The History of Ferrari

When Enzo Ferrari created his company Scuderia Ferrari in Italy in 1929 his intentions was to sponsor amateur race car drivers and invent racing cars, and it would take more than 15 years before Ferrari began to create their own road cars in 1946. Ferrari is still devoted to the creation of racing cars and high performance sports cars and do not create other types of cars. Scuderia Ferrari is still the widespread name for Gestione Sportiva, the part of the Ferrari company that works with racing. Scuderia is an Italian word and means “stable”, but Scuderia Ferrari is sometime also translated as Team Ferrari.

During the early years, Scuderia Ferrari sponsored race car drivers that were driving Alfa Romeo cars. Scuderia Ferrari would prepare Alfa Romeo cars before the race, and in 1938 Enzo Ferrari became officially employed by Alfa Romeo's racing department. Two years later Enzo Ferrari found out that Alfa Romeo was planning to absorb Scuderia Ferrari, a plan which Enzo Ferrari strongly opposed. He instantly left his job at Alfa Romeo, but his contract restricted him from being involved with racing for several years. He changed Scuderia Ferrari into “Auto Avio Costruzioni Ferrari” and officially manufactured aircraft accessories for a few years. Enzo Ferrari did however create a race car during this restricted period. The Tipo 815 debuted at the Mille Miglia race in 1940, but the race was hampered due to World War II and Tipo 815 encountered no real competition. In 1943 Enzo Ferrari moved his factory to Maranello in Italy and one year later the factory was bombed. After the end of World War II, Enzo Ferrari rebuilt his factory and now the Ferrari factory was capable of construction road cars as well.

Ferrari constructed its first road car in 1947. The 1947 125 S Ferrari had a 1.5 L V12 engine and the whole car was considered very beautiful and well designed. Enzo Ferrari was still more interested in race cars and the Ferrari road cars was merely a way for him to fund his work with the Scuderia Ferrari. His distaste for the road car customers became famous and he even accused them of buying Ferrari cars only as status symbols. It is true that the Ferrari road cars grow to fame not only due to excellent performance but also thanks to their stylish elegance. Pininfarina, Bertone, Ghia, Scagliette, Touring and Vignale are all examples of design houses that have worked with Ferrari.

In November 1961 a dispute between Enzo Ferrari and his sales manager, Girolamo Gardini, turned into a crisis. Girolamo Gardini threatened to leave the company. Enzo Ferrari responded to the threat by throwing out Girolamo Gardini, and several employees who agreed with Girolamo Gardini were also ousted. Among them were Romolo Tavoni, manager for Scuderia Ferrari, Giotto Bizzarrini, the chief of the experimental sports car development, and Carlo Chiti, the chief engineer. This was naturally a huge loss for the Ferrari company and the crisis deepened when those who had been thrown out formed their own company – Automobili Turismo e Sport (ATS). ATS even managed to take over Scuderia Serenissima, a very successful racing team, from Ferrari.

A younger engineer, Mauro Forghieri, and an experienced racing bodyman, Sergio Scaglietti, assumed responsibility and tried to finish the projects that the leaving employees had left behind. One of the most important tasks was to finish the development of 250 GTO; a new 250-based model that could compete with the Jaguar E-type. The 250 GTO was finished in time to participate in the Sebring race and place itself first in class, driven by Phil Hill. Throughout 1962, the 250 GTO continued to win the races and it is still one of the most well known race cars in history. The crisis turned out to be something good for Ferrari and the 1960s became a very good decade for the company.

Until the 1980s when Ferrari began to use fuel injection in the road cars, the Ferraris were known as rather temperamental cars. They could be very unreliable, but would still attract a large group of dedicated fans that viewed this unpredictability as “character” rather than a problem. Today, FIAT controls 56 percent of the Ferrari stocks. The rest of stocks owned by Enzo's con Piero Ferrari and by Commerzbank, Mediobanca and the Lehman Brothers. Maranello is still the home town for Ferrari.

By William Berg.

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Ferrari Has Become Unanimous With Speed - Prestige And Elegance

Ferrari is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello and Modena, Italy. Ferrari cars have been made since 1970, with its speed and elegance epitomised and embodies the ethos of it's founder Enzo Ferrari.

Ferrari prepared and successfully raced various drivers in Alfa Romeo cars until 1938, when he was officially hired by Alfa as head of their racing department.

A Ferrari is suposed to be black,red,or yellow. The original Ferrari color was yellow and not Red as many people think.

Ferrari also has an internally managed merchandising line that distributes everything from eyewear, pens, perfume, clothing, high tech bicycles to laptop computers bearing the Ferrari brand.

Ferrari has become unanimous with speed, prestige and elegance. Ferrari's cars are among the most desirable of vehicles to own and drive, and are one of the ultimate status symbols of wealth in the world.

A Ferrari is very affordable if you don't mind buying a used vehicle. A Ferrari is definitely a who and not a what!

Ferrari cars, are one of the most wanted vehicles on the planet, usually due to both the companies and vehicles reputations, they are also regarded as a sybmol of success.

Ferrari F40 is one of the fastest and most expensive ferrari cars. Ferraris are an idea of life as much as a car, and they've kept their romance intact, right up into this age of computer-generated everything.

A Ferrari is, to many, more than just a car: it is a work of art. It is like no other car in the world, the smell of the leather, the sound of the exhaust, nothing comes close.

A Ferrari is typically not a car to drive on a daily basis, but it certainly can be driven often, giving the owner a sense of pride and a taste of the Ferrari mystique.

Ferrari road cars, noted for magnificent styling by design houses like Pininfarina, have long been one of the ultimate accessories for the rich. Ferrari is the oldest team left in the championship, not to mention the most successful: the team holds nearly every Formula One record. Ferrari has used the cavallino rampante on official company stationery since 1929. Ferrari's first models were sports/racing cars quite different from the grand touring models that followed. Ferrari quickly moved into the Gran Turismo market, and the bulk of the company's sales remain in this area. Ferrari entered the mid-engined 12-cylinder fray with the Berlinetta Boxer in 1971. Ferrari street cars have a badge that is similar to Ferrari’s racing badge. Ferrari car's quality and reliability is legendary and with Charles Hurst' heritage and service expertise provided by our Ferrari car dealers you need look no further.

In the mid 1990s, Ferrari added the letter "F" to the beginning of all models (a practice quickly abandoned after the F512M and F355, but recently picked up again with the F430). The Ferrari F430 is a two-seater that is available in two forms; the Berlinetta and the Spider. The F430 has been produced since 2004 and production continues to date.

By Tony Harries.