Ferrari

Ferrari is an Italian manufacturer of racing cars and high-performance sports cars formed by Enzo Ferrari in 1929. At first, Scuderia Ferrari sponsored drivers and manufactured racecars; the company went into independent car production in 1946, eventually became Ferrari S.p.A., and is now owned by the Fiat group and Piero Ferrari, son of Enzo. The company is based in Maranello, near Modena, Italy.

See Scuderia Ferrari for further history of the Ferrari racing team.

Ferrari founder Enzo Ferrari never intended to produce road cars when he formed Scuderia Ferrari in 1929 as a sponsor for amateur drivers headquartered in Modena. 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.

In 1940, upon learning of the company's plan to absorb his beloved Scuderia and take control of his racing efforts, he quit Alfa. Because he was prohibited by contract from racing for several years, the Scuderia briefly became Auto Avio Costruzioni Ferrari, which ostensibly produced machine tools and aircraft accessories. Ferrari did in fact produce one racecar, the Tipo 815, in the non-competition period; it was thus the first actual Ferrari car, but due to World War II it saw little competition. In 1943 the Ferrari factory moved to Maranello, where it has remained ever since. The factory was bombed in 1944 and rebuilt in 1946 to include a works for road car production.

"Scuderia Ferrari" literally means "Ferrari Stable" in keeping with the prancing horse emblem; the name is figuratively translated as "Team Ferrari."

The first Ferrari road car was the 1947 125 S, powered by a 1.5-litre V12 engine; Enzo reluctantly built and sold his automobiles to fund the Scuderia. While his beautiful and blazingly fast cars quickly gained a reputation for excellence, Enzo maintained a famous distaste for his customers, most of whom he felt were buying his cars for the prestige and not the performance value.

Ferrari road cars, noted for their exquisite styling by design houses such as Pininfarina, have long been one of the ultimate accessories for the rich and young (or young-at-heart). Other design houses that have done work for Ferrari over the years include Scaglietti, Bertone, and Vignale.

Ferrari cars feature highly-tuned small V8 and V12 engines, often in a mid-engined configuration; until the introduction of fuel injection in the 1980s, they were quite temperamental. Until the mid-1990s they carried a reputation for unreliability and bad engineering, though these were written off by enthusiasts as "character." Ferrari and Porsche owners have famously and religiously defended the respective merits of their cars while virulently criticizing other brands.

Main article: Scuderia Ferrari

Enzo Ferrari's true passion, despite his extensive road car business, was always auto racing. His Scuderia started as an independent sponsor for drivers in various cars, but soon became the Alfa Romeo in-house racing team. After Enzo Ferrari's departure from Alfa, he began to design and produce cars of his own; the Ferrari team first appeared on the European grand prix scene after the end of World War II.

The Scuderia joined the Formula One World Championship in the first year of its existence, 1950. Froilan Gonzalez gave the team its first victory at the 1951 British Grand Prix. Alberto Ascari gave Ferrari its first World Championship a year later. Ferrari is the oldest team left in the championship, not to mention the most successful: as of 2003, the team has won a record 13 World Drivers Championship titles (1952, 1953, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1964, 1975, 1977, 1979, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003), a record 13 World Constructors Championship titles (1961, 1964, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003), a record 178 Grand Prix victories, a record 3445 and a half points, a record 544 podium finishes, a record 173 pole positions with a record 11,182 laps led and a record 179 fastest laps in a record 1622 Grand Prix' contested.

Famous drivers include Tazio Nuvolari, Juan Manuel Fangio, Alberto Ascari, Niki Lauda, Jody Scheckter, Gilles Villeneuve, Alain Prost and Michael Schumacher.

The famous symbol of Ferrari is a black prancing horse on yellow background, usually with the letters S F for Scuderia Ferrari.

The horse was originally the symbol of Count Francesco Baracca, a legendary "asso" (ace) of the Italian air force during World War I, who painted it on the side of his planes. Baracca died very young on June 19, 1918, shot down after 34 victorious duels and many team victories; he soon became a national hero.

Baracca had wanted the prancing horse on his planes because his squad, the "Battaglione Aviatori", was enrolled in a Cavalry regiment (air forces were at their first years of life and had no separate administration), and also because he himself was reputed to be the best cavaliere of his team.

It has been supposed that the choice of a horse was perhaps partly due to the fact that his noble family was known for having plenty of horses in their estates at Lugo di Romagna. Another unproven theory suggests Baracca copied the rampant horse design from a German pilot having the emblem of the city of Stuttgart on his plane. Interestingly, German car manufacturer Porsche, from Stuttgart, borrowed its prancing horse logo from the city's emblem.

