Ferrari Classiche: Restoring past Italian icons

Think of the automotive brand with the richest and most colourful legacy in both the road and race car domains and we’re willing to wager the image in your head is a yellow shield with a rambunctious black stallion prancing on it.

Ferrari chalked up its 75th birthday this year and the marque has every reason to trumpet the milestone. First, there’s the plethora of delectable road cars produced by famous Maranello marque over the years, almost all of them being benchmarks in their classes.

Then there’s the equally prolific number of race cars that tasted success in a diverse array of iconic races – from the Mille Miglia to Le Mans and F1 circuits such as Monaco, Silverstone and Spa.

Given this glittering heritage, it’s no surprise many historic Ferraris now change hands for millions of dollars, with the priciest examples costing more than the ritziest residential properties in New York, London or Sydney.

It’s a veritable goldmine for Ferrari to tap into, which is why the Classiche (pronounced Classic-kay) division was established 18 years ago, with the sole mission of certifying and restoring the marque’s older models.

“The very first idea started at the beginning of 2000,” explains the head of Ferrari Classiche, Andrea Modena. “It was [former Ferrari F1 team boss] Jean Todt’s consideration that our story and heritage was so important that we needed to establish an initiative to preserve it.

“The formal start of the Classiche division was in 2004. The department now performs two main activities: the first one is certification of authenticity and the second is restorations,” he adds.

Modena says certifications are usually performed partly in Maranello and by Ferrari’s official workshops around the globe, whereby the latter does the research and evaluation on clients’ cars, and they are then able to be certified in Maranello.

However, Modena explains that this isn’t always possible to do remotely, especially for the cars that have an extensive racing history, or which were built in very few numbers.

“Our remote network isn’t usually able to certify these cars as the detailed information pertaining to them isn’t available outside of Maranello, and there are some tests and evaluations than can only be done here,” he says.

“There is a cut-off point of 1974-75 – the era of the Dino – when production within Maranello moved from a very craftsmanship-oriented, bespoke building operation to a more industrialised process.

“From that period on, the information that Ferrari was providing its international network was much more extensive than in the past. With cars built since that time our dealers around the world have all the information they need to operate directly on the car.

“So, let’s say a car like the 512 Berlinetta Boxer [which debuted in 1976] can be certified or restored remotely by our network as everything is known about it and it’s therefore easier than some of our older cars.

“It starts to get a bit more complicated with a car like the Ferrari 275 [1964-68]. In its era, each car was literally built one by one. From the very beginning, each customer was asking for their car to be built to their individual specification, meaning that no two were exactly the same.

“What’s more, many examples of the 275 have a racing story behind them, which means there are often many previous accidents and, possibly, bodywork changes over the years that need to be rectified. These operations are only possible here in Maranello.”

Modena says the Classiche division performs between 520 and 560 certifications per year and completes about 25 restorations per year. He estimates Classiche has performed about 420-450 restorations since the division was established in 2004.

“We generally take 18 to 24 months for a full restoration,” he says. “We typically take longer than other restoration companies to complete projects, but this is in order to respect the authenticity of the process.

“There’s a lot of research that goes into finding the right parts and right suppliers, plus tracing the full history of modifications done during the lifecycle of each car.”

Modena says the cost of a full restoration can run up to one million euros, but it all depends on the model being restored, and how much work is involved.

“If the customer comes in with a brief to preserve as much as possible of the original parts, sometimes the cost adds up to more than would be the case if the parts were to be replaced or reproduced.

“For example, the process of restoring leather that’s 60 years old is often harder and takes longer than replacing it with new leather that respects the specificity of the time.”

Modena says this trend – of retaining as much as possible of the original car – is becoming more popular among collectors.

One of the keys to the Classiche division’s ability to certify or restore any Ferrari to its precise original state is due to the fact it has detailed blueprints and specifications for every single car built by the factory.

These records are neatly filed within immaculate red binders in a pristine archive room that Modena ushers me in to.

“Enzo Ferrari was a visionary, and you can see why in this room,” Modena says. “These archives contain detailed records of the first 30,000 cars produced by the factory.

