London, 3rd May 2007
The evening of 03 May witnessed the opening ceremony for Joe Macari’s new Ferrari
and Maserati Service Centre in a purpose built facility in Wandsworth, south west
London. For many years Ferrari and Maserati owners in the capital, south of the river
Thames, haven’t had an official local facility to tend to their service, maintenance and
repair needs, now this situation has been rectified, and in style!
Background – The head of the new operation is Joe Macari who has run a
performance car sales showroom in the area for many years, and puts his car
passion into practice with his racing activities. He can count amongst these racing a
Ferrari 360 GTC at Le Mans in 2005, a 360 GTC in the Spanish GT and Open GT
Series in 2006, a F430 GT in the 12 Hours of Sebring this year, whilst for the
remainder of 2007 he will be competing in a Maserati MC12 in the FIA GT Series.
State of the Art – The first impressions when entering the new facility in its corporate
colour scheme are of clinical cleanliness, and of décor more akin to an upmarket car
showroom than a workshop. Whereas in most workshops one sees the bare roof,
beams, suspended lighting, sundry piping hoses and hardware, here there is a false
ceiling incorporating lighting trays which provide an even illumination over the whole
area. The ceiling also houses the exhaust extractor hoses, which are remote
controlled by the technicians and completely hidden from sight when not in use, thus
removing a large element of the clutter they normally create within the workshop
environment. The walls feature a variety of Ferrari and Maserati related artwork and
photographs, including an enormous specially commissioned high resolution
photograph of a Ferrari F1 pit stop taken at this year’s Bahrain Grand Prix.
The new premises cover 1860 sq m (20,000sq ft), comprising mainly of the workshop
area, with an airy well appointed reception area featuring glass walls to the workshop
(so nothing is out of sight), and a first floor office suite. Within the workshop there are
twelve regular service/repair bays, each with their own lift system, plus a dedicated
engine room at the far end of the building, and a dedicated diagnostic bay containing
the latest factory developed equipment. The new staff have been recruited mainly from
within the Ferrari sales and service network, thus they already have a wealth of product
technical knowledge to provide a firm foundation for the new venture, and all the
technicians are factory trained.
On the Night – The service bays were filled with a mouth watering selection of Ferrari
and Maserati road and race cars, including a supercar line-up comprising of a GTO
(288), F40 F50 and Enzo. There was also a Maserati 250 F F1 car, an ex-Jean Alesi
Ferrari F93A F1 car, the F430 GT used by Joe Macari at Sebring and the MC 12 that he
is running in the FIA GT Series, together with a Dino 246 GT and a nice selection of
current Ferrari and Maserati road cars. The fuel for the evening was predominantly
Verve Cliquot, supplemented by a delicious array of canapés, whilst guests included
legendary jockey Frankie Dettori and Chelsea and England footballer Frank Lampard.
A nice traditional Italian touch during the evening was the blessing of the
building/business by the local priest.
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