The over 13,000-kilometre Ferrari Magic India Discovery Tour made a triumphant return to Mumbai this evening, exactly as per the drive programme; the cars received at the Gateway of India, close to the starting point of the drive.

The over 13,000-kilometre Ferrari Magic India Discovery Tour made a triumphant return to Mumbai this evening, exactly as per the drive programme. The cars were received at the Gateway of India, close to the starting point of the drive, in a grand ceremonial flag-in event. The Magic India Discovery Drive was another milestone test for the mettle of Maranello's flagship GT model. More than 50 journalists took turns behind the wheels of the two cars along the 13 often extremely difficult stages spread across India, taking in 57 cities in the over 70-day tour.

This kind of event is not new to Ferrari, however, as the China, Ferrari 15,000 Red Miles tour of the entire China in 2005 and the Panamerican 20,000 tour from Brazil to the USA in 2006 both proved exceptionally successful too. To celebrate this latest achievement of the two Prancing Horse cars, a large group of Ferrari enthusiasts gathered today at the Gateway of India.

Also present was a large number of journalists to whom President Luca di Montezemolo sent a special video message. "I want to thank all the people who made possible this event around some of the most beautiful areas of the world. The Magic India Discovery team was everywhere warmly welcomed by the Indian people that showed a great passion for Ferrari.", said Mr. Montezemolo. He also stressed that "the two 612 Scagliettis felt right at home on the Indian roads, demonstrating that Ferrari Grand Tourers not only guarantee top class performance but also absolute safety and comfort even in the most extreme conditions."

This type of test demonstrated once again that modern Ferraris are cars that can be used in any conditions (as attested by the fact that the annual average mileage covered by our clients in their cars has more than doubled in the last decade). Another objective is to bring Ferrari into closer contact with its fans in the wider public beyond the tight circle of track enthusiasts.

The 612 Scagliettis began their epic voyage with just a few absolutely minimal modifications to ensure their safe passage through some particularly difficult stretches of terrain. The modifications involved the addition of a protective underbody made from 4 mm thick duralluminium rather than the usual plastic and the slight raising of the suspension to cope with tougher roads. Otherwise they were both completely regular production cars powered by a 540 hp 65° V12 engine that delivers maximum torque of 60 kgm at 5,250 rpm. Both cars sported a six-speed F1 gearbox and transaxle transmission too.

To mark the cars' arrival back at the Gateway of India, Ferrari would like to extend its thanks to the sponsors that made this great voyage possible: Shell, also Ferrari's long-standing partner in F1; the Tata Group -- Tata Motors for the support vehicles, Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces for providing hospitality to the Ferrari team, and Tata Consultancy Services; the Fiat Group, which supplied Iveco support vehicles and Fiat cars; Pirelli which provided the tyres; Alcoa, our strategic partner in the production of the aluminium chassis' sported by the entire current Ferrari range; OMR, component supplier to Ferrari also in F1; Saima Avandero for logistical assistance. Borsalino, the Piemonte-based world leading hat manufacturer, also provided the journalists taking part in the tour with a contemporary version of the classic Pitt Helmet.