Umberto Panini: The Cheesemaker Who Saved Maserati’s Car Collection

Maserati marks its 110th anniversary this month, but a significant portion of the company’s history was almost lost in the 1980s.

At the time, the storied manufacturer was under the ownership of DeTomaso. It had launched the wedge-shaped Biturbo series and sold five percent of Maserati’s stock to Chrysler, but the bottom line for the trident brand was not healthy.

In a bid to raise cash quickly, DeTomaso decided to sell off Maserati’s collection of classic road and race cars, including such rarities as a 250F driven by Juan Manuel Fangio and a “Birdcage” Tipo 61, the glorious A6 GT car, and stunners from the ’60s and ’70s such as the 3500 GT, Ghibli, Khamsin, Mistral, and Merak.

A few miles outside of Modena, Umberto Panini had already built up a sizeable collection of cars and motorcycles. Having made his fortune with the Panini sticker books, beloved by kids the world over, he had established Hombre, an organic farm and manufacturer of Parmigiano cheese, and was filling up one of the barns with an eclectic selection of machinery.

When Panini, a proud Modenese, heard that DeTomaso was selling the Maserati collection, and considered the prospect of these precious cars leaving the region, he took action.

“In 1986 my father saved the Maserati classic collection,” explains Umberto’s son, Giovanni. “He formed a local committee, but my father was basically the only one that tried seriously to do something to strike a deal with DeTomaso.

“In the summer there was an accord between the two parties and a contract was signed that September and then the cars came here and were put on display in November.”

“Here” is the Collezione Umberto Panini, a free-to-enter museum that’s currently home to 22 Maseratis, and almost hidden among the cowsheds of Hombre.

“Immediately, we became the world reference for classic Maserati fans,” says Giovanni. “We established a specific cooperation with Maserati and we got to reinvent the maintenance program to take care of all the cars.”

All but one of the Maseratis in the museum are drivable—only a prewar 6C with a serious engine issue is currently out of service—and the cars are used regularly.

“When there are the right opportunities to do it, it’s a pleasure to race sometimes or to drive the Maseratis and represent classic Maserati,” says Giovanni.

In 2023 I watched him drift the priceless Eldorado 420M/58 in snowy Switzerland at The Ice concours. At the time of my visit to the collection, the 250 F was on display at Maserati HQ as part of the firm’s 110th anniversary celebrations. In 2025, the whole museum is set to move to a more central location in Modena.

In the meantime, if you pay a call to Hombre, you’ll find a two-story building crammed with classics from the curves of the 1954 A6GCS to the angles of an ’80s Ghibli Cup. There’s also a reminder of Maserati’s checkered past in the form of the Citroën SM and Chrysler TC by Maserati.

Now, under corporate owner Stellantis, there are again question marks over Maserati’s future, but at least its past is in safe hands.