Ferrari History
ABOUT FERRARI
 Enzo Ferrari founded Scuderia Ferrari in 1929 primarily to build racing cars. The entire business was focused on motorsports before until it built its first road car in 1947. Enzo Ferrari was not interested in the idea of producing road cars when he formed Scuderia Ferrari. Since then, Ferrari has built some of the world’s most dynamically capable, recognized and sought-after sports and supercars — and continues to do so today. |
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The legendary "prancing horse" has also been a cornerstone of Formula One racing since the beginning of the World Championship series in the 1950s. Purchased by the Fiat Group in 1969, Ferrari has maintained a presence in motorsports, particularly Formula One. At the same time, the Italian automaker has also produced such famous road cars as the Dino, 288 GTO, F40, F50 and Enzo.
A town in northern Italy, near Bologna, Maranello has been home to Ferrari since the 1940s. At more than 250,000 sq metres, the factory's 45 buildings house more than 3,000 workers. It is here that passion, innovation and technology combine to create the company’s GT and Formula 1 cars.
A town in northern Italy, near Bologna, Maranello has been home to Ferrari since the 1940s. At more than 250,000 sq metres, the factory's 45 buildings house more than 3,000 workers. It is here that passion, innovation and technology combine to create the company’s GT and Formula 1 cars.
BRIEF FERRARI HISTORY
Enzo Ferrari wanted to race. He had no interest in the idea of producing road cars. When he initially started Ferrari it was built to prepare, and successfully race, various drivers in Alfa Romeo. That was until 1938, when he was hired by Alfa Romeo to head their motor racing department.
In 1941, Alfa Romeo was confiscated by the fascist government of Benito Mussolini. Enzo Ferrari's division was small enough to be unaffected by this. Because he was prohibited by contract from racing for four years, he instead focused on production of machine tools and aircraft accessories.
In 1943 the Ferrari factory moved to Maranello, where it has remained ever since. The factory was bombed by the Allies in 1944 and rebuilt in 1946, after the war ended, and included a works for road car production.
The first Ferrari road car was the 1947 125 S, powered by a 1.5 L V12 engine; Enzo Ferrari reluctantly built and sold his automobiles to fund Scuderia Ferrari.
Early in 1969, Fiat took a 50% stake in Ferrari. An immediate result was an increase in available investment funds, and work started at once on a factory extension intended to transfer production from Fiat's Turin plant of the Ferrari engined Fiat Dino. New model investment further up in the Ferrari range also received a boost.
In 1988, Enzo Ferrari oversaw the launch of the Ferrari F40, the last new Ferrari to be launched before his death later that year, and arguably one of the most famous supercars ever made. From 2002 to 2004, Ferrari produced the Enzo. The Enzo was Ferrari's fastest model at the time, and was introduced and named in honor of the company's founder, Enzo Ferrari.
Continuing on from the F40 was the F50 and then the Enzo. The Enzo was initially offered to loyal and reoccurring customers, each of the 399 made were spoken for immediately.
In 1941, Alfa Romeo was confiscated by the fascist government of Benito Mussolini. Enzo Ferrari's division was small enough to be unaffected by this. Because he was prohibited by contract from racing for four years, he instead focused on production of machine tools and aircraft accessories.
In 1943 the Ferrari factory moved to Maranello, where it has remained ever since. The factory was bombed by the Allies in 1944 and rebuilt in 1946, after the war ended, and included a works for road car production.
The first Ferrari road car was the 1947 125 S, powered by a 1.5 L V12 engine; Enzo Ferrari reluctantly built and sold his automobiles to fund Scuderia Ferrari.
Early in 1969, Fiat took a 50% stake in Ferrari. An immediate result was an increase in available investment funds, and work started at once on a factory extension intended to transfer production from Fiat's Turin plant of the Ferrari engined Fiat Dino. New model investment further up in the Ferrari range also received a boost.
In 1988, Enzo Ferrari oversaw the launch of the Ferrari F40, the last new Ferrari to be launched before his death later that year, and arguably one of the most famous supercars ever made. From 2002 to 2004, Ferrari produced the Enzo. The Enzo was Ferrari's fastest model at the time, and was introduced and named in honor of the company's founder, Enzo Ferrari.
Continuing on from the F40 was the F50 and then the Enzo. The Enzo was initially offered to loyal and reoccurring customers, each of the 399 made were spoken for immediately.
