I'm headed to Tuscany, Italy for a couple of weeks this Thursday. Any motorsports museums or interesting motorsports related places you can recommend in Tuscany?

Thanks,

 

I hear there's a little sportscar manufacturer over there called Ferarri or something.

John -- ahh, Italy....the motherland

 

Unfortunately, Maranello is no where near Tuscany.

On the bright side, driving a Fiat Punto through the hills, valleys, and switchbacks with the rest of the manic Italian drivers will be a good time.

 

Sorry - can't help with the museum thing but the BEST meal that I had the whole time I was there was a sit-down lunch at Monza, during an F3000 event. Talk about civilized! The whole show shuts down for a couple of hours midday and everyone eats grilled sausage, pasta, vino, and fizzy water off of linen tablecloths. No trackburgers or corndogs in the pits for these folks.

On a related note, when the race started and cars came down toward the first chicane (where we were in the grandstands), my brother and I instinctively stood up - like ugly 'merican race fans. A nice little old guy behind us put his hand on my shoulder, sat me down and wagged his finger at me! EVERYONE stayed seated the whole time (don't want to spill that Chianti), so nobody had to stand up.

We had to climb the old banking to get to our seats, which was a museum experience in itself! Fabrizio Barbazza got in a tangle during that start that I mentioned, and rode a bare tub - with every corner sheared off of it - across the lawn right in front of us. He got out, did a Rocky dance for the roaring crowd, and stood on the grass behind the guardrail with the federal police guys - with their blonde girlfriends and SMGs. Drinking Chianti, I think.

Smart people.

Kirk

 

Hey, if you're in Italy for a few weeks, get in your Fiat and drive to Maranello It'd be a shame to be in the country for that long and not be able to see the facility. Have fun.

PS. Nice bike. I almost bought the exact same Hawk years ago.

 

Call up the Folks at Lamborghini and schedule a Tour
Just because I have the phone #
Tel # - 390-516-817-611 (I forget the country code, I think 06?)

 

BTW The drive from Tuscania to Sant' Agata isn't too bad. I drove all over the place when I was there and can only speak a bit of Italian and only understand it somewhat.
We went from Rome to Firenze (Florence) to Bologna to Maranello, down to Gaeta, Napoli, Amalfi, Salerno. If you don't drive around and go to the different areas you miss out on alot.

PS You can get pretty good driving maps on Mapquest.com