on the morning of the 1st April 2010 AD, we had driven down the night before and skirted the town of Modena via its tangezniale and noted the name of the small village nearby Cittanova, where the Panini musuem was closest too. But being an Alpha male to the power of -10......., I shrugged off the need to retrace our route and find the noted turn off again! Needless to say 45 minutes later I had driven nearly all the 345 streets in Modena without finding anything remotely near where I wanted to go, even with a map/atlas!!!!
However as we all know in life, persistence usually pays off, so heading effectively, due west I knew sooner or later we would happen on where we wanted to go! Sure enough, we found our road sign in accordance with the google map and headed in that direction, as the road got more lane like than road we can to a small junction......"Road Closed"....!!! So deviating off our small map we did a 360 degree circuit until we saw the Trident sign on the roadside guiding us into the Panini museum.
With 10 mins to spare we pulled up in front of demure, modern type, 2 storey building, no hint of what was inside. Other visitors hovered about outside, merely going inside, so sign of any one checking or officialdom. A few minutes later, in a very un-Italian fashion our tour guide Franceso...arrived a full 5mins ahead of schedule. We then spent a good hour in his company as he took us through the collection of about 20 odd cars, telling us about the owner and the musuems history. His English was excellent and we thoroughly enjoyed our time there seeing such a beautiful array of historical and fascinating Maseratis!
We had a quick look inside the Parmesan section of the farm to witness its production and gaze at the vast store of full sized wheels of cheese.....brilliant!
We had a map of Modena too, but we still took directions from Franceso, even so.....theory and actuality are sometimes distant cousins in Italy, but we eventually spied the huge trident a full kilometre away and made our way to it. Pulling up at the main gate and presenting our printed email to the guard, he instructed us to do park up in the factory carpark....no easy task in itself and it involved several turns and twists, going under a dual carraigeway just to get back to where we started to access the entrance!!!!
Once through security we were advised the guide, Giorgio, was delayed in traffic, but fortunately this was only for 10-15 mins. He finally arrived and we chatted about Maserati in general, the uniqueness of the showroom itslef, the site on which the current factory stands and his previous career since 1966 with Maserati until a few years ago when he retired, also relating a few stories about the De Tomasco years! He also said that the peak production of 2008 ( 8000+) fell dramatically in 2009 to a mere 5000 cars, which proved very difficult for the company.
Onto the tour proper, we entered the Maserati factory..........................wow....................wow.............WOW.............!!!................we were both taken aback at the quietness, cleaniless, lack of furiously working assembly workers ........being told each work station was allowed 36 mins and 55 seconds to complete its part of the assembly. Mostly the guys finished in 26-30 minutes allowing time for a ***, phone call or call of nature. Their training took a mere 2-3 days, then observing a fully trained worker carrying out the work 100 times then working under observation themselves for a further 150 times, before being signed off.
The vast majority of the workforce were from Southern Italy, the locals apparently, aren't prepared to get their hands dirty. The cars were split into two lines, one for GT, GT cabrio and Alfa Romeo Spyder; the 2nd for QPs. We followed the cars around noting again the relative simplicity of the process, but at the same time the well rehearsed actions and intricacies of getting a car built! There was only one robot, assigend to gluing into place the front and rear screens to ensure a perfect fit each time. A mere 14 bolts located the full engine, gearbox and suspension assembly onto the car.
Giorgio talked us through the processes and bits and pieces of quite a few of the stations before we crossed to the finishing areas were the car was tested for water ingress, paint finish, test driving and final preparation before being dispatched. At this point, very, very few cars are found wanting and only 1 or 2 a month are send back for some more defect fixing. Though there was a dent "fettler" working on a completely invisible, imaginary ......IMHO "flaw" on the bonnet of a QP.....!!! All of the people employed to find both flaws inside and outside the car were females, apparently the male of ths species aint up to the job of spotting the very littlest of defects!!!!!
So there we were stood in the finishing area......surrounded by dozens of Maseratis...each as fabulous as the next....a sight similar to a collection of the 8 Wonders of the World to a true Maseratisti........utterly divine!
We said our good byes and thanked him very much for his time and insight to the world of Maserati.....we came away from the factory like two excited children.....
Thanks to all on the board for their help in organising our dream like day in Modena.
P
As a number of you are aware, Modena can be added to the long list of Italian cities with no road signage of ANY kind, once inside the town/city boundaries.......in an almost Mafiaesque way they want to keep the inner workings and location of any visitor in their towns a complete and un-revealable secret.......
And so it turned out on the morning of the 1st April 2010 AD, we had driven down the night before and skirted the town of Modena via its tangezniale and noted the name of the small village nearby Cittanova, where the Panini musuem was closest too. But being an Alpha male to the power of -10...
...., I shrugged off the need to retrace our route and find the noted turn off again! Needless to say 45 minutes later I had driven nearly all the 345 streets in Modena without finding anything remotely near where I wanted to go, even with a map/atlas!!!! However as we all know in life, persistence usually pays off, so heading effectively, due west I knew sooner or later we would happen on where we wanted to go! Sure enough, we found our road sign in accordance with the google map and headed in that direction, as the road got more lane like than road we can to a small junction......"Road Closed"....!!! So deviating off our small map we did a 360 degree circuit until we saw the Trident sign on the roadside guiding us into the Panini museum.
