Ferrari's latest Classiche training school has started this week at the firm's Maranello base.
Back to school with Ferrari
While many may dread a return to school and studies in the autumn, for a select group of (paying) students, Ferrari Classiche is a little different, and likely to generate a little more enthusiasm. That's because Ferrari Classiche is a school where you're taught how to drive classic Ferraris...
Better yet, your classroom is the famed Fiorano test track, just adjacent to Ferrari's factory, and it's there where class members of the Autumn 2019 Ferrari Classiche sessions will spend two days getting to better know their classics.
Perhaps most excitingly, it says right at the top of the Classiche prospectus that: "Drivers will get to know the world of Ferrari Classiche and learn the techniques used to drive cars produced before electronics had entered the automotive world."
The courses are designed to work for everyone from an experienced driver through to those new to classic motoring, and each module takes in a specific aspect, such as how the chassis responds, how best to use the gearbox (skip second until the oil warms through, if we recall correctly), corner management and so on.
308 and Mondial models for this term
The programme begins by taking the cars being used for this term (and this time around it's the turn of the classic 308 GTB and GTBi models, as well as the Mondial 3.2) and jacking them up on lifts so that the students can poke around underneath and see which actual mechanical parts are under there.
After that, the class will be taken on a tour of the Ferrari Classiche offices, and view technical drawings, engineers' notebooks and race reports for GT and racing cars produced from 1947 onwards.
No electronic assistance
Then it's out to the track, where instructors will take them through handling these entirely analogue cars, managing the gearbox without any electronic help, and even tackling heel-and-toe gearchanges.
According to Ferrari: "Once behind the wheel of a historic car, the participants (always accompanied by their instructors) perform a series of driving sessions of increasing difficulty. These take place in a wide range of conditions, including driving in the wet, counter-steering at speed and managing vehicle dynamics. The module on driving techniques for regularity racing is also of great interest. These competitions are popular with many fans of classic cars."
Sounds like a school you'd like to join? Well, get cracking - the next round of Ferrari Classiche classes opens up next Spring...