Motor Valley: Italy’s automotive heartland.

The name suggests one compact destination. The map tells a better story. Motor Valley follows the Via Emilia across Emilia-Romagna, connecting car and motorcycle manufacturers, museums, private collections, racing teams, driving schools and four very different circuits.

The famous central cluster around Modena and Bologna is only the beginning. Dallara and Varano sit further west; Imola, Misano and the motorcycle culture of Romagna pull the journey east. Trying to complete it as a checklist misses the point. The opportunity is to choose a theme and let the region connect it.

The region outline and city positions are geographic; the numbered venue groups are schematic. The places recreate the Motor Valley orientation board photographed in October 2025. Collections, tours and access change, so use the official trip planner before travelling.

Museums are usually the simplest layer. Factory tours, specialist visits, private collections and driving experiences may require advance booking and can disappear from the calendar. A museum ticket never implies access to the production line.

• Book the non-negotiable visit first, then build the day around it.
• Allow time for identity checks, parking and the walk from one part of a site to another.
• Check circuit calendars: a race weekend, track day or private event can completely change access.
• Keep Modena and Bologna ZTL restrictions separate from museum planning.
• Leave one open slot. The smaller, less expected stop may become the reason to return.

Piloti’s Motor Valley archive begins with first-hand visits and original photography. The first detailed field note is from the Umberto Panini Maserati Collection: a small, considered museum that made Maserati’s unusual design choices easier to understand.

More visited locations will become individual guides as the archive is edited. A wider road journey in October 2026 will add the details a map cannot provide: real timings, parking, what deserves a detour and which combinations create a day with energy rather than exhaustion.