With 10 mins to spare we pulled up in front of demure, modern type, 2 storey building, no hint of what was inside. Other visitors hovered about outside, merely going inside, so sign of any one checking or officialdom. A few minutes later, in a very un-Italian fashion our tour guide Franceso...arrived a full 5mins ahead of schedule. We then spent a good hour in his company as he took us through the collection of about 20 odd cars, telling us about the owner and the musuems history. His English was excellent and we thoroughly enjoyed our time there seeing such a beautiful array of historical and fascinating Maseratis!
We had a quick look inside the Parmesan section of the farm to witness its production and gaze at the vast store of full sized wheels of cheese.....brilliant!
We had a map of Modena too, but we still took directions from Franceso, even so.....theory and actuality are sometimes distant cousins in Italy, but we eventually spied the huge trident a full kilometre away and made our way to it. Pulling up at the main gate and presenting our printed email to the guard, he instructed us to do park up in the factory carpark....no easy task in itself and it involved several turns and twists, going under a dual carraigeway just to get back to where we started to access the entrance!!!!
Once through security we were advised the guide, Giorgio, was delayed in traffic, but fortunately this was only for 10-15 mins. He finally arrived and we chatted about Maserati in general, the uniqueness of the showroom itslef, the site on which the current factory stands and his previous career since 1966 with Maserati until a few years ago when he retired, also relating a few stories about the De Tomasco years! He also said that the peak production of 2008 ( 8000+) fell dramatically in 2009 to a mere 5000 cars, which proved very difficult for the company.
Onto the tour proper, we entered the Maserati factory..........................wow....................wow.............WOW.............!!!................we were both taken aback at the quietness, cleaniless, lack of furiously working assembly workers ...
.....being told each work station was allowed 36 mins and 55 seconds to complete its part of the assembly. Mostly the guys finished in 26-30 minutes allowing time for a ***, phone call or call of nature. Their training took a mere 2-3 days, then observing a fully trained worker carrying out the work 100 times then working under observation themselves for a further 150 times, before being signed off.The vast majority of the workforce were from Southern Italy, the locals apparently, aren't prepared to get their hands dirty. The cars were split into two lines, one for GT, GT cabrio and Alfa Romeo Spyder; the 2nd for QPs. We followed the cars around noting again the relative simplicity of the process, but at the same time the well rehearsed actions and intricacies of getting a car built! There was only one robot, assigend to gluing into place the front and rear screens to ensure a perfect fit each time. A mere 14 bolts located the full engine, gearbox and suspension assembly onto the car.
Giorgio talked us through the processes and bits and pieces of quite a few of the stations before we crossed to the finishing areas were the car was tested for water ingress, paint finish, test driving and final preparation before being dispatched. At this point, very, very few cars are found wanting and only 1 or 2 a month are send back for some more defect fixing. Though there was a dent "fettler" working on a completely invisible, imaginary ...
...IMHO "flaw" on the bonnet of a QP.....!!! All of the people employed to find both flaws inside and outside the car were females, apparently the male of ths species aint up to the job of spotting the very littlest of defects!!!!!So there we were stood in the finishing area......surrounded by dozens of Maseratis...each as fabulous as the next....a sight similar to a collection of the 8 Wonders of the World to a true Maseratisti........utterly divine!
We said our good byes and thanked him very much for his time and insight to the world of Maserati.....we came away from the factory like two excited children.....
Thanks to all on the board for their help in organising our dream like day in Modena.
P
Last edited:
conaero
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Thanks Frank, a very nice post to read with the mornings first cuppa. Must admit, I am chomping at the bit to get down there, its just, the missus aint interested, so I have to organise it in my own time.....I must show here the Francesco's Italy I have on DVD again, that usually gets here going.
Its funny what you say about each tech having an lotted time to complete a task, then take a comfort break, I wonder if that would cause sloppy work....I expect not, as it sounds like the inspection is very meticulous.
I think we should try and organise a forum Euro event next year or the next, Mille Miglia, Stelvio Pass, factory tour, museum, Nurburg Ring, Le Mans?
Its funny what you say about each tech having an lotted time to complete a task, then take a comfort break, I wonder if that would cause sloppy work....I expect not, as it sounds like the inspection is very meticulous.
I think we should try and organise a forum Euro event next year or the next, Mille Miglia, Stelvio Pass, factory tour, museum, Nurburg Ring, Le Mans?
Parisien
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Loz...you brute..
...as you know...no pics are allowed inside the factory now....took a few from carpark, will load up and a few from Panini, but most of those familiar to people on here! No Conaero, the comfort break wasn't really built into the 36 mins 55secs, just the way it evolved, but naturally...they expect you to get it perfectly right each time as you aint rushed or harassed to get it dun quicker!!" think we should try and organise a forum Euro event next year or the next, Mille Miglia, Stelvio Pass, factory tour, museum, Nurburg Ring, Le Mans? "
Eeemmmmmm.....gee......eeeekkkkkk!!..
Sorta need 2/3 weeks for that!
P
GransportFan1
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bloody nora, that is a Corsa version, in white as well, most are Blue. Thanks for that. We will have to organise a forum Maserati factory trip at some point.