Autoblog

Ferrari opens its first Pit Stop store in a volcano

Noah Joseph — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 09:00:00 EST

Grand Opening of the Ferrari Pit Store store at Vulcano Buono - Click above for high-res image gallery

Another day, another Ferrari Store opening somewhere in the world. Right? Maybe so - the company has proven particularly adept at capitalizing on its brand identity with a staggering array of merchandise and the retail locations at which to peddle them. But this one is a little different, and we'll tell you why.

First is the nature of the store itself. Called the Pit Stop, it eschews the leather briefcases and fancy pens with the prancing horse logos and sticks with the motorsport paraphernalia. In other words, this store is for racing fans, less so for car owners, be they wannabe or actual. Besides the inventory though, it also features a different design from the store you might have seen in an airport terminal while traveling overseas.

Instead of lacquered red eveything, the Pit Stop store is designed to emulate the pit lane garages the team uses at grands prix, complete with perforated plates covering the wall and furniture styled after those industrial-strength travel cases the teams use to transport their equipment from race to race. There's also a replica pit wall where visitors can try their hand at the Ferrari Virtual Academy race simulator and other attractions in the 900-square-meter retail space.

The second reason this store is different is its location. Ferrari chose to launch the first of this new kind of retail space at Vulcano Buono in Nola. The innovative commercial complex sits at the foothills of Mount Vesuvius and imitates its form in a 40-meter tall structure covering 500,000 square meters, insulated by acres of sloping vegetation fields in a unique green initiative. A telling location to launch a new concept store, and Ferrari has many more planned for the future. Details in the press release after the jump, along with photos from the store's opening in the gallery below.

Gallery: Ferrari Pit Stop at Vulcano Buono

[Source: Ferrari]

Continue reading Ferrari opens its first Pit Stop store in a volcano

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Video: Mark Webber and Red Bull F1 makes pit stop in... Parliament Square?

Zach Bowman — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 16:58:00 EST

Mark Webber goes for a pit stop in London - Click above to watch video after the jump

The new Formula One rules have made it a pain for teams to get in any sort of practice these days. While that's an issue for drivers, it's just as much of a challenge for the guys working the pits. So we can imagine that when Red Bull was able to pull some strings for Mark Webber to perform a complete pit stop in front of England's House of Parliament in London, the team was probably thrilled to get their gloves dirty. The stunt was designed to promote the upcoming British Grand Prix scheduled to kick off on July 9 at Silverstone.

Webber hadn't been in the cockpit since his stunning crash in Valencia, but the Australian driver looks to be fit enough to go tire-to-tire with the rest of the field in less than a week. Likewise, the Red Bull pit crew seems to be doing just fine as well. The crew reportedly managed a 3.2-second pit stop in downtown London. Hit the jump to see the video of the action for yourself. Thanks for the tip, Peter!

[Source: Autosport]

Continue reading Video: Mark Webber and Red Bull F1 makes pit stop in... Parliament Square?

Video: Mark Webber and Red Bull F1 makes pit stop in... Parliament Square? originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 02 Jul 2010 16:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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VIDEO: Red Bull Racing performs full NASCAR pit stop in Times Square

John Neff — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:58:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Marketing/Advertising, Videos

Click above to watch video after the jump

Ah, viral marketing. We have this modern form of guerilla advertising to thank for so many funny You Tube videos. The latest comes courtesy of Red Bull via its Red Bull Racing NASCAR team. The pit crew along with driver Brian Vickers were forced to pit in an unusual location this week when the car required a tire change outside of the McDonald's in Times Square. Hey, when a driver needs new rubber, he needs new rubber, tourists be damned. so the RBR pit crew performed a full donut swap right there on the street in Times Square. Hundreds of onlookers stood in amazement at the site of a car actually finding a space to park in Times Square, even it was for only 20.6 seconds. Follow the jump to view this NASCAR craziness for yourself. Thanks for the tip, phil!

[Source: YouTube

Continue reading VIDEO: Red Bull Racing performs full NASCAR pit stop in Times Square

VIDEO: Red Bull Racing performs full NASCAR pit stop in Times Square originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ferrari pit stops help doctors in the O.R.

Stuart Waterman — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 19:03:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Etc.

Tired of defending auto racing with the same old tales of ground-breaking innovations such as the disk brake and the rear view mirror? Looking for something fresher to defend your sport against the inevitable criticisms of friends and family who don't share your passion? Well, how about this...

Research work with the Ferrari F1 team has helped doctors at a U.K. children's hospital completely transform their procedures during the critical period when a young patient is transferred from the operating room to a recovery room in the intensive care facility. The same work flow planning, minimizing of wasted motion, and intensive training that lets the Ferrari pit stop team compress their work on the car into a well-choreographed routine that takes just over four seconds has been successfully applied by Ferrari to a time and motion study at Greater St. Ormond Street children's hospital.

Ferrari's Nigel Stepney, race technical director, headed a Ferrari team that filmed and analyzed videos of the doctors at work and then developed pit-stop-like work flow and procedures with Professor Martin Elliot, head of cardiac surgery, and Dr. Allan Goldman, who directs pediatric intensive care. The restructured procedures are now part of the hospital's regular operations, and the innovative approach is soon to be published in the scientific literature.

Beats the heck out of the rear-view mirror.

[Source: The Telegraph via Jalopnik]

Ferrari pit stops help doctors in the O.R. originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 01 Sep 2006 19:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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