Under the skin: Ferrari at the Design Museum

Image 1 of 6

Only a handful of brands are able to produce cars that are as much works of art as they are high-performance vehicles; to take something technical and functional and transform it into a true object of desire. And perhaps none more so than Ferrari, which (as it celebrates its 70th year) continues to have a cultural impact that extends far beyond the automotive world. As Enzo Ferrari himself described it, 'my motors have a soul'.

This influence is being explored in a new exhibition at London's Design Museum, which not only delves into the marque's boundary-pushing designs over the decades, but the history behind the billion-dollar brand. Bringing together rare material from private collections, it offers an unprecedented glimpse into an extraordinary company across the decades.

The headline draw is, of course, the cars themselves, and with £140 million-worth of Ferraris brought together in the show, there's plenty to impress even non-petrolheads. The cars on display span Ferrari's most sought-after road cars – including a technologically advanced LaFerrari Aperta owned by Gordon Ramsey – to race-worthy models driven by such iconic figures as Peter Collins and Stirling Moss.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Competitive racing has always been at the heart of the brand; Enzo Ferrari was a driver before turning his hand to production after the Second World War. Ferrari's legacy is particularly intertwined with Formula 1, in which it is the most successful racing team, producing the highest number of winning drivers. The exhibition not only traces the manufacturer's early beginnings, featuring artefacts including Enzo Ferrari's driving licence and an exact replica of the first Ferrari ever made – the 125 S – but chronicles its journey through racing history. Beyond the vehicles, this story is told through such important items as original helmets worn by Michael Schumacher, Mike Hawthorn and Kimi Raikkonen, famous racing suits and the 1952 British GP winner's trophy.

The evolution of design is explored with a behind-the-scenes look at the techniques used by Ferrari across the decades. These range from original hand-drawn sketches to the high-tech wind tunnel models created for aerodynamic testing. It offers a rare technical insight into the process involved in translating drawings into the car's final form, demonstrated through such pieces as a 1:1 scale clay design model of the J50, a limited-edition run created to celebrate 50 years of Ferrari in Japan.

Enzo Ferrari once said that "the Ferrari is a dream", and its vehicles have long stood as both an aspirational goal and a signifier of success. Adding to their covetable nature along the way has been a long line of celebrity adherents to the brand. Here this is brought to life with a section dedicated to famous clients and their cars, featuring the fascinating archive photography of Clint Eastwood, Brigitte Bardot and Sammy Davis Jr, notes from Miles Davis and an F40 belonging to Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason.

"The Ferrari story is truly one of the great adventure stories of the industrial age and I am very proud we are able to tell it at the Design Museum," said Sir Terence Conran, founder of the Design Museum. "The depth of emotion goes far beyond the external beauty of their cars: what excites me so much about this exhibition is that rare opportunity to glimpse behind the scenes and experience the dynamic between engineering, manufacturing and design, which produces Ferrari's magic ingredient. It is a magic ingredient that means I am here, aged 85, and still lusting after the idea of owning a Ferrari."

Ferrari: Under the Skin is at the Design Museum until 15 April 2018; tickets £18; designmuseum.org