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Automotive Lifestyle
VINTAGE: Ferraris, Abarths Enshriined
Fabrizio Violati formed his passion into a museum dedicated to his favorite racing machines, with the aid of Enzo Ferrari.
Fabrizio Violati saved his first race car, a now-priceless Ferrari GTO, from the scrap heap for an investment of $4,000. (Photo: Wouter Melissen)
On May 25, 1947, Franco Cortese scored Ferrari's first victory as a constructor by taking a win in the Rome Grand Prix. One of the spectators on that fateful day was the 11-year old Fabrizio Violati. This was the start of a lifelong passion for cars in general and Ferrari in particular that would culminate into one of the finest privately owned museums in the world: Maranello Rosso.
Violati was born in Rome in 1935 as the youngest son of a farmer and mineral-water producer. He quickly developed a taste for speed and by his late teens was performing hair-raising stunts on his reinforced Vespa scooter. One of his friends photographed him jumping over no fewer than 10 wine barrels. The photograph was sent to Vespa management, who were greatly impressed by the Italian Evel Knievel and hired him as a works driver for a variety of races and trials.
While studying for a degree in geology, he switched from competing on two wheels to racing on four. He acquired a Fiat 600 in 1959 and entered it in a variety of hill climbs with little success. A year later, the little Fiat was replaced by a much more potent Fiat Abarth 750. Unfortunately he was involved in a massive shunt that put him in the hospital for six months. Once released, his family forbade him from ever racing again. His love for Abarths nevertheless remained strong.
In the following years, Violati respected his family's wishes with one notable exception that resulted from an encounter in 1965 with an old Ferrari competition car that was close to being retired permanently. This soon-to- be-scrapped Ferrari was none other than 250 GTO 3851GT that had placed second in the 1962 Tour de France. He paid the princely sum of 2,500,000 lire, which was about $4,000 at the time. His family was none the wise and to keep it that way, Violati could only use his new pride and joy at night.
It would take the better part of 10 years before Violati expanded his collection with a second Ferrari, a 250 GT. During the years in between he was too busy expanding the family empire and racing yachts. Shortly after acquiring the 250 GT, Violati added a competition spec, alloy-bodied 250 GT SWB to his stable. From then on, the collection really took off and gradually grew in size. Today it holds around 25 important Ferraris and 40 Abarths.
By the end of the 1970s, Violati could no longer resist the urge and returned to racing with his much-loved 250 GTO. He raced the car with great verve despite its ever-increasing value. For Violati, cars primarily had a practical purpose and he was perfectly happy with leaving the 250 GTO parked on a busy street. His yellow windshield band with the Scuderia Campidoglio, a reference to his native Rome, became a familiar sight on tracks across Europe throughout the 1980s. One the many highlights of Violati's historic racing career was his winning the 1985 FIA Historic Championship.
Violati's second racing career was not limited to historic racing alone; he participated in two editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a Ferrari 512 BBLM entered by Scuderia Bellancauto and sponsored by his Ferrarelle mineral water. His most famous outing was in 1981 when he fielded a radical version of the 5-liter sports car fitted with a unique body penned by Amando Palanco, who had many decades before designed one of the Fiat entries for the famed Schneider Trophy. Sadlym both races ended in retirements.
In 1984, none other than Enzo Ferrari asked Violati to create the Ferrari Club Italia. He subsequently encouraged the racer and collector to create a museum for some his finest creations and use the name Maranello Rosso. Unfortunately, Ferrari did not live long enough to see the grand opening of the museum in December 1989. Maranello Rosso was located initially in the San Marion city center, on top of Monte Titano. In 2000, the museum moved to a purpose-built 3,000-square-meter facility on the outskirts of the small city-state.
The ground level of the museum houses the majority of the Ferrari collection, spread into three distinct sections. The first contains early competition cars ranging from a 195 S to a 250 GT Interim. In the area connecting the first and second section, the 250 GT SWB and 250 GTO that were raced extensively and successfully by Violati are displayed. The GTO is the obvious highlight of the collection; it has not changed hands since 1965 and is the only GTO that still has its original Modena registration.
Lined up next are several road-going Ferraris as well as an ASA 1000 GT, which in many ways is a mini Ferrari. Other cars of note in this area are a 250 GT Series I Cabriolet and a 250 GT Speciale. The final section is dedicated to more modern competition cars, which include the 365 P2/3 that was driven to victory in the 1965 Targa Florio by Nino Vaccarella and one of the 312 T3 Formula 1 cars originally raced by Gilles Villeneuve. Also proudly displayed is the unique Ferrarelle 512 BBLM.
