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It’s cold, gray and very wet outside as I speed towards the hairpin bend of Ferrari’s legendary Pista di Fiorano test track, a tricky return route inspired by Monte Carlo’s challenging Gasometer corner (later La Rascasse). A few seconds later, as antique windshield wipers vaguely try to tackle the rain pounding on the windshield in front of me, I brake hard and do my creaky old man best to shut down the brutal, V-12 powered Ferrari 365GTB/4 Daytona to be obtained in 1968. that I have been invited to drive in a media event celebrating the launch of a new program of Ferrari’s Classiche operation, Corso Pilota Classiche.
Available only to the royal Italian carmaker’s existing customers, the Corso Pilota Classiche program is an immersive two-day package designed to teach owners of new and vintage Ferraris to better use their valuable machines on the track, with an emphasis on the company’s older cars, it is believed, in the hope of also increasing sales of modern Ferrari products. According to driving schools, this is certainly not the cheapest one you can follow. But it is probably the only one to make a Daytona available to its students, along with a 1996 550 Maranello, a 1975 308GTS, a 1980 GTBi, a 1985 3.2 Mondial and, depending on the day, a 1962 250 Lusso , with a bevy of highly qualified former drivers to serve as instructors. These aren’t the oldest or most valuable Ferraris ever, and it’s safe to say F1 driver Charles Leclerc won’t fine-tune your heel-and-toe technique, but we can confirm the experience is much better than a poke in your eye with a sharp stick.
Learning on the test track
In addition to the arsenal of classic machines, Corso Pilota Classiche is the only driving instruction program that takes place on the experimental test track that Enzo Ferrari built to examine and polish the company’s racing and road cars. There’s a lot of history behind it, and that’s what the company’s Classiche operation, founded in 2006, is all about. Classiche is carrying out restoration work nearby on the old Ferrari site. Among other delectable treats we spied on the day we visited, there was a 1950s Testa Rossa prototype, fitted with the same engine from the car in which Alfonso de Portago was killed during the 1957 Mille Miglia (a crash that was quite gruesome is shown in the recent movie Ferrari) in the Classiche workshop for a thorough restoration.
For a fee, Classiche also certifies the cars the company has built as correct (or not), using its extensive and meticulously maintained build records to verify the specifications, original equipment and any subsequent work as correct in materials and construction method. , an increasingly important consideration as the value of older Ferraris, especially rare, historic ones, continues their march into the stratosphere. Depending on the vehicle in question, the cost for this seal of authenticity ranges from several thousand to tens of thousands of dollars; Many of the more modern cars are suitable for certification by local Ferrari dealers, while other, rarer, typically older cars must be shipped to Maranello for more careful examination. Any corrective repairs or replacement of parts are of course extra.
One of those cars, a very handsome 250 California Spider with a hardtop, had a frame outrigger tube replaced after metallurgical analysis showed that the current part, neatly installed after the original was bent in an accident, was made from an incorrect alloy. Ah, the cost of keeping it real.
The price of the Corso Pilota program, which can be booked through your Ferrari dealer or via the MyStore section of the company’s MyFerrari app, also varies, according to Ferrari spokesman Jeffrey Grossbard, although it starts at several thousand euros . No exact amount is mentioned, Grossbard clarifies, “as this will be charged by the dealer the customer works with. This will lead to some variability due to local taxes,” and should the dealer “decide to offer an experience for its customer, including tours from others?” /visits at your discretion.” The cost for the two-day program includes accommodation, meals – including dinners at nearby Ristorante Montana and Ristorante Cavallino during our visit – and a full-day driving school on the Fiorano circuit. Paying customers can hone their skills testing with a rally competition on the last day on the circuit, but also receiving guided tours of the factory and the Classiche workshops and the archive, leaving only the plane tickets as an additional cost.
Ferrari’s Pista di Fiorano was opened in 1972 and built with financing believed to have come from the 1969 sale of a 50 percent stake in the company to Fiat. It was located on two adjacent plots of agricultural land that Ferrari had previously acquired in Fiorano Modenese, less than a mile away. from the company’s factory in Maranello, a small town about an hour’s taxi ride from Bologna, where we flew, or two and a half hours southeast of Milan. A small farm, from which Il Commendatore once observed the proceedings on the purpose-built track, on closed circuit television or by looking out his window, is located next to the configurable figure 8 track and has recently been restored. Favorite (read: perennial) Ferrari customers can reportedly arrange an additional fee for an overnight stay at the house for that extra special feeling of oneness with the late maestro and his world, including his old black-and-white TV.
The 3.1 kilometer long test track was designed to showcase signature turns with different radii, both right and left-handed, taking inspiration from other famous circuits including Zandvoort’s “Tarzan” corner and the Brünnchen jump at the Nürburgring. As a testing facility, the Corso Fiorano is conveniently equipped with the means to wet the entire surface at will, a facility that was not needed on the rainy day we took to the track. Similarly, a skidpad within the track’s perimeter required no additional watering for an exercise in which students practiced getting the 308 sideways and then catching it, a task that proved remarkably tiring for at least one sleep-deprived and barely fit journalist present , made worse by the 308’s lack of power steering. Which, to be clear, doesn’t mean it wasn’t fun.
Back on the track, the first corner of the Fiorano course can be configured in two possible ways, both designed to disrupt a car’s balance under braking. Later turns aim to investigate the impact of centrifugal forces on fuel delivery and lubrication, while drivers get the chance to explore their braking systems in a competition environment. While a ride with a skilled Italian helmsman showed us how it could be done, our own internal measurement told us that the right way to do it was the one where we weren’t the guy putting the exquisite Italian metal into the Armco or tire walls . Many lessons have been learned, but there has also been a better understanding of why few still bother to campaign He-Man heavyweight rear-drive V-12 machines. Hard cornering in the Maranello is an all-hands-on-deck affair, despite its well-balanced weight distribution, intoxicating soundtrack and undeniable charm. The hard work is even greater with the Daytona, an even more beautiful vehicle that rewards focused input and maximum upper body strength. So while the Mondial may still not look like much when you’re standing next to some of the most beautiful Ferraris the world has ever known, it’s an unexpectedly enjoyable machine to drive as fast as possible once you’ve exhausted yourself in the Daytona.
Corso Pilota Classiche is an idea whose time has clearly come and which will undoubtedly prove to be a good money printer for Ferrari. But with many of today’s young owners on the move – millionaires and billionaires born in an era when fewer and fewer people ever learn the disappearing art of shifting gears – it seems this new Classiche program might want to consider a task to to add to his program: activities list is a day of training in manual transmissions. For the 26-year-old master of the universe who won the multi-million dollar 250GT Le Mans at the Gooding auction but still doesn’t really know how to make it happen, this could be an extremely useful service.
Mastering speeds and double declutching is not the job of a quick conversation with an instructor with limited English proficiency. But while some of us can’t afford to make mistakes (raises our hands), many Classiche customers can. And when they do, they’re in the best place to get things exactly right.
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