Today we moved a Ferrari dealership

But when you’ve been asked to help move a Ferrari dealership 15 miles down the road, Stuart Milne said he needed to take the rough with the smooth.

Moving a Ferrari dealership - gallery:

Ferrari makes the world’s most iconic cars, so you’d think its showrooms would be the kind of places that’d be a shoo-in for an episode of Grand Designs.

So when we arrived at Graypaul Birmingham’s Bromsgrove Ferrari dealership, it was obvious why the management were keen to move.

The shabby showroom had seen better days; it did the job, but was hardly the kind of place you’d expect to visit on a £200,000 shopping trip.

Graypaul’s franchise director, Mario Vignali took us on a tour around the back, and it explained why one technician had been writing a countdown on the wall, just like a prisoner waiting for their release.

If that sounds like the scribbling of an employee who hates his work; it couldn’t be further from the truth. Graypaul’s parent company, Sytner – known for its huge BMW dealerships – has been voted among the top big companies to work for.

Three-day car wash

And Mario explained he takes his employees thoughts very seriously. Standing in a unit adjoining the main workshop he explained how it takes three days to valet a Ferrari at his dealership, and how his team were crestfallen when they had to drive through the dirty puddles to elsewhere on the site.

This is where we were happy to lend a hand. Thrown the keys to a Ferrari 599 – fitted with the excellent £13,900 HGTE handling package – I carefully piloted the car the 15 miles to the new site in Solihull.

It’s the first time I’ve driven a 599 – a car proclaimed by some to be the best in the world – and it’s an experience I’ll never forget. Despite my jaunt along the M42 being a far cry from the winding exotic roads you’ll see on Top Gear, it’s a real occasion to select every gear, see other drivers’ reactions and hear the Enzo-derived V12 bark through its four exhaust pipes.

World-class dealership

But the drama of the car was nothing compared to Graypaul Birmingham’s new Ferrari site in Solihull – and it immediately became clear why Ferrari is making such a big noise about it.

The £4.5m site – which opened yesterday – looks incredible and sits next to Sytner’s BMW and Mini franchises. The glass-walled building houses eight new cars, four Ferraris and four Maseratis, and glistens white.

Graypaul’s idea is buyers want lots of space to move around and view the cars – it’s a bold strategy that flies in the face of the pile ‘em high mentality of some dealers.

The individual lighting has been developed to show each car off to its full potential, and the result is unlike any dealership I’ve been to before.

There’s nothing ‘out-front’ apart from the cars and a receptionist. The sales staff sit behind a glass screen and can be requested if needed. Rather than sit around a desk, customers relax in the lounge, which is adorned with the kind of Ferrari memorabilia and books that’ll satisfy the most ardent petrolhead.

In fact, it’s ‘so’ Ferrari, you’ll find an identical lounge at the company’s Maranello factory – even the white leather seats have Ferrari’s Prancing Horse and Maserati’s Trident emblems embossed into the arms.

And there’s good reason for this. Sytner’s £4.5m investment sees the Solihull showroom become the first in the world to feature Ferrari’s new corporate identity.

Achingly cool

That means achingly cool spaces, with a minimalist feel. But far from feeling stark and uncaring, it’s the kind of place you’d want to come as part of a day out. Indeed Mario has sent letters to his clients asking them to have a look around, without the pressure of buying anything.

Mario said: “We have a different philosophy from most dealers; if a child wants to come in and look, we’ll let them”.

He understands the importance of this – these kids could be potential customers, or at least become massive fans of the brand. Mario told me his most memorable sale was to a middle-aged truck driver who has been saving for a Ferrari since his teens.

But it’s not forgotten this new building needs to earn its corn. It’s the first Ferrari showroom in the UK to have a fully-equipped “Atelier”, a room which lets buyers try out various seats and steering wheels and get up close to a range of alloy wheels and brake bits. Graypaul’s customers will be able to design their car using an online configurator, but Mario says it’s still important to be able to touch and feel what they’re buying.

We wander out to the used car room, which can fit far more than the six cars currently in the showroom and look out into the immaculate workshop.

Testarossa repair

The technicians are busy at work on a few F430s, a Maserati Granturismo and even a Testarossa from the 1980s.

There’s a fastidious attention to detail rarely seen, and that’s for good reason. Ferrari wants to get back in touch with buyers of older cars who have shunned the dealer network for independent specialists. These specialists might have vast experience and ability, but I was amazed at the attention the team give to used cars.

John Kemp, senior aftersales manager for Ferrari north Europe took us around a car they’d just bought in to sell.

With hawk-like eyesight, he pointed out dents, scratches and tyre wear we would never have noticed. He points out a sideskirt and said: “look at the finish; it tails off towards the side. See where it goes like crocodile skin? That’s where it has been relacquered. It’s not a bad job, but we’ll do some work on it”.

I know plenty of industry experts, and none would have spotted that.

For John just good is not good enough. His technicians follow a 190 point checklist which is audited again and again for incredibly high standards. Only then will the car be eligible for the Ferrari’s Used Approved status.

It’s clear where the £4.5m investment has been spent. The showroom is sensational and represents a slice of the Ferrari dream.

But there’s one more thing I need to do before I leave – take a Ferrari F430 Scuderia for a drive. It might only have been 15 minutes on a couple of dual carriageways and roundabouts, but it was enough for me to put it firmly in my own fantasy garage.