The Heritage of Ferrari

The Starting Grid

Ferrari is one of the most iconic car brands of all time. It was founded by Enzo Ferrari, a former Alfa Romeo driver, on September 13th, 1939, as Auto Avio Costruzioni’s Workshops. In 1947, he changed the name to Ferrari and built the first Ferrari, the 125s. At the time, this car was a force to be reckoned with as it was built especially for the track with a unique design and a naturally aspirated v12 engine. Only two were built, and the car dominated the race track, winning multiple races with a top speed of 130 miles per hour packing a 1.5-liter engine producing 6,800 rpm. With this momentum, Ferrari won the Mille Miglia in 1948, and its first Le Mans in 1949. Ferrari has also competed in every Formula 1 race since starting in 1950. Enzo Ferrari was very fixated and insistent on using a v12, he was told by co-workers and rivals that he should switch from his iconic v12 Colombo engine but he refused to. The Colombo engine was used until 1988 in many Ferrari cars. 

Gaining Reputation 

Early on, there was not a major difference between their sports cars and road cars. Some said it was "strictly a matter of interpretation." The 166 Inter was Ferrari's first Grand Tourer it was a different direction from Ferrari's usual dual-purpose cars. It was more focused on luxury than on performance, hence it was dubbed a Grand Tourer. The Inter series continued with the 195 and 212 Inters after the first. Ferrari also made the 166 mm which could be considered the 166 Inters racing sibling. The Barchetta was the most prominent configuration of the 166mm, winning multiple major events including the 1949 24 Hours of Le Mans. This car racing cachet helped construct Ferrari's reputation as a giant of the racing world. After this success, Enzo wanted to expand hid road car sales so he introduced the 250 series which was very successful and helped open up Ferrari's road car market. In order to expand Ferrari's international market he started building Ferraris for America, which was a large car market at the time. 

The Birth of the Dino

The Ferrari Dino was created in honor of Alfredo Ferrari who was often called Dino. He worked with Enzo for a short time before dying  prior to finishing the new V6 engine he was working on, the 750 Monza.  In his honor, the car in which the engine was fitted was dubbed the Dino 156 F2. The name would live on with lower-priced Ferraris produced in partnership with Fiat, who purchased 50% of Ferrari in 1969.

The Scaglietti Partnership

Sergio Scaglietti was an important part of Ferrari's racing heritage. He first caught Ferrari's attention with his impressive work rebuilding a wrecked Ferrari. This impressed Enzo and he later hired him to build several racing bodies including the 250 California Spyder, 250 GTO, and the 250 Tour de France. With Scaglietti's help they established themselves as a powerhouse in racing winning 6 Le Mans in a row, and as a high-end sports car manufacturer. Scaglietti also helped Ferrari became more adventurous as it started using mid-engine designs instead of the classic front-mounted engines. He also introduced his sleek curved aerodynamic bodies to Ferrari.

Ford vs Ferrari

The famous Ford vs Ferrari rivalry began when Ford wanted to purchase 90% of Ferrari in 1963. Negotiations were going well until Enzo found a clause that the racing team had to request funds from Ford and did not have free will. This outraged him and he halted all negotiations. Ford then vowed to prove their racing capabilities by aiming to end Ferrari's dominance in the Le Mans. They hired top-tier engineers to reach this goal, and they designed the Ford GT40. In the 1966 Le Mans, they won, unfortunately beating Ferrari and ending their 6-year win streak. This marked the beginning of the downfall of the Ferrari racing program. 

Life Under Fiat

As Ferrari became more of a Fiat subsidiary over the years they began to shed some of the classic Ferrari customs in the 1970s as they had to neutralize power in their American cars compared to international counterparts. Ferrari also started using v8 engines and also using ones produced by Fiat. In 1988 Enzo Ferrari unfortunately passed away which led to Fiat pouncing on the opportunity increasing their stake in the company to 90%.

Ceo Roulette

Luca Cordero di Montezemolo took over the company and was successful in greatly increasing the profitability of Ferrari cars. He also increased the range of cars to choose from. Ferrari also saw a great improvement in Formula 1 racing as with driver Michael Schumacher Ferrari was very successful. They produced new flagship cars including the Enzo Ferrari named after the company's founder and the La Ferrari my personal favorite car.  After Montezemolo resigned there was a struggle to find new chairs and CEOs as they went through multiple until settling on Benedetto Vigna in 2021 who is here to stay for now.