“From the very first one built in 1947 to the 30,000th one. Enzo Ferrari wanted extremely detailed records of each part in every single car because that helped him and the racing team to improve.

“Feel free to choose a binder,” Modena offers. I choose one and, as it turns out, it contains records for vehicle numbers 8501 to 8599. The pages within the binder are immaculately preserved, with each page containing exhaustive, neatly handwritten specifications.

He opens the binder and reads aloud from one of the pages: “This particular car has chassis type 57165, chassis number 8533 GT, engine type 20965, engine number 8533. The engine and chassis numbers match, hence we speak about matching numbers in authentic cars.

“Here we have notes about each aspect of the engine’s assembly. From engine block, conrods, pistons and every single seal used. The engine was completed on the 22nd of April, 1966. The chief of the assembly department was Mr Franchini and when the engine went on the dyno, the ambient temperature was 18 degrees, with a humidity of 80 per cent and atmospheric pressure of 753mm.

“The records contain details of, let’s say, not only the type of spark plugs used in a particular car, as this is an important part, but even down to much smaller details – for example a single seal that was made specifically for an individual car due to the owner’s request to run a specific race.”

The records include the engine’s precise power and torque outputs across the rev range and Modena explains that if the current owner of that car were to bring it to Classiche for an engine overhaul, the minimum requirement would be to ensure it achieves at least those results when it’s put on the dyno.

Modena says the documentation contains the same level of detailed information about the gearbox, differential, brakes, suspension, cooling system, instrumentation and every other facet of the car.

He adds: “The records also contain commercial documents, so I can see that this car was ordered by Franco-Britannic Autos Limited, which was our importer in Paris. The car was a 330 GT coupe Pininfarina 2+2. It was ordered on the 14th of January, 1966.

“The paint colour was Amaranto [a shade of red] with beige leather upholstery. The code of the leather – VM 3309 – indicates it was done by Connolly. This car was equipped with a radio, electric windows and air-conditioning. The car was delivered on the 26th of May, 1966, and was sold for $8000.

Modena says the largest share of fabrication of mechanical parts was always done internally, as per Ferrari’s tradition from the outset, so the Classiche division leverages all the expertise and skills that still exist in the factory to recreate and rebuild components.

“We use our foundry to make a new engine block or gearbox case, when required,” he says. “In some cases, we have to rely on an external supplier for a component, and then it’s a case of extensive research to see who can follow us in the details and specificity of each single piece.

“We just completed the restoration of a 312 F1 Formula One car from 1969 and to overhaul the engine we had to recreate from scratch the half bearings for the crankshaft and we were able to find supplier who could create the part as it was done in 1969.

“We also just had a 500 TRC in for restoration. That car had been disassembled to the last screw as the owner wanted to take it back to its precise original specification. The car has an important racing history and for that reason the chassis has been modified multiple times.

“After restoring the chassis, bodywork and rest of the car to its original state, we took it onto the track with the owner and afterwards the engine was again taken out of the car to make sure everything was fine with it. This is how it used to be: after a race, parts were disassembled and replaced or overhauled when needed.”

I ask Modena whether cars leave the Classiche division in even better condition than when they were new. He takes a thoughtful pause, chuckles and says: “That’s a tricky question. The answer is no.

“Each car, at its stage of production, represented the pinnacle of technology available at the moment. So, what we are doing here is to respect the authenticity of the project and we go back in a sort of time machine to that moment.

“It’s true that major advances in production technology help us today, but we really want to respect the spirit of the original.

“While we’d produce an engine block exactly as it was done in the past, one example where modern technology helps is in using a vibration table to remove sand from a moulded component whereas, in the past, they would only be able to hammer the part to achieve this.”

Modena says there has been a noticeable evolution in the mindset of collectors. Five to 10 years ago, they wanted a restored car to be better than it was originally. Today they are keen to stay true to the authentic process in the vehicle’s restoration.

“In a previous era, the way to fasten piping was not to use automatic clamping, as we do today,” he says. “Customers ask us to respect this process, even if it means you can sometimes have some leaks. Leakage was part of the history of that car.

“Take, for example, this 1954 Indy [Monoposto Corsa Indianapolis] behind us. It’s equipped with a 1951 engine that has a main shaft that does not have the type of seal that’s used today, and this meant that it used to leak oil.

