Having conquered China and the Americas, Ferrari has embarked on a new adventure; the Magic India Discovery Tour, which gets underway from Mumbai on February 25 and returns to the same city on May 8 having covered a route stretching more than 11000km (6835 miles).
The car featured on this tour is the 612 Scaglietti, Ferrari's flagship GT. Two of these Prancing Horse berlinettas will embark on the voyage which comes in the wake of the "China 15,000 Red Miles" tour completed in 2005 and the "Panamerican 20,000" tour of 2006, both of which were hugely successful.
Ferrari is offering a total of 50 journalists from across the world the opportunity to take turns behind the wheel of a V12-powered 612 Scaglietti in the course of the 12-stage 72-day voyage of discovery of the delights and richness of India. The journalists will explore this fascinating country that combines modernity and tradition.
India is currently enjoying an exciting period of economic growth and a boom in its advanced technologies sector, yet remains rooted in the traditions of its ancient culture. This is a nation in which innovative infrastructure exists side by side with areas of completely unspoilt natural beauty.
Of course, Ferrari isn't new to this kind of marathon voyage. Its last such adventure was the Panamerican 20,000 tour during which two 599 GTB Fioranos traveled from the beaches of Brazil to the East Coast of the US, taking in tropical rain forests, arid deserts and snowy peaks as they traversed an entire continent. In 2005, we staged the spectacular Ferrari 15,000 Red Miles tour when two standard 612 Scagliettis covered a 24000km (14915 miles) route through China in what was a first for any automotive constructor in the world. To mark our 50th Anniversary in 1997, a F355 completed a round the world tour that took in the five continents with no less than 147 journalists from the various nations visited, taking turns behind the wheel.
The Magic India Discovery is divided into 12 stages and runs over 72 days. It starts in Mumbai at the Gateway of India, a monument celebrating the visit of King George V and Queen Mary to the country. The two 612 Scagliettis will immediately head south along the stunning eight-lane motorway that is the jewel in the crown of Indian's infrastructure. The first stage ends in the city of Goa, a popular tourist destination once ruled by the Portuguese.
The tour continues further south to Mysore and then Trivandrum, the southernmost point of the Indian peninsula, before turning north towards Bangalore, the capital of India's innovative technologies industry. Hyderabad and Ramosi, home to the Bollywood film industry, provide the backdrop to a stage that ends in Vizak on the coast of the Bay of Bengal. The 612 Scagliettis will then drive along the east coast to the city of Kolkata (Calcutta), once the headquarters of the legendary British East India Company.
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