On June 17, 1923, Enzo Ferrari won a race at the Savio track in Ravenna, and there he met the Countess Paolina, mother of Baracca. The Countess asked that he use the horse on his cars, suggesting that it would grant him good luck, but it the first race at which Alfa would let him use the horse on Scuderia cars was eleven years later, at Spa 24 Hours in 1932. Ferrari won.

Ferrari left the horse black as it had been on Baracca's plane; however, he added a yellow background because it was the symbolic color of his birthplace, Modena.

The prancing horse has not always identified the Ferrari brand only: Fabio Taglioni used it on his Ducati motorbikes. Taglioni's father was in fact a companion of Baracca's and fought with him in the 91st Air Squad, but as Ferrari's fame grew, Ducati abandoned the horse; this may have been the result of a private agreement between the two brands.

The prancing horse is now a trademark of Ferrari.

8 cylinders:

• 360
  • 360 Modena
  • 360 Spider
  • Challenge Stradale

12 cylinders:

• 612 Scaglietti
• 575M Maranello
• Enzo Ferrari

• 159 S (1947)
• 125 S (1947)
• 166 Inter (1948)
• 166 MM (1948)
• 166 F2 (1948)
• 166 S (1948)
• 195 S (1950)
• 340 America (1951)
• 212 Export (1951)
• 195 Inter (1951)
• 212 Inter (1951)
• 250 S (1952)
• 250 MM (1952)
• 225 S (1952)
• 342 America (1952)
• 340 Mexico - Mexico Spider (1952)
• 340 MM (1953)
• 735 S (1953)
• 625 TF (1953)
• 250 Europa (1953)
• 500 Mondial (1953)
• 375 MM (1953)
• 375 America (1953)
• 375 Plus (1954)
• 250 GT - GT Spider (1954)
• 750 Monza - 250 Monza (1954)
• 735 LM (1955)
• 410 S (1955)
• 625 LM (1956)
• 290 MM (1956)
• 410 SA (Superamerica) (1956)
• 860 Monza (1956)
• 400 Testa Rossa (1956)
• Dino 156 F2 (1957)
• 335S (1957)
• 315S (1957)
• 250 GT California (1957)
• 412 MI (1958)
• 250 Testa Rossa (1958)
• Dino 196 S - Dino 246 S (1959)
• 250 GT Berlinetta (Short Wheelbase) (1959)
• 250 GT Cabriolet (1959)
• 400 SA (Superamerica) (1960)
• 250 GT 2+2 (1960)
• 246 SP (1961)
• 250 GTO (1962)
• 196 SP (1962)
• 268 SP (1962)
• 250 GT Berlinetta Lusso (1962)
• 250 P (1963)
• 330 LM (1963)
• 330 GT 2+2 (1964)
• 275P - 330P
• 500 Superfast
• 275 GTB-GTS
• 250 LM
• 206 P
• 275 P2
• 330 P2
• 365 P
• Dino 166 P
• 365 California
• 206 S
• 365 P Special
• 330 P3
• 275 GTB4
• 330 GTC-GTS
• 330 P4
• Dino 206 GT
• Dino 166 F2
• 365 GT 2+2
• 612 Can-Am
• 365 GTC-GTS
• 365 GTB4-GTS4
• 246 Tasmania
• Dino 246 GT
• 312 P
• 212 E
• 512 S - 512 M
• 365 GTC4
• 365 GT4 BB
• 312 P
• 365 GT4 2+2
• Dino 246 GTS
• Dino 308 GT4
• 308 GTB
• 208 GT4
• 400 Automatic - GT
• 512 BB
• 308 GTS
• Mondial 8
• 208 GTB-GTS
• 512 i BB
• 208 GTB-GTS Turbo
• 308 GTB-GTS Quattrovalvole
• Mondial Cabriolet
• Testarossa
• 288 GTO
• Mondial 3.2 - 3.2 Cabrio
• 412
• 328 GTB-GTS
• GTB-GTS Turbo
• F40
• 348 TB-TS
• Mondial T - T Cabriolet (1989)
• 512 TR (1991)
• 456 GT - GTA (1992-1998)
• F355 (1994)
• F512M (1994)
• F50 (1995)
• 550 Maranello (1996)
• 456M GT/GTA (1998)
• Ferrari 550 Barchetta (2000)
• Ferrari 360 GT (2002)

• 360 GTC
• 360 Challenge
• 575 GTC

• F333 SP (1993)

• List of automobile manufacturers
• List of Italian companies
• F201

• The official Ferrari website (in English, Italian and Deutsch)