After the enormous success of last year’s “Ferrari 15,000 Red Miles” tour of by two 612 Scagliettis driven by a team of international journalists, Ferrari is delighted to announce another tough challenge for this year, the Panamerican 20,000.
On August 24th, two gleaming examples of the Prancing Horse’s just launched 12-cylinder model, the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano, will begin a long journey from that will take them through 16 countries and across 20,000 miles (32,000 km) to where they are scheduled to arrive on November 17th. A total of 50 different international journalists, each one representing the most important publications from all over the world, will take turns behind the wheels of the two sports cars, during the 15-stage, 84-day tour.
Every Ferrari naturally conjures up images of the track and motor racing at its finest. As the most powerful production model ever to be built at Maranello, it is easy to imagine the 599 GTB Fiorano going through its paces on the world’s circuits. Uniquely, however, not one but two of this stunning new model are about to embark on an adventure that will take them to the precarious mountain roads of the Andes and the dirt tracks of Central America, along a route so tough that they really will experience the same conditions as the very earliest racing cars.
A new challenge that really will put the cars and their reliability to the test in no uncertain terms.
This is far from Ferrari’s first foray into this kind of adventure, however. To celebrate the marque’s 50th anniversary in 1997, a F355 embarked on a massive world tour over five continents with 147 journalists taking turns at its wheel as it passed through their various nations. The “World Tour”, as it was known, was designed not only to communicate how strong the company was but also the reliability of the F355, a model that would prove of enormous strategic value in Ferrari’s development. The “World Tour” proved an extraordinary success and the car arrived back at the very spot in from where it had started on March 18th, after a massive 75 days on the road.
The latest and most spectacular Prancing Horse road trip was, of course, last year’s “Ferrari 15,000 Red Miles” tour. This was a feat never before achieved by any other car manufacturer: a 24,000-kilometre dash right across in two virtually unmodified production 612 Scagliettis. This time 51 Chinese and international journalists drove the cars from the start line in all the way to the finish in over 45 days. En route the cars visited 37 different cities and climbed to an altitude of 5,231 metres in the mountain passes of .
The Panamerican 20,000 will be receiving invaluable assistance from the various Italian diplomatic services in the states it passes through, particularly with regard to security and customs issues. Its partners on the Tour will be some of the Prancing Horse’s most loyal sponsors: Shell (V Power, Helix and Q, fuel and lubricants), Alcoa (technical partner and manufacturer of the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano’s aluminum chassis), Case IH (a Fiat-owned company, worldwide leader in the production of agricultural machinery) Pirelli (supplier of specialist tyres for the different terrains being covered), the Fiat Group (support vehicles), Puma (clothing), Saima Avandero (transport of cars and spare parts), Buonitalia (a company working to promote Italian products worldwide).
Assistance and spares will be provided by six support vehicles: three Fiat cars which will be replaced by three Alfa Romeos in , and three specially equipped Iveco trucks. As the Tour’s technical partner, Shell will be providing a specially equipped vehicle and its own team of technicians for the entire duration of the Tour.
Around 50 journalists from across the world will take turns behind the wheels of the two Ferraris.
In addition to the journalists, an official photographer and a video cameraperson, a technical assistance and logistics team will accompany the Tour along its entire route.
The Tour begins from Fiat’s Brazilian headquarters at and will visit the main Case IH plants at Curitiba (BR), and New Holland (USA), and the Iveco facility at Sete Lagoas (BR) to pay homage to these important members of the Fiat Group.