FERRARI HISTORY TIMELINE
| Enzo Ferrari's Years at Alfa RomeoNo history of Ferrari is complete without mentioning that Enzo Ferrari worked for Alfa Romeo from 1920 to 1929 (he wanted to get a job at Fiat after WWI, but restrictions on civilian auto traffic in Italy meant the company wasn't hiring), and that he raced Alfas for another 10 years after that. From the time he was 12, according to Ferrari: The Man and His Machines, Enzo knew he wanted be a race driver. At Alfa, he achieved that dream, and adopted the cavallino, or prancing horse, insignia for his Alfa race car. In 1929, he left Alfa to start Scuderia Ferrari in Modena, his privately owned Alfa race team. | The 1930s - Scuderia Ferrari In 1929, Enzo Ferrari left Alfa Romeo's employment to start his own racing stable (scuderia in Italian). Scuderia Ferrari did not race cars with the Ferrari name, though the Alfas they used on the track did sport the prancing horse. Race cars came to the scuderia from Alfa for tuning for almost a decade, and the Ferrari shop in Modena built its first car, the Alfa Romeo 158 Grand Prix racer, in 1937. In 1938, Alfa took its racing program in-house, and Enzo Ferrari went with it. After 10 years on his own, though, working for someone else proved difficult. He left Alfa (or was dismissed) for the last time in 1939. |
| The 1940s - Ferrari Survives the WarWhen Enzo Ferrari left Alfa Romeo, he agreed to not use his name in connection with racing for four years. That wasn't so bad; WWII curtailed racing for most of those four years anyway. Ferrari moved from Modena to Maranello during the war, where it remains today. In 1945, Ferrari began work on the 12-cylinder engine the company would be famous for, and in 1947, Enzo Ferrari drove the first 125 S out of the factory gates. Post-war racing was Ferrari's finest hour on the track. Driver Luigi Chinetti was the first to import Ferrari cars to the U.S. in the late 1940s, including the first, the 166 Inter. | The 1950s - Race- and Road-ReadyDuring the 1950s, Ferrari had legendary engineers like Lampredi and Jano on the payroll, and bodies designed by the legendary Pinin Farina. Every time a race car was improved, the road car was the beneficiary. In 1951, a Ferrari 375 brought the team its first victory -- over Alfa Romeo, no less. The 357 America hit the market in 1953, as did the first in the long line of 250 GTs. Production of all Ferrari cars grew from 70 or 80 a year in 1950 to more than 300 by 1960. Enzo suffered a personal tragedy in 1956, when his son Dino, who had helped develop Ferrari's V6 engine, died age of 24. |
| The 1960s - Turbulent TimesThe '60s started out pretty good for Ferrari: Phil Hill won the Formula 1 championship in 1961 using a 1.5-liter V6 race car nicknamed "Dino." It was the era of the sexy, swooping 250 Testa Rossa. But things got rough for the Prancing Horse, like when Carroll Shelby brought his Cobra to European race tracks. After years of rivalry, the Texan beat the Italian in 1964. Ferrari was having financial troubles as well, but that was nothing new. There were talks with Ford about a buyout, but Enzo Ferrari instead walked out on that deal and sold part of the company to Fiat in 1969. | The 1970s - What Gas Crisis?The V6 engine made it to a production model in the Dino 246 of the early '70s. In 1972, the company built the Fiorano test circuit next to the factory. Ferrari introduced the Berlinetta Boxer flat-12 engine to the world at the 1971 Turin Motor Show in the 365 GT/4 Berlinetta Boxer, and the car hit showrooms in 1976. The next year, Carozzeria Scaglietti di Modena, Ferrari's design house, was officially incorporated into the company. Cars were churned out, by Ferrari standards, with some models being built in the thousands. |
| The 1980s - Greed Is Good -- for FerrariLet's skip to 1985, when one of the most iconic of all Ferraris appeared on posters across the world: the Testarossa (note that this time, the model name is one word, not two). The '80s also saw the convertible Mondial and the realization of Enzo Ferrari's dream, the F40. It was built to commemorate the company's 40th anniversary, with a carbon-fiber body, a giant wing, and Kevlar panels. Ferrari's brand recognition was at an all-time high, with a (replica) 1961 250 GT starring inFerris Bueller's Day Off. But in 1988, Enzo Ferrari died, at the age of 90. Fiat's share of Ferrari rose to 90%, son Piero became VP. | The 1990s - A New EraIn 1991, Luca di Montezemolo took the reins of the Prancing Horse. The supercar streak continued with the F50, but the '90s had a wider offering of smaller engines, like the V8 in the F355 series. There were still V12s to be had, of course, like the Testarossas that continued to be built through the mid-90s. In 2003, Enzo Ferrari got his due, with a 230-mph supercar named for the company's founder. On the track, the hot-blooded Ferrari cars met their match in the cool German driving of Michael Schumacher, who raced Ferraris to seven F1 championships between 1994 and 2004 |
| The 2000s - The Hits Keep Coming:In the 2000s, fresh from the success in Formula 1, Ferrari's road cars literally went to a whole new level of awesome. The Ferrari F430 came out flying and was following by the superb front-engined 599 with its screaming V12. Ferrari also introduced a host of new models to their lineup with the Ferrari California and Ferrari FF, both of which won rave reviews from fans and critics alike. Just when Ferrari was riding high, they once again raised the bar. The Ferrari 458, launched in 2010 is considered by many one of the greatest ever. The recent F12berlinetta and the mental hybrid Enzo replacement the Ferrari LaFerrari are both ready to take Ferrari's into the future (very quickly of course). |  |
FERRARI CARS
Ferrari has built some amazing cars. Many agree that Ferrari has created some of the best ever. The company's loftiest efforts have been in the supercar market and it continues that tradition today with some of the current lineup already being touted as future classics.
