After a whirlwind tour of the South, my dad, Luca, and I decided to change directions and head North of Florence to the tiny town of Castelfranco Emilia (near Bologna) to visit the Museo Horacio Pagani and take a guided tour of the factory. 🏎️💨💨💨
I must be honest, when Luca recommended this idea, it was not hot on my bucket list but both my dad and Luca have a love of cars so I was game for the adventure. As it turned out, it was quite an inspirational tour about a man who never gave up on his dream.
Plus, when you are in a country known for its million-dollar high-performance cars, you go and see how the professionals do it.
In Italy’s Motor Valley, there are several car and motorcycle factories; Ferrari (they will not let you tour the factory only the museum), Lamborghini, Pagani, Ducati, Maserati, and so on. Several tour companies offer full-day guided tours of multiple factories but we were short on time so we let my dad choose the one he was most interested in. He picked Pagani because Keith Urban owns one and he thinks it looks cool…or at least that’s what he told me.
The tour lasted about an hour. Andrea our tour guide had only been working there for one month (his dream company to work for – he hopes to advance to the sales department) and he gave a wonderful presentation and tour. Since there were only five people on the tour it was very intimate and we could ask a ton of questions which Andrea was happy to answer.
Horacio Pagani has an interesting story. He was born in Argentina and found his way to Italy (his father was Italian) to fulfill his dream of being an automaker. He was rejected by many people, in the beginning, Ferrari, Lamborghini, and even his wife…they all said “no” to him but he is infamous for his power of persuasion. He eventually worked for Lamborghini for a while and designed several cars but couldn’t reach the success he dreamed of so he rode his bike (yes, his bicycle) to the bank and took out a €500,000 loan to start his own business.
He not only designs and builds million-dollar sports cars but he specializes in carbon fiber and carbon titanium composites for the bodies of the cars. He has a research and development team on-site that created the resin for carbon titanium and he owns the patent. They are in the process of developing the next level of materials.
His company is amazing. He takes great pride in his work and has been able to transfer his love of design and high-end quality to his employees. The factory (photos are not allowed) is spotless and there is a high satisfaction and retention rate among the workers. Mr. Pagani also designed every inch of the factory to create a feel that represents the Renaissance era with arches and a bell tower inside the factory that chimes on the hour. Here are a couple of photos from the internet.
There is so much more to this experience than I can describe in a little blog post, so if you make a trip to Italy, I highly suggest adding one of these auto tours to your itinerary…even if you aren’t a motor-head.
As we were leaving, we saw one of the prototypes being driven through the private gate by a potential buyer…in the rain. Andrea gave me the a-okay to snap some photos of it.
This was the perfect ending to my dad’s visit to Italy. For his first time to Italy (and out of the United States) he/we saw more of the country than most of the natives. Sadly, we had to say goodbye at the Florence airport the next morning as he made his way back to America. I think overall he had an amazing trip…minus a few hiccups which are expected with any trip. I’m so glad for our time together and the special memories we made. This is definitely an experience I will cherish forever.
Goodnight and much love from Florence! 🇮🇹
