One legend, seven letters: Ferrari. Everything in the Maranello house has now entered a be part of the legend, from the sound of the engines to the Fiorano track, from history to sporting feats, from the beauty of some cars to the magic of the production process. A characteristic certainly not accidental and due only in part to the goodness of the product because the myth – as we know – feeds on intangible values. In this extraordinary – and in some ways legendary – journey, in the long history of Ferrarithe most delicate task went right to Thoroughbred. A car that must innovate but remain anchored to the brand’s values, approaching the limits of provocation by entering the world of SUVs (sorry, I didn’t mean to, the word is taboo, but I’ve already said it). Enzo Ferrari, in fact, as a skilled “marketing” man (even if at the time this discipline did not yet exist), had immediately understood that for the success of a brand it was necessary to focus everything on the image. His true, silent, and great work has thus always been aimed at giving Ferrari immortality.
The examples are endless: the choice of the 12-cylinder engine, the obsessive attention to customer selection, the need to win every race, but also the symbolism linked to the brand itself, something that other manufacturers relegated only to the role of emblem. The famous prancing horse, on the other hand, is not an artistic habit, but comes from the myth of courage of Francesco Baracca, modernized and made aggressive by the raised tail and the mane in the wind. Not to mention that the Ferrari brand also has the yellow of Modena, the Italian tricolor. In short, an infinite symbology. Enzo Ferrari himself, among other things, living in almost total solitude (for over 30 years he never left Maranello and Modena) wisely fed the aura of the myth. This detachment of him from the rest of the world has contributed in no small way to creating the legendary image of the unattainable man, of the invincible car builder. After all, if it is true that for a myth it is a tragedy to continue livingthen we understand why Enzo Ferrari became a legend when alive: for many, it was as if he were already dead.
Today this obsessive attention to the image of marca remains perfectly intact. The new factory built by famous architects, the production processes, the stubbornly limited production, the legendary feats in F1 and almost everything that revolves around Ferrari keep the legend alive. A far from easy undertaking because this brand not only hasn’t disappeared, but rather looks to the future with optimism. And this is where the Thoroughbred comes into play. All this speech well explains the load of history, image, legend that the Purosangue has to bear on its shoulders. An immense weight that Ferrari have managed to make the new model bear with two key concepts: innovation and future. Let’s rewind the tape again. Always to understand. Because this too is an ancient story: if it had depended on Enzo Ferrari, the Maranello company would never have produced anything in series, but churned out many prototypes, each one different from the next. Innovation as a mantra? Exact. That’s why Thoroughbred: even the name is not accidental. Enzo Ferrari’s discussions with the production managers were proverbial, because Ferrari did not accept to postpone a technical innovation in order not to interrupt the assembly line. That’s why the Reds have always been the best of the best in technology, both for sports customers and for those who choose a Ferrari just to get around traffic.
It is no coincidence that the Ferrari, in order to be able to intervene immediately on the cars that were being produced, made some very personal changes to the concept of “assembly line” years ago introduced in the 1920s by Henry Ford: the workers did not repeat the same operation endlessly, but carried out the work in groups, so that they could recognize something of their own, something personal in every Ferrari built. In this way, among other things, the psychological problems deriving from excessively repetitive work rhythms were also solved and there was greater production flexibility, with a higher capacity to make changes “on the run”, i.e. without blocking the entire line by Assembly. A kind of “island” production, as many other manufacturers later christened this system. You know, innovation has always been linked to production. AND with the Purosangue, which was obviously also born in Maranello, we take a further step forward, in a spectacular fast and complex dance between robotics and dexterity. Suffice it to say that every day a series of freshly painted chassis arrive at the first stage of the Purosangue assembly line, more than half of which come in totally different palettes chosen by customers from around 2 million possible color combinations.
The initial stages of the line are fully automated: the machines lift the frame into position using huge “C-hooks”. At this point the cars are separated into two: top and bottom. The lower part will be equipped with the propulsion unit coming from the engine assembly line (here a majestic V12), while the upper part will be equipped with the electrical system to then be joined to the lower one. And at most stages of the assembly line, highly trained technicians make sure all bolts and fasteners are tight and checked before moving on to the next vehicle. Ancient and modern, past and future, transgression and tradition: everything coexists in the new model. A thoroughbred Ferrari in name and in fact.
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