BEST FERRARI ROAD CARS EVER
Ferrari’s philosophy "building the greatest cars in the world." So it is fitting when you think of awesome sports cars, one brand immediately comes to mind and that is Ferrari. Everything about Ferrari cars is great, unique and recognizable. Performance is amazing and they are constantly dragging the automotive industry into the future.
For many decades Ferrari has been one of the top motor car brands. The short list of greatest Ferrari road cars isn't a short list at all. Ferrari has an uncanny ability to produce some of the best sports and road cars in history. So here are the top 10 Ferraris of the past 6 decades, noting that we include the current Ferrari 458 Italia and LaFerrari in the list too.
The 250 GTO may be considered the first in the line of Ferrari supercars and it was a gem. They haven't looked back. The Dino was the first mid-engined Ferrari and while down on power, it looked gorgeous and this layout would go on to be used in most Ferraris. The 288 GTO and 599 GTO were crazy models based on existing models. The F40 is still considered by most the be the best supercar ever, the Enzo was the defining moment celebrating Ferrari's awesome F1 run in the late 1990s.
For many decades Ferrari has been one of the top motor car brands. The short list of greatest Ferrari road cars isn't a short list at all. Ferrari has an uncanny ability to produce some of the best sports and road cars in history. So here are the top 10 Ferraris of the past 6 decades, noting that we include the current Ferrari 458 Italia and LaFerrari in the list too.
The 250 GTO may be considered the first in the line of Ferrari supercars and it was a gem. They haven't looked back. The Dino was the first mid-engined Ferrari and while down on power, it looked gorgeous and this layout would go on to be used in most Ferraris. The 288 GTO and 599 GTO were crazy models based on existing models. The F40 is still considered by most the be the best supercar ever, the Enzo was the defining moment celebrating Ferrari's awesome F1 run in the late 1990s.
FUN FERRARI FACTS YOU MAY NOT KNOW...
- In 1908, Enzo Ferrari's father took him and his older brother to a race in Bologna. There, he became smitten with racing and wanted to become a race car driver. Ferrari's dream became reality in 1919, when he made his racing debut at the age of 21.
- During World War I, Enzo was a blacksmith and mule-shoer for the Italian army.
- In 1916, Enzo's father and brother died during an Italian flu outbreak, and in 1918, Enzo himself got the disease and almost died. Enzo was discharged from the Italian army. He discovered that his family's metal engineering firm had collapsed. Enzo had to look for a job. When Fiat turned him down, he found a job as a test-driver for a small carmaker called CMN. A year later, his friend got him a job at Alfa Romeo as a race car driver. Ten years later, he started his own racing team, Scuderia ("stable") Ferrari.
- The black prancing horse in the famous Ferrari logo was originally the symbol of Count Francesco Baracca, a flying ace in the Italian air force during World War I.
- The very first car* produced and built under the Ferrari name is the Ferrari 125 S (125 after the engine displacement and S for Sport). I think it's one of the most beautiful cars - if not the most beautiful - Ferrari has ever made (though the 166 MM Barchetta ain't bad)..
- You all know that Ferraris are expensive, but would you believe that even their brochures are pricey? In 1985, a brochure for the 1960's Ferrari 250 Le Mans fetched £1,070 at a Christie's auction in Monaco. A world record till today.
- The most expensive Ferrari ever sold was 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa. It got 9.02 million euros in a recent auction.
- The 1962-1964 Ferrari 250 GTO is often called the most sought after car in the world. Only 39 were produced.
- In 2002 Ferrari introduced the Enzo Ferrari. Only 400 cars were ever made ... and so far, 14 Enzos have been totaled. At a million bucks EACH!
- All "Dino" Ferraris (road and racing cars) are equipped with a 1.5 liter DOHC V6 engine. They're named after Enzo's son, Dino, who helped design this engine before his untimely death.
- Called the most expensive car crash ever, eight Ferraris were involved in a single accidentoccurring in Shimonoseki, in Southwestern Japan, on December 6, 2011.
- Many cars produced by Ferrari have odd names for their colors (i.e. Turchese Molvedo). What you might not know is that these color titles are named after famous race horses.
- On September 12, 2012, a new Guinness Book of World Records was set as 964 Ferraris assembled at the Silverstone UK racetrack.
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