Ferrari F1 Show Car on display at Australian motor museum

Bridgestone Australia has provided its Ferrari F2004 Formula One show car to the country’s National Motor Museum on a long-term loan. The car, an exact replica of the racer that won 15 out of 18 races in the 2004 Formula One season and scored 12 pole positions at the hands of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello, was officially unveiled at the Adelaide-based museum on 12 December.

Andrew Moffatt, managing director of Bridgestone Australia Ltd, said it was fitting for the show car to go on display at the museum. “Bridgestone Australia is proudly headquartered here in Adelaide and we can trace our history here back more than 70 years,” he said. “We are very pleased that the Ferrari F2004 show car will now be a feature of the National Motor Museum in Birdwood, enabling many more people to learn more about an important part of motor racing history.”

Designed by Rory Byrne, Ross Brawn and Aldo Costa, the F2004 powered Schumacher to his seventh World Championship while Ferrari also easily secured its sixth straight Constructors’ Championship.

National Motor Museum director Marianne Norman said she and her team were excited to have the Ferrari F2004 in time for Australia’s summer school holidays. “It will be a great drawcard for Formula One and Ferrari enthusiasts of all ages,” she said. “We’re very pleased to be able to share it with the community thanks to Bridgestone.”

Also going on display at the National Motor Museum is an item some former Bridgestone Australia employees may rather not reminisce over – the museum will house a specimen from the last set of Bridgestone tyres ever manufactured in Australia, prior to the closure of the company’s Salisbury facility in 2010.