Ferrari: Under the Skin Exhibition preview

A new exhibition at the London Design Museum invites visitors to go ‘under the skin’ of Ferrari, as the famous Italian supercar manufacturer celebrates its 70th birthday.

If you’ve always wanted to visit Ferrari’s museum in the brand’s spiritual home of Modena, Northen Italy, but haven’t found the time, then a new exhibition at London’s Design Museum in Kensington may be the next best thing.

Opening on Wednesday November 15, ‘Ferrari: Under the Skin’ walks visitors through 70 years of Ferrari, displaying $140m worth of vehicles from various private collections across the globe, alongside historically important memorabilia.

Beautifully curated by Andrew Nahum and Gemma Curtin; exhibits are arranged zonally by early years; design; key cars; customers and motorsport.

Among the roadgoing highlights is a replica of the first car Enzo Ferrari developed – the V12 125 S. There’s also a sublime 250 GT from 1957, once owned by British Grand Prix-winning racing driver Peter Collins, before he was tragically killed in the 1958 German Grand Prix, aged just 26.

Motorsport fans will appreciate the presence of the 1961 250 GT Berlinetta Passo Corto  Sperimentale, which won Le Mans and was later driven to victory at Daytona by Stirling Moss. There’s also Michael Schumacher’s 2000 Italian Grand Prix-winning F1 car.

Taking centre stage in the exhibition’s particularly interesting design section is the original clay model for Ferrari’s J50, the 10 unit only 600bhp V8 roadster built in 2015 to celebrate the brand’s first 50 years of sales in Japan. Memorabilia-wise, the leather helmet worn by Fangio during the 1950 Monaco Grand Prix and original design renders of the F40 are of particular note.

Perhaps most striking about this exhibition is how curiously small it is given its 70-year scope. There’s little in the way of hindsight or indeed any indication of what Ferrari might do next, nor is it particularly interactive. Ferrari fans will enjoy it regardless, and the choice of venue adds an additional layer of intrigue for non-petrolheads, focusing much of the exhibition’s attention on design process and form, rather than just performance and championship successes.

Ferrari: Under the Skin runs until April 15 2018. Entry costs £18.