The second floor offers a view above the Ferraris and features a wide variety of Ferrari related memorabilia. These range from a host of spare parts to newspaper-style front pages about Ferrari's world champions. More memorabilia is found in a statelier room next to the museum. One of the most interesting displays here is Violati's original Vespa scooter complete with the reinforcement bar. The hallway of the building is filled with spare body panels for the ex-Le Mans 512 BBLM.
Violati was born in Rome in 1935 as the youngest son of a farmer and mineral-water producer. He quickly developed a taste for speed and by his late teens was performing hair-raising stunts on his reinforced Vespa scooter. One of his friends photographed him jumping over no fewer than 10 wine barrels. The photograph was sent to Vespa management, who were greatly impressed by the Italian Evel Knievel and hired him as a works driver for a variety of races and trials.
While studying for a degree in geology, he switched from competing on two wheels to racing on four. He acquired a Fiat 600 in 1959 and entered it in a variety of hill climbs with little success. A year later, the little Fiat was replaced by a much more potent Fiat Abarth 750. Unfortunately he was involved in a massive shunt that put him in the hospital for six months. Once released, his family forbade him from ever racing again. His love for Abarths nevertheless remained strong.
In the following years, Violati respected his family's wishes with one notable exception that resulted from an encounter in 1965 with an old Ferrari competition car that was close to being retired permanently. This soon-to- be-scrapped Ferrari was none other than 250 GTO 3851GT that had placed second in the 1962 Tour de France. He paid the princely sum of 2,500,000 lire, which was about $4,000 at the time. His family was none the wise and to keep it that way, Violati could only use his new pride and joy at night.
It would take the better part of 10 years before Violati expanded his collection with a second Ferrari, a 250 GT. During the years in between he was too busy expanding the family empire and racing yachts. Shortly after acquiring the 250 GT, Violati added a competition spec, alloy-bodied 250 GT SWB to his stable. From then on, the collection really took off and gradually grew in size. Today it holds around 25 important Ferraris and 40 Abarths.
By the end of the 1970s, Violati could no longer resist the urge and returned to racing with his much-loved 250 GTO. He raced the car with great verve despite its ever-increasing value. For Violati, cars primarily had a practical purpose and he was perfectly happy with leaving the 250 GTO parked on a busy street. His yellow windshield band with the Scuderia Campidoglio, a reference to his native Rome, became a familiar sight on tracks across Europe throughout the 1980s. One the many highlights of Violati's historic racing career was his winning the 1985 FIA Historic Championship.
Violati's second racing career was not limited to historic racing alone; he participated in two editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a Ferrari 512 BBLM entered by Scuderia Bellancauto and sponsored by his Ferrarelle mineral water. His most famous outing was in 1981 when he fielded a radical version of the 5-liter sports car fitted with a unique body penned by Amando Palanco, who had many decades before designed one of the Fiat entries for the famed Schneider Trophy. Sadlym both races ended in retirements.
In 1984, none other than Enzo Ferrari asked Violati to create the Ferrari Club Italia. He subsequently encouraged the racer and collector to create a museum for some his finest creations and use the name Maranello Rosso. Unfortunately, Ferrari did not live long enough to see the grand opening of the museum in December 1989. Maranello Rosso was located initially in the San Marion city center, on top of Monte Titano. In 2000, the museum moved to a purpose-built 3,000-square-meter facility on the outskirts of the small city-state.
The ground level of the museum houses the majority of the Ferrari collection, spread into three distinct sections. The first contains early competition cars ranging from a 195 S to a 250 GT Interim. In the area connecting the first and second section, the 250 GT SWB and 250 GTO that were raced extensively and successfully by Violati are displayed. The GTO is the obvious highlight of the collection; it has not changed hands since 1965 and is the only GTO that still has its original Modena registration.
Lined up next are several road-going Ferraris as well as an ASA 1000 GT, which in many ways is a mini Ferrari. Other cars of note in this area are a 250 GT Series I Cabriolet and a 250 GT Speciale. The final section is dedicated to more modern competition cars, which include the 365 P2/3 that was driven to victory in the 1965 Targa Florio by Nino Vaccarella and one of the 312 T3 Formula 1 cars originally raced by Gilles Villeneuve. Also proudly displayed is the unique Ferrarelle 512 BBLM.
The second floor offers a view above the Ferraris and features a wide variety of Ferrari related memorabilia. These range from a host of spare parts to newspaper-style front pages about Ferrari's world champions. More memorabilia is found in a statelier room next to the museum. One of the most interesting displays here is Violati's original Vespa scooter complete with the reinforcement bar. The hallway of the building is filled with spare body panels for the ex-Le Mans 512 BBLM.
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