New Ferrari exhibition set for London

Seventy years of Ferrari will be celebrated by a new exhibition – one of the biggest to take place outside of the Italian marque’s Maranello museum. Ferrari: Under the Skin takes place at the Design Museum opens on 15 November and promises to display rarely seen material from private collections.

Visitors will be able to see early design models, drawings, personal letters, and memorabilia – as well as some of the most famous cars in the world. Dedicated displays explore the life of Enzo Ferrari, the design of the cars, the brand’s famous clientele, its racing prowess and today’s technical innovations.

The opening section of the exhibition charts the story of Enzo Ferrari and his remorseless drive to create the perfect driving machine for track and road. Key exhibits include Enzo Ferrari’s driving licence, original photography, the original drawings, and an exact replica of the 125S - the first Ferrari ever made - and hand-written documents from Enzo Ferrari himself.

Original hand-drawn sketches feature next to high-tech wind tunnel models and early wooden models to present a survey of the manufacturing process.

A drawing of the Ferrari 166-195 Sport Coupé MM.

The exhibition also looks at Ferrari’s celebrity clientele. Detailed notes feature alongside archive photography of famous clients with their cars, including Clint Eastwood, Sammy Davis Jr, Brigitte Bardot, and Peter Sellers.

The centrepiece of this section is a 250GT Cabriolet (1957) owned by famous British racing driver Peter Collins. Other cars in this section include an F40 (1988) belonging to Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason and a 166MM (1950) formerly driven by Gianni Agnelli, head of Fiat.

Racing has always been at the heart of Ferrari – a fact that is celebrated through a number of exhibits. On display are helmets worn by Alberto Ascari, Mike Hawthorn, Michael Schumacher, and Kimi Räikkönen.

The 1952 British GP winner’s trophy and a selection of famous racing suits are also on display. The evolution of racing car design is represented through the Ferrari 500 F2 (1952), which Alberto Ascari drove to victory at the F1 championship in 1952 and 1953.

Racing helmet worn by Ferrari driver Mike Hawthorn.

Sir Terence Conran, Design Museum founder, said, 'What excites me so much about this exhibition is the rare opportunity to glimpse behind the scenes and experience the dynamic between engineering, manufacturing and design, which produces Ferrari's magic ingredient.'