The Australian celebrations for the 60th Anniversary of Ferrari started yesterday (2 March 2007) with a gala VIP evening to welcome to Australia the 60th Anniversary Ferrari Baton Team which is circumnavigating the world to link more than six months of global celebrations.

More than 250 Ferrari owners, politicians, diplomats and racing drivers gathered at the Crown Entertainment Complex to see the diamond encrusted platinum Ferrari Baton arrive in Melbourne. The Baton was formally presented by Matteo Bonciani, Communications Director for Ferrari’s Asia-Pacific Region to Tony File, the National President of the Ferrari Club Australia, who will be the first Australian Ferrari owner amongst the 10,0000 Ferrari owners who will carry the Ferrari 60th Anniversary baton around the world.

Today (Saturday 3 March) it will lead more than 100 Ferraris on a 60th anniversary Cavalcade to Lygon Street, where the centre piece of ‘2007 Grand Prix Festival Celebrating Ferrari’s 60^th Anniversary’ will be the demonstration of a Ferrari Formula One car. After this event the baton will go to Sydney for another Ferrari Cavalcade on Sunday (4 March 2007) before leaving for New Zealand on its next leg.

“We are honoured, as the Australian Ferrari importer, that so many people could join us to welcome the Ferrari 60th Anniversary Baton to Australia,” says Kevin Wall, General Manager for Australian Ferrari importer, EAI. “Australia has featured in Ferrari’s history for much of its life and some of the keenest supporters of Ferrari are Australia, indeed the Chairman of Ferrari, Luca de Montezemolo, has said that the passion exhibited by Australian Ferrari fans is well on a par with the legendary Ferrari Tifosi!”

To mark the Ferrari 60th Anniversary Baton’s visit to Australia, Neville Crichton, the Governing Director of EAI, the Australian and New Zealand Ferrari importer presented Francesco de Conno, the Consul General of Italy, with a unique memento of the Baton’s visit ‘Down under’, an indigenous art work by Theresa Ardler which will go on display in a special 60th Anniversary Exhibition in Ferrari’s home, Maranello, when the Baton reaches there in June.

The 60th Anniversary Relay

Ferrari is celebrating this remarkable history world wide with a relay event of which the events in Sydney and Melbourne are the Australian legs. The relay started in Abu Dhabi, site of future Ferrari Theme Park, on 29 January. After Middle East, the journey goes across China, Japan, Australia, South Africa, America and the whole of Europe, and will end at Maranello on 23 June. The relay will involve over 10,000 Ferrari owners and their cars of all ages. These will act as symbolic “bearers” of a specially commissioned relay baton adorned with 60 badges symbolising the most extraordinary events in the marque’s 60-year history.

Ferrari embarked upon this 12 months of celebrations having just ended an exceptionally brilliant financial year that saw the Company post revenues of €1,447 million (+12.3% on 2005’s takings) resulting in a trading profit of €183 million (+17%) and 5,650 deliveries to its worldwide dealership network, a new record.
 

The Relay Baton

The relay baton was designed and created to symbolise Ferrari’s history and is topped by a dazzling platinum and diamond Prancing Horse made by Damiani. It also features 60 enamel symbols designed by the Intesta e D’Adda, Lorenzini, Vigorelli and BBDO advertising agencies, and by creative talents Alessandro Migliorini of Area Creativa, Marco Morosini, Enzo Naso of the eponymous studio and Wolfgang Seidl of Seidldesign.

Ferrari Theme Park

Scheduled to open in 2009, the new Ferrari Theme Park in Abu Dhabi will cover a massive 250,000 sqm and will feature 24 themed attractions for all the family, including a 70-metre-high G-Force Tower and a twin rollercoaster ride that for the first time allows to race against each other. Moreover, go-karting, rally driving and dune buggy tracks, and a vast array of food and beverage outlets. In addition to the Ferrari Park, however, the 2,500-hectare Yas Island will also host a motor racing circuit, signature hotels, apartments, villas, a wide selection of restaurants, a retail area of about 300,000 sqm, golf courses, a water park, a tourist marina, a hotel overlooking the lagoon and numerous food and beverage outlets that will create a unique international tourist destination. The Ferrari Theme Park project and construction, as well as the whole Yas Island development is by Aldar Properties, and the total investment for the Park is of around US$600 million.

60 unique Ferraris

As part of its 60th anniversary celebrations, Ferrari will build a series of 60 truly unique cars. These will be based on the 612 Scaglietti, the Prancing Horse’s range-topping Granturismo which combines blistering performance and superb handling with superior comfort, sumptuous handcrafted trim, state-of-the-art accessories and meticulous attention to detail. The cars will be offered with a two-tone livery in a combination of classic Ferrari colours as used on some of the Prancing Horse’s most memorable models. The interior appointments will feature sophisticated colour combinations and a stunning new-generation electrochromic glass roof, itself a major innovation. The degree of opacity of the roof, in fact, can be adjusted to suit the occupants’ requirements.

To underline the exclusivity of this series of one-offs, each example will also boast an enamelled symbol set on the central tunnel representing one of the 60 historic events chosen to celebrate the Marque’s anniversary. The result is a true collector’s car aimed at Ferrari’s most dedicated clients.

Ferrari Asia-Pacific Region

In order to take care of some developing markets, the creation of a new sales unit, The Asia-Pacific Division, was announced in 2005 October. The Asia-Pacific sales unit covers 12 markets which are managed by importers: Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Taiwan and Brunei. In the next few years, the expectations of sales in Asia-Pacific Region are to have a considerable percentage growth as Ferrari expands its operation in these markets. Ferrari APAC is now fully operative. The working team, a well-balanced mix, counts personnel coming from Maranello, who have an understanding of Ferrari’s products and brand values, and local personnel who have valuable knowledge of the local markets.

Ferrari in Australia.

European Automotive Imports took over the distribution of Ferrari in Australia and New Zealand in 2005, promising to significantly lift the quality of customer service and provide local Ferrari fans with greater access to Ferrari’s remarkable products. This, it has comprehensively done, with new dealerships in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane matched by new quality Ferrari customer events. At the same time the number of new Ferraris finding homes in Australia has almost doubled. 

Australian Supporters

The Crown Entertainment Complex is one of the world’s largest entertainment complexes of its kind, housing two hotel properties - the five-star Crown Towers and the four-star-plus Crown Promenade Hotel. Both are within easy access to in excess of 40 restaurants and bars, emporium of over 30 retail boutiques, several night clubs, cinema complex, interactive entertainment arcade, a live cabaret-style venue, plus the 24-hour Crown Casino, the biggest gaming facility in the Southern Hemisphere featuring 2500 gaming machines and 350 gaming tables including 50 poker tables.