Three flights and almost a full day later, I arrived at Europe's grand peninsula. The weather was not the most welcoming, as is typical of late fall there, and the misted skies undermined the glory of the scenery. But there's no mistaking the beautiful base architecture of Italy-mountainous terrain that flows to the sea; cities built on the top of the hillsides; and grassy valleys below that flow with greenery. Coming from the tan deserts of Arizona, this was a welcome change.
We all know Italians are great designers when it comes to automobiles, clothing, architecture and food, but my mission here was to see if that could also be true with car audio. Larry Penn, America's area manager for Elettromedia, invited me to tag along with 50 or so of the company's top retailers, for a four-day pass to a program best known as "Ferrari Days." The program is designed for these select retailers, or "Master Dealers," to take part in marketing, sales and product discussions, and afford them the opportunity to view the state-of-the-art facilities in which Elettromedia product is developed and built.
You might be wondering where the name "Ferrari Days" comes from. It just so happens that this event coincides with the Ferrari Mondiali-the anniversary of Ferrari, this year held at the Mugello Race Circuit. Here Ferraris seem ordinary, as reserved parking was filled with thousands of red stallions. But it was here where we also watched an Elettromedia-sponsored F430 Challenge racecar competing for the championship. But I digress; my excitement for Ferraris is almost as great as my love for audio, so let's get back on track.