Museums and Collections

Along the via Emilia, a historical street that cuts through Emilia Romagna, one can find some of the most unique “motor” places in the world.

Who has never heard of Ferrari Museum before? Located in Maranello, near Modena, the Museum  tells the story of one of the most prestigious Italian automobile houses. And in the enormous and colorful Ferrari Store, everyone can find a “piece” of the Ferrari world. Celebrating the tradition of cars in Modena is also the beautiful MEF-Museum Casa Enzo Ferrari, opened in March 2012. This recently restored structure commemorates Enzo Ferrari in the house where he was born, with an exhibition which tells about the most important events of his extraordinary life, with the support of modern multimedia. There is also an art gallery, which is currently hosting temporary exhibitions about Ferrari's career and cars, and the main stars and competitions of this Modena brand of race cars.

But the motorist patrimony of Modena does not stop here.  In the past, it boasted such names as Maserati, Pagani Automobili, B. G. Engineering, De Tomaso, and Bugatti, and today hosts two very important museums.  The Umberto Panini Museum of Vintage Cars and Motorcycles offers one of the most complete displays of Maserati cars in the world, including the A6GCS Berlinetta Pininfarina, only four models of which were made, and that, with its “boat-like” build, won three Mille Miglia races.

Then there is also the Stanguellini Historic Automobile Museum, where one can look back over the automobile creations of this family of historic car-builders and admire their most beautiful vehicles together with vintage motors, accessories, photographs, magazines and marketing materials.

In Sant’Agata Bolognese (BO), in the evocative structure of the Lamborghini Museum, many of the historic autos are on display, from the 60s to today, from the 350 GT to the Countach, from the Miura to the Espada and the Diablo models, all the way up to the most recent versions.  There are also some Formula One vehicles, marine motors and little models from all over the world.

Among the most important car collections in Italy, that of Mario Righini must be included; it is located inside the Panzano Castle in Castelfranco Emilia (MO).  This medieval castle, which belongs to the Malvasia family, makes a nice frame for a large part of Italian automobile history, besides housing an impressive motorcycle collection as well.

In Bologna, there is the Ducati Museum.  Inaugurated in 1998, it is a really concentrated representation of the Ducati identity.  The main exhibition, focused on passion for racing, makes for very good reading and is accompanied by chronological and thematic information.  Fans can look back on the historic phases of the company and also visit the factory.

In Rimini, the National Motorcycle Museum presents two hundred fifty examples of motorcycles from sixty-five different makers, divided up by theme and epoch, in an informative journey that goes from the “pioneers” at the end of the 1800s to the 1980s with the Rimini Bimota.  There is also the Guzzi 500 belonging to the painter Ligabue.

Public and private museums

Private Collections