Enzo Ferrari: The Man Behind Italy's Luxury Car
The story behind one of Italy's most reputable sports car brands.
The Ferrari is synonymous with conspicuous consumption, unadulterated luxury, and Italian finesse. Here is the enthralling history behind one of the world’s most energetic sports cars.
Enzo Ferrari
Enzo Ferrari was born in Modena, Italy on February 18, 1898. Because of a snow storm, the birth was not reported to the registry until two days later. His parents were Alfredo Ferrari and Adalgisa Bisbini. Alfredo worked in the metal industry from the home’s basement. Economic opportunity was non-existent in the small island of Modena.
Enzo witnessed his first car race at the age of 10. He was so thoroughly impressed that it became one of his most passionate hobbies.
The World Wars
The Kingdom of Italy waged two wars against the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Empires. He served in Italy’s artillery during WWI. Most of the combat took place in northern Italy. Ravaged by war, things got even worse when a flu epidemic broke out in 1916. His father and older brother were both casualties of the disease.
With two deaths in the family, the Ferrari business collapsed. After being spared death from the illness, Enzo attempted to find a job in the car industry. Although he was turned down by Fiat in Turina, he settled for a position as a test driver in Milan.
On November 23, 1919, Ferrari competed in the famous Targa Florio race. He was forced to give up when his gas tank began to leak. Still, he managed to finish in ninth place. Because of this, Enzo managed to land a job at a prestigious Italian auto maker called Alfa Romeo. He won his first Grand Prix at the Savio Circuit in Ravenna in 1923. He outdid himself in 1924, a year that saw him win three races. By this time, Enzo’s name was among the pantheon of Italian racers. Because of his success on the racetrack, Ferrari began to take an interest in the managerial aspects of the profession.
In 1932, Ferrari began to devote this attention toward developing the factory known as Alfa Race Cars. He assembled a superstar roster of race cars, including the Alfa Romeo P3 and the Nuvolari. Ferrari’s famous prancing horse logo began to appear on these automotive designs. The famous logo was first worn by Francesco Baracca, an Italian fighter pilot from WWI. In 1918, an Austrian plane shot down and killed Baracca. To honor the Italian’s death, Ferrari crafted his automotive logo based on the Baracca symbol.
Mussolini’s empire
When Mussolini’s dictatorship took hold over Italy, Ferrari’s factory was forced to produce weapons and trucks for the Fascist regime. After the US Air Force bombed the factory, Ferrari moved down to Maranello. There, he resumed his car production in 1947. The Ferrari 166 participated in the 24-hour Le Mans race of 1949. Ferrari’s first consumer-oriented car appeared in 1958. It was the Ferrari 250 GT.
Enzo enjoyed the racing, but it wasn’t profitable. Nor was it universally accepted. Ferrari’s autocratic management style was deeply unpopular. He psychologically pressured his racers to boost their performances. In these races, from 1955 to 1971, at least seven drivers lost their lives. Ferrari was unfavorably compared to the Roman god Saturn, a mythological character that consumed his own sons, by the Vatican’s newspaper L’Osservatore Romano.
Merger with Fiat
Eventually, Fiat purchased a 50% stake in Ferrari. This resulted in an influx of investment capital for Enzo’s discretion. Factory expansion began almost immediately.
Fiat’s involvement was necessary for Ferrari’s new models to roll off the factory. Profits came with the Ferrari 308 GTB and GTS. This was followed closely by the 328 and 365 Daytona. Ferrari’s rapid rise to fame was especially remarkable because it occurred in the 1970s, at a time of international oil shortages. V8 and V12 engines provided high performance and speed on Ferarri’s cars. Although Ferrari was now a powerful contender in the auto industry, it was still seen as interior to Aston Martins, Jaguars, and Lamborghinis.
Testarossa
However, Ferrari broke out as a cultural tour de force with the Testarossa in 1984. Furnished with sleek, fighter jet-inspired design, the car ran on a powerful V12 engine. It won hearts and minds, and became the best-selling car of the century. Its success was only rivaled by the F40, released a few years later.
After being featured on Miami Vice, the Testarossa emerged as the world’s most fashionable car. The Ferrari brand’s popularity blew up overnight. The show regularly featured a white Testarossa from season three onward, and the car became a character of its own.
F40
By this time, Enzo’s health was waning. While he spoke to the press through interviews, and continued to direct his company, Ferrari’s life was reaching its twilight. The last car he oversaw was the F40. Released in 1987, it was the first car in history to exceed 200 miles per hour.
The F40 was the archetypal supercar. It was light as a feather, weighing a mere 1,100 kilograms. Only 11 of its exterior body panels were made of aluminum, kevlar, or carbon fiber. The only conventional thing about its design was the air conditioning inside. The glass outside was made of an elegant, light-weight lexan, which is a type of clear-colored polycarbonate.
Post-Ferrari years
At the ripe old age of 90, Ferrari died of health failure on August 14, 1988. Even after Enzo’s death, the Ferrari company continued to produce first-rate cars going into the 1990s. These included the F50, the 355, and the 575.
From 2002 to 2004, Ferrari sold their fastest car to date. It was called the Enzo, named after the company’s founder. As a continuation of the F40 and F50, it should have been called the F60. But the Ferrari company was so enchanted with their new invention, they named it in honor of the founder himself. 400 cars were made; one was donated as a gift to the Vatican. Each sold for $650,000.
Going into the mid-2000s, Ferrari released the F360 and F430. Both of these cars gained a reputation as reliable, superstar vehicles. The F430 Spider appeared in a reboot movie of Miami Vice, starring Jamie Foxx and Colin Ferrel. The movie, although a flop, was a fun throwback to Ferrari’s 80s history.
The FCA Group, formed by the union of the automobile producers Fiat and Chrysler, announced its luxury brand Ferrari on October 29, 2014. The goal was to establish Ferrari as a standalone company. By October of 2015, Ferrari’s stocks were publicly offered at a price of $52 per share. After years of dependence, Ferrari had finally seceded from Fiat.
As electric cars become increasingly efficient and popular, Ferrari is expected to roll out its own models over the next decade. The plan is to have 60% electric models by the end of 2026. Current hybrid models include the SF90 and the 296 GTB. An all-electric facility has already been established in Maranello. Ferrari rolled out its first SUV in September of 2022.
Today, the fast-driving Ferrari continues to be on the cutting edge of sports car excellence.