Factory visit...

[CRXloon]

Hi,

Does anyone here have any experience of a factory visit?

If so, what were your impressions and thoughts on the visit?

[jtrader]

if u mean sant' agata in bolognese where they produce lambo's yea. u find it really changed since when audi bought lambo. before was a little factory and now u can see the germans brought some innovation.
there is a museum with all models, a factory where they build them, divided in many sections( engine, gallardo, murci, Interiors where u can see some ladies working on that) and then a cargo place, where they put all lambo's already made. This last place is an open area.
the body of the car arrives from some part in suisse or austria , while everyother thing they do it there in bologna.
also they have other 2 big buildings, but there is not allowed to go, probably where they have new models or where they test them.

And the street to arrive to this place, is a country side street, where u see often lambo's going between tractors and other)

[CRXloon]

Originally Posted by jtrader

if u mean sant' agata in bolognese where they produce lambo's

Yes, that's where i meant: thanks for the post, anyone else out there got some relevant information?

I'm also in need of the factory's e-mail address, in case anyone has it, (i've got their 'phone no. and fax no.); by the way, it's not [email protected], i've already tried it...

[jtrader]

go here they can tell u
www.lamborghinimilano.it or .com

that is the dealer in milan of lamborghini

[Guyanson_Mendiola]

You could also go to there website http://www.Lamborghini.com/ and you might fing information on factory visits.

[CRXloon]

Right, that's it, all arranged!

I'm visiting the factory museum on 3 February, and they've even offered to show me round the production area of the factory itself, as it's my 40th birthday.

I can't quite believe it; a lifetime's ambition is about to be realised.

I'd still rather own one tho'...

[bendyline]

Here's my pics from my recent Lambo Visit

http://sweetsoda.net/italy/view_albu...umName=album03

And the Lamborghini Family Museum

http://sweetsoda.net/italy/view_albu...umName=album04

[CRXloon]

Originally Posted by CRXloon

Right, that's it, all arranged!

I'm visiting the factory museum on 3 February, and they've even offered to show me round the production area of the factory itself, as it's my 40th birthday.

I can't quite believe it; a lifetime's ambition is about to be realised.

I'd still rather own one tho'...

After my abortive attempt to visit Lamborghini in Sant’ Agata earlier this year, I’m pleased to report that I actually got there last week!

I’d been inspired to make the pilgrimage after reading an excellent article in EVO magazine, (issue #056; I thoroughly recommend getting hold of a copy, if you’re thinking about doing this), which explained what car manufacturers there are in the area and how to get to them.

As I’ve always been a Lamborghini fanatic, my primary aim was to visit them, but you will also find Ferrari and Pagani, to name a few, in the area.

So, this is how I did it: I hope the information is of use to anyone; my sincere thanks to my long-suffering girlfriend, who I dragged along on the pretence of the visit being a holiday…

Contact: The factory museum is open Monday to Friday, 08:30 to 12:30 and 14:00 to 17:00. Although reservations are not strictly necessary, Lamborghini prefer it if you can give them 7 days notice of your intended arrival date/time. I contacted them initially by telephone, (0039-0516-817611), and subsequently by e-mail. The contact is Cristina Guizzardi, ([email protected]), who is so helpful and friendly it’s just not true: she even offered to help me sort a hotel out for the stay!

Travel: I booked our flights to Bologna, (BLQ, not Bologna Forli; it’s too far away from Bologna itself), from London Stansted, with easyJet. I booked about 3 months in advance, and got the flights for @ £55.00 each, return, (US$99.00/EUR80.00). The flight takes around 2 hours.

Once you have landed, head for the Tourist Information desk located within the airport. There you can obtain a (free) map of the city, and if you explain to the staff that you wish to visit Lamborghini, they will give you an information sheet, printed in Italian and English, which gives opening times etc for the factory museum.

Armed with this information, you ask for a ticket for the Aerobus into Bologna, which costs EUR4.50, (£3.08/US$5.55), one-way. The bus runs every 15 minutes or so, and travels in a “loop” circuit. I would recommend getting off at the main railway station, in the north of the city. By the way, the bus station is a stone’s throw away…

I considered hiring a car to get around for a few days, but to be honest, the bus system is so reliable and cheap, that I feel it is the most cost effective way of getting around. Additionally, once we’d got to Bologna, and do bear in mind it was our first visit to Italy, we were terrified by the standard of driving exhibited by the locals; my apologies to any Italians reading this who may be insulted...

