FERRARI

Born with humble beginnings on the outskirts of Modena in Italy on 18th February 1898, the story of Enzo Ferrari is a classic example of rags to riches. After a double setback of the deaths of his father and brother, Ferrari dropped out of school and finds a basic job at Modena to care for his family. Ferrari developed a love for racing at a very early age when his father took him and his brother to a race and he sustained and nurtured this love all his life. This fondness for racing is what led him to make Ferrari the brand that it is today. One of the top racing car manufacturers today, Ferrari has been built lovingly and carefully from nothing to something.

After serving his country in the First World War, Ferrari was injured and given an honourable discharge in 1917. He tried applying for a job with Fiat to no avail. He then became a test driver in 1918. Ferrari continued racing and he also won numerous races.

In 1923, Ferrari won the first Circuito del Savio and met Countess Paolina, the mother of Count Francesco Baracca, a national hero of the First World War. The Countess asked Enzo to use the symbol of the prancing horse which her son used to paint on his planes, suggesting that it might bring him good luck. Since then, Ferrari as a brand has been identified by this distinctive symbol. There were many differences between the Baracca horse and the Ferrari horse, the most noticeable being the tail of the horse in the original Baracca version was pointing downward.

Ferrari worked for a long time with Alfa Romeo, another car manufacturing and racing company. He trained many drivers and also competed in the races himself. He completed his final race in 1931 and he then left Alfa Romeo in 1938 to form Scuderia Ferrari in 1939. Beating an Alfa Romeo car in one of his own cars became his driving passion and he opened the Auto Avio Costruzioni in Modena to make cars for this purpose. In 1943 Ferrari moved the factory from Modena to Maranello. The Second World affected the building of the factory and after it was bombed in 1944, it recovered in 1945. This was the same year Ferrari began working on the first Ferrari prototype. He then started using the V12 engine which became a Ferrari staple.

Enzo’s first love was always racing and his factory was just a way for him to indulge this love. He was never interested in building road cars and even when he did it was only a way for him to fund his racing. The first Ferrari road car was the 1947 125 S. Ferrari gained a reputation for building sleek fast cars but he was also known for his distaste of customers.

In 1969 Ferrari signed a contract with Fiat, another Italian car manufacturing giant, giving it a 50% stake in the company’s shares. In 1988, Enzo Ferrari overviewed the new release of the Ferrari F40. This was the newest Ferrari to be launched before his death the same year. The Ferrari F40 is also arguably one of the fastest supercars in the world.

Luca di Montezemolo has been the chairman of Ferrari since 1991 and he has kept the spirit of Enzo Ferrari alive by continuing his dream of building fast, effective cars. Ferrari has continued to participate in racing and has won numerous accolades for the same.

- Ayesha Sruti Ahmed

Tags: enzo ferrari, ferrari, ferrari cars, racing car

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