“It was leaking oil in its day, and it is leaking oil today because we’ve respected the original specification in its restoration.”

Despite the commitment to authenticity, Modena says it is possible for customers to request alterations to their car – vis-à-vis its original state – as long as certain conditions are met.

“Let’s say a customer comes in and asks for black leather upholstery where the car was originally trimmed in tan leather, we can do it if that model was offered in its day with that particular type and colour of leather.”

There’s also the possibility for more significant alterations – provided that specification was offered on that particular model.

For example, a customer could ask for different rims or brakes than those fitted to their car, but Modena says in all these cases the modification from the car’s original state would be marked on the certification papers. Even so, it would still be certified as an authentic car.

One of the most challenging assignments the Classiche division has had to date was the restoration of a Ferrari 225E that had been partly destroyed in a fire. The car, which belongs to an Argentinean collector, had a rich motorsport history but arrived in Maranello in a terrible state of repair.

Despite the efforts of previous owners to have the car restored by other workshops, it remained undrivable. The 225E’s renaissance came about when its owner commissioned Ferrari Classiche to do the reconstruction of the interior and a full restoration of the car.

Because the documentation regarding the original interior had been lost, the Maranello team examined all the Ferraris of this kind built in the early 1950s to ensure the new interior’s spec would be as faithful as possible.

The engine, too, was fully reconditioned, so the 225E – sporting pristine blue-and-white livery – was restored to its former glory.

“What are the models most commonly brought in for restoration?” I ask Modena. He pauses briefly and then says: “The answer to that is linked to the fact that the world of collectible cars follows certain waves.

“I was surprised while walking through the workshop a few days ago to find we had four 275s in for restoration at the same time. That’s because in this moment, interest in the 275 is ramping up and their values are starting to escalate.

“You will see as we walk through the workshop that we have a very good representation of Dinos, both coupe and GTS, so that’s also a car in which there is plenty of interest at the moment.”

Are the restored cars regularly used by owners, or do they merely sit in collections? “The younger collectors are people who would like to enjoy cars,” says Modena.

“So, they ask for cars to be put in a condition not only to be perfect, but also to be used. On the other hand, most older collectors prefer to simply keep cars in their private collection.

“More and more, our customers are asking to use the car as it was meant to be used. If you had been here three days ago, the workshop was full as we had seven customers who brought in their cars to have them checked and prepared before they ran them in the Mille Miglia.”

Is sourcing tyres an issue, seeing as most of the sizes and compounds offered in the past are no longer in use? Modena answers: “Yes, but I have to say that recently many tyre suppliers have got on board with the idea of reproducing historic tyres – using modern technology but following the compound behaviour of that time.

“So, for example, Pirelli has a specific line called Pirelli Collezione, which is dedicated to very old cars. Michelin and Goodyear are also reproducing a wide range of vintage tyres, so it’s usually not that difficult to source period-correct tyres for our restored cars.”

Clearly, those who venture down the path of owning a classic are fuelled by passion. Many of them remember seeing these cars when they were very young, and now that they are in position of being able to afford one, they can realise their long-held dream of ownership.

Passion is one thing, but it can also make tremendous financial sense as the values of such cars invariably increase over time, potentially justifying the expense of purchasing and restoring a historic Ferrari.

One example of a priceless prancing horse is the ex-Juan Manuel Ferrari 290 MM that sold at auction for $US28m back in 2015. The car, which belonged to collector Pierre Bardino, is incredibly rare as there are just four examples of the model in existence.

An even more valuable Ferrari is the 1957 Scaglietti-bodied 335 S that was the star of Artcurial’s Salon Retromobile sale in 2016. Chassis no. 0674, owned by collector Pierre Bardinon, fetched €32,075,000, making it the second most expensive car ever sold at public auction at the time.

As it stands today, seven out of the top 10 most expensive cars sold at auction are Ferraris, with pristine 250 GTOs now swapping hands for $US50m-plus.

Clearly, these are assets that are worth virtually their weight in gold, so every drop of blood, sweat and tears that goes into restoring them is justified.