In March 2012, a new museum arrived on the Modena scene: the Museo Enzo Ferrari (MEF), dedicated to Ferrari’s life and artistic legacy. The current exhibition, “The Great Challenges Ferrari – Maserati”, is about the eternal duel that involved challenges between two great names in Italian automobile history. My favorite car on display was this Maserati.
The 1956 curves of the beautiful racer brought back memories of watching cars like this at Elkhart Lake’s Road America raceway in Wisconsin when I was in college.
The Museum
I was quite surprised to learn that quiet little Modena is Italy’s motor city. You might ask why it has that designation. Modena is home to Lamborghini, the Maserati plant and is the home town of Enzo Ferrari.
The guiding principles of the museum’s design are to communicate the motoring vocation of Modena and to tell the story of Ferrari. The museum complex was designed according to bioclimatic principles and made with innovative materials. It was built to promote energy conservation and environmental sustainability.
Ferrari vs. Maserati—the exhibition
Cars, the protagonists of the museum, are mounted and exhibited as works of art, atop specially design platforms. Exhibitions are typically changed out every six months. Ferrari and Maserati had different ways of considering the car, and this left a deep mark on the Modena territory and car racing history across the world.
For the current exhibition, 19 cars were brought from all over the world for display, carefully selected from the most representative examples of the two makes. The exhibition, which shows the most important cars involved in the racing competition between the two Emilia Romagna car manufacturers, will run until 20 March, 2013.
Cars and art—at home in Modena
If you like cars and modern architecture the Museo Casa Enzo Ferrari is a must see.
Italy is known for Art and Cars. Modena did not disappoint.
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