You need to get to the bus station, (see above), and get a return ticket to Sant Agata, on the #576 bus. This was over a week ago now, and I can’t remember exactly how much this was, but I think it was around EUR6.00 each, (£4.10/US$7.39), return. The journey takes about an hour. The bus turns off the main road, (to Modena), and into Sant Agata. Get off at the first stop, and walk back up to the main road. Turn right at the traffic lights, and you’ll see Lamborghini on the left hand side of the road.

Hotels: As ever, there are good and bad, and don’t forget that you usually get what you pay for. We stayed at the 3-star Hotel Astor, (www.astor-hotel.it), booked via Venere.com, (http://www.venere.com/en/booking/hotel/4763/), and paid EUR95.00, (£65.00/US$117.00), per night for a double room, en suite, including breakfast. You can get cheaper hotels, but they’re on the outskirts of town, in the suburbs, and require a bus trip each way to get to the city centre; up to you. The Astor was certainly more “up-market” than the hotels we usually stay at, but what the hell, it’s still pretty reasonable, (in my opinion). We were in the north of the city, just outside the city wall, (loads cheaper), with about a 20 minute stroll to the city ring road, and a further 20 minute stroll to the centre of town.

More information: EasyJet’s, own website, (http://www.easyjet.com/EN/where/blq.html), has some information relating to Bologna, as does Lonely Planet, (http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinat...urope/bologna/). One of the things we noticed when we went, was that there were very few “tourists”. There are no gift shops, nor any Bureau de Changes and English is not widely spoken, (which didn’t bother us too much; we got by with our bit of pigeon Italian, the local’s pigeon English and a fair bit of gesticulation), which reinforced my initial thoughts that Bologna is fairly unknown to the rest of the world. Having said that, we bumped into a few other British couples, as well as Americans, Germans and French, but nothing like you’d expect to see in say Paris, for example, (except for the French, of course!)

If you love Lamborghinis, do it; you won’t regret it!

[Samurai75007]

I tryed to go but when I was in the area they were retooling for the next car and wouldent let anyone in. I would like to try and make it back...

[CRXloon]

Originally Posted by Samurai75007

I tryed to go but when I was in the area they were retooling for the next car and wouldent let anyone in...

Would that have been the Gallardo or the Murcielago Barchetta? Or maybe a third car?

[Samurai75007]

well it was a year or so ago so im thinking it was the Murcielago but they didnt tell me.

[jim501]

There didn't appear to be too much construction work going on when I was there about a month ago so I don't think have started on a new line yet. We went through the factory, both Gallardo and Murcielago lines (side by side) so you would think that a third line would go close to there.

I must agree that Christina was fantastic (though she confused us with a couple that was coming in the afternoon.) She even gave us a guided tour of the museum (and the factory) explaining the entire Lamborghini story, which helped my girlfriend understand my passion.

[aehaas]

I just got back from a 15 day tour of northern Italy. Among the stops were trips to a couple of small towns, Sant’Agata and Maranello, the Lamborghini and Ferrari factories.

We ate lunch at the Ferrari Restaurant across the street, a good meal and not overpriced as I thought it might be.

New on the Ferrari tours are the leather area and the foundry where they actually mill out the engines. The wind tunnel is said to be used for all model designs now, not just the F1 series. About one in 20 cars on the V-8 assembly line were 430’s. On the V-12 line were 612’s and 575’s, about 50-50. All models were driven inside and outside of the complex for test driving. Ferraris were everywhere being driven about. They say the paint shop building may open for tours soon. All the buildings are HUGE.

Some tid bits as I remember: The V-8 engines are on an assembly line and each one made by several people producing many engines a day. The V-12 engines are made by a single person in around 7 hours. The engines are bench tested at full power for a few hours before installation and again tested on the track in the car. The guide hinted that breaking the engine in by us owners was a good idea but not really necessary.

Lamborghini was different, much smaller. The workers who begin with the car finish with it thereby keeping up the interest. They do not get the same job over and over again. There were many Gallardos on that tract and just a handful of Murcielagos. About one in 10 were the roadster version. I was able to talk with a few of the guys on the line and actually get right into some cars to see exactly how they were made. My main interest was the framework. They do not let you get this close at Ferrari. We went through the leather factory. It is amazing to see these people work. I got a few good smiles.

The Lamborghini foundry and frame building areas are in the design building complex and strictly off limits.

Overall both factories were very clean, impressive and the workers seemed family oriented. The Ferrari tour group was around 20 people. The Lamborghini tour was just the 2 people I went there with; it was very intimate.

aehaas

[Samurai75007]

do you know how many miles come on a Ferrari? I know that Lambo tests them for a min of 250 mi before they are given to the owner.

[aehaas]

I have seen both Ferrari and Lamborghini cars come in with 40 to 120 miles on the odometer. I have never seen 250 miles.

aehaas