Owning this iconic Italian luxury sports car with its long and illustrious racing heritage is a dream for most of us car lovers. The car company was founded in 1939 by Enzo Anselmo Giuseppe Maria Ferrari in Modena, Italy. The Ferrari brand is notable for its success with Formula One racing and iconic models such as the 250 GTO, the F40, and the modern La Ferrari, built in honor of its owner. Il Cavallino Rampante (the prancing horse), the symbol Enzo chose as Ferrari’s emblem, was taken from an Italian WWI fighter pilot’s plane after the headquarters in Maranello survived two bombings in 1947.
Enzo's role in motorsports began as a driver for Alfa Romeo with a record of 11 wins before retiring from racing. His passion led him to establish Scuderia Ferrari in 1929 as the Alfa Romeo Formula One racing team. Although he had no formal engineering qualifications, he contributed significantly to all technical aspects of his team and worked closely with the engineers and designers. He was actively involved in team strategy and car development. Scuderia Ferrari is the oldest surviving and most successful Formula One team, accumulating the most victories, first and second finishes, pole positions, fastest laps, and points.
He left Alfa Romeo in 1939 to establish his own company but was under a non-compete clause for the next four years. This did not deter him from what he called a “deadly passion” for racing. Ferrari S.p.A. was established in 1947 and he began building his own cars. He believed the more beautiful the car, the better it performed. Rosso Corso (racing red) was the chosen color for his race cars and is still the most popular Ferrari color off the track. “Ask a child to draw a car and he will certainly paint it red.”
Enzo was addressed as Il Commendatore by those working with and for him due to his uncompromising standards and fierce determination to win. He sold limited numbers of cars for the sole purpose of financing the racing division unlike other car companies. His greatest victories were at LeMans and in Formula One racing in the 50’s and 60’s.
Along with many victories came tragedies for that “deadly passion” the drivers and Enzo possessed. The tragic death of prominent driver and close friend, Alberto Ascari, in a testing accident at Monza in 1955, and the deaths of driver Alfonso dePortago and co-driver Edmund Nelson, along with nine spectators, five of whom were children, while racing in the Mille Miglia in 1957, had a profound effect on Enzo. He spent the next few years clearing himself of blame and negative press. The Mille Miglia was an open-road endurance race which changed routes each year; a challenging, dangerous event typically covering a loop starting and ending in a particular town, passing through towns along the way. It was cancelled after the horrific tragedy in 1957.
Enzo’s personal life was kept very private and guarded. There were many rumors and speculations of affairs but nothing verifiable. The Hollywood movie “Ferrari” which was recently released, although based mainly on facts, took some liberties with his story. In 1923 he married his first wife, Laura Dominica Garello, and the movie has her playing a significant role in the financial end of “Ferrari’s” business, whereas the information I came across has her described as a merely supportive and encouraging wife. They had one child, Alfredo ("Dino”) who died in 1956 at the age of 24 from a rare illness, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a genetic disorder causing progressive muscle degeneration. While homebound, Dino’s interest in engineering was instrumental in the development of the V6 mid-engine known as the “Dino.”
Laura died in 1978 and a year later Enzo married Lina Lardi with whom he had a son, Piero, born in 1945. He did not publicly recognize his son until after Laura died. Piero became more active in his father’s business in the 1970’s, working his way up through the ranks to Vice Chairman, continuing the family legacy. He currently has a 10 percent stake in the company with the rest divided amongst its shareholders.
Enzo personally approved of his last car, the F40, before his death from leukemia in 1988. In the early 90’s I was lucky enough to have had the opportunity to be on a racetrack in the F40, albeit as a passenger, but the thrill of that experience remains forever in my memory.
The Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum has on display privately owned Ferraris on loan for the exhibit “The Essence of Italian Design” at Cleveland’s Western Reserve Historical Society running now through March 30, 2024. To be the owner of a Ferrari is a distinct honor since there is limited production and you must qualify not only financially but, in your character as well. There are rules for what you can and cannot do once you own one. There is a blacklist of people who cannot purchase a Ferrari and it isn’t based on their financials!
If you are a car enthusiast, I urge you to watch the movie and attend this exhibit. You will be impressed and, like I, come away with a deeper respect for the man, the car, the drivers, and the deadly passion they possess that does not stop them in their pursuit of victory.
https://www.lagazzettaitaliana.com/history-culture/10373-ferrari-the-car-the-man-the-passion#sigProIdf72d59f9c0
