Enzo Ferrari (1898 - 1988, left) and one of his drivers, Alberto Ascari (1918 - 1955) talk over their strategy for the Italian Grand Prix in the pits at Monza, 1st September 1950. (Photo by Keystone)
Gallery of Enzo Ferrari
1955
Brescia, Italy
Enzo Ferrari, Paolo Marzotto, Piero Taruffi, Ferrari 118 LM Scaglietti, Mille Miglia, Brescia, 30 April 1955. Enzo Ferrari with his Mille Miglia drivers, Paolo Marzotto and Piero Taruffi. (Photo by Bernard Cahier)
Gallery of Enzo Ferrari
1955
Brescia, Italy
Enzo Ferrari, Mille Miglia, Brescia, 30 April 1955. Enzo Ferrari in a rare teasing mood, wearing the funny glasses lent to him by Bernard Cahier. (Photo by Bernard Cahier)
Gallery of Enzo Ferrari
1956
Via Abetone Inferiore, 4, 41053 Maranello MO, Italy
Enzo Ferrari (1898 - 1988) poses with his Mille Miglia entered cars, the number 600 Ferrari 290MM of Juan Manuel Fangio, the number 548 Ferrari 290MM Scaglietti of Eugenio Castellotti and the number 556 Ferrari 860 Monza Scaglietti of Luigi Musso, at the Ferrari factory, Manarello, Italy, 1956.
Gallery of Enzo Ferrari
1956
Monza, Italy
Enzo Ferrari, Peter Collins, Grand Prix of Italy, Monza, 02 September 1956. (Photo by Bernard Cahier)
Gallery of Enzo Ferrari
1956
Monza, Italy
Enzo Ferrari, Juan Manuel Fangio, Grand Prix of Italy, Monza, 02 September 1956. Enzo Ferrari and Juan Manuel Fangio, two immense characters who had a bit of a tempestuous relationship. (Photo by Bernard Cahier)
Gallery of Enzo Ferrari
1956
Monza, Italy
Enzo Ferrari, Eugenio Catellotti, Grand Prix of Italy, Monza, 02 September 1956. (Photo by Bernard Cahier)
Gallery of Enzo Ferrari
1956
Monza, Italy
Enzo Ferrari, Grand Prix of Italy, Autodromo Nazionale Monza, 02 September 1956. (Photo by Bernard Cahier)
Gallery of Enzo Ferrari
1957
Brescia, Italy
Enzo Ferrari, Mille Miglia, Brescia, 11 May 1957. (Photo by Bernard Cahier)
Gallery of Enzo Ferrari
1958
Monza, Italy
Enzo Ferrari, Mike Hawthorn, Grand Prix of Italy, Monza, 07 September 1958. (Photo by Bernard Cahier)
Gallery of Enzo Ferrari
1958
Monza, Italy
Enzo Ferrari, Mike Hawthorn, Grand Prix of Italy, Monza, 07 September 1958. (Photo by Bernard Cahier)
Gallery of Enzo Ferrari
1958
Monza, Italy
Romolo Tavoni, Enzo Ferrari, Grand Prix of Italy, Monza, 07 September 1958. Enzo ferrari with Ferrari Team Manager Romolo Tavoni. (Photo by Bernard Cahier)
Gallery of Enzo Ferrari
1958
Via Abetone Inferiore, 4, 41053 Maranello MO, Italy
Battista "Pinin" Farina, Enzo Ferrari, Sergio Pininfarina, Ferrari factory, Maranello, 10 October 1958. (Photo by Bernard Cahier)
Gallery of Enzo Ferrari
1960
Enzo Ferrari (Photo by Keystone)
Gallery of Enzo Ferrari
1964
Enzo Ferrari (Photo by Evening Standard)
Gallery of Enzo Ferrari
1964
Modena, Italy
Enzo Ferrari during testing in Modena in 1964. (Photo by Bernard Cahier)
Gallery of Enzo Ferrari
1965
Enzo Ferrari, Grand Prix of Italy, Monza, 12 September 1965. (Photo by Bernard Cahier)
Gallery of Enzo Ferrari
1966
Viale di Vedano, 5, 20900 Monza MB, Italy
Enzo Ferrari at the Monza race circuit where the 1966 Italian Grand Prix was won by one of his factory-entered Formula 1 cars, driven by team driver Ludovico Scarfiotti. (Photo by Reg Lancaster)
Gallery of Enzo Ferrari
1966
Enzo Ferrari is the founder of the Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team and of the Ferrari car manufacturer. (Photo by John Bryson)
Gallery of Enzo Ferrari
1966
Monza, Italy
Enzo Ferrari with Italian actor Adolfo Celli who played the role of Enzo Ferrari in the film "Grand Prix". (Photo by Bernard Cahier)
Gallery of Enzo Ferrari
1966
Monza, Italy
Enzo Ferrari with Italian actor Adolfo Celli who played the role of Enzo Ferrari in the film "Grand Prix". (Photo by Bernard Cahier)
Gallery of Enzo Ferrari
1968
Monza, Italy
Enzo Ferrari, Grand Prix of Italy, Monza, 08 September 1968. (Photo by Bernard Cahier)
Gallery of Enzo Ferrari
1968
Monza, Italy
Enzo Ferrari, Grand Prix of Italy, Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza, Italy, September 8, 1968. (Photo by Paul-Henri Cahier)
Gallery of Enzo Ferrari
1976
Enzo ferrari with Bernard Cahier's wife, Joan Cahier, testing Fiorano, 15 February 1976. (Photo by Bernard Cahier)
Gallery of Enzo Ferrari
1985
Maranello, Italy
Enzo Ferrari the founder of the Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team sits at his office in 1985 in Maranello, Italy. (Photo by Grand Prix Photo)
Enzo Ferrari (1898 - 1988, left) and one of his drivers, Alberto Ascari (1918 - 1955) talk over their strategy for the Italian Grand Prix in the pits at Monza, 1st September 1950. (Photo by Keystone)
Enzo Ferrari, Paolo Marzotto, Piero Taruffi, Ferrari 118 LM Scaglietti, Mille Miglia, Brescia, 30 April 1955. Enzo Ferrari with his Mille Miglia drivers, Paolo Marzotto and Piero Taruffi. (Photo by Bernard Cahier)
Enzo Ferrari, Mille Miglia, Brescia, 30 April 1955. Enzo Ferrari in a rare teasing mood, wearing the funny glasses lent to him by Bernard Cahier. (Photo by Bernard Cahier)
Via Abetone Inferiore, 4, 41053 Maranello MO, Italy
Enzo Ferrari (1898 - 1988) poses with his Mille Miglia entered cars, the number 600 Ferrari 290MM of Juan Manuel Fangio, the number 548 Ferrari 290MM Scaglietti of Eugenio Castellotti and the number 556 Ferrari 860 Monza Scaglietti of Luigi Musso, at the Ferrari factory, Manarello, Italy, 1956.
Enzo Ferrari, Juan Manuel Fangio, Grand Prix of Italy, Monza, 02 September 1956. Enzo Ferrari and Juan Manuel Fangio, two immense characters who had a bit of a tempestuous relationship. (Photo by Bernard Cahier)
Romolo Tavoni, Enzo Ferrari, Grand Prix of Italy, Monza, 07 September 1958. Enzo ferrari with Ferrari Team Manager Romolo Tavoni. (Photo by Bernard Cahier)
Enzo Ferrari at the Monza race circuit where the 1966 Italian Grand Prix was won by one of his factory-entered Formula 1 cars, driven by team driver Ludovico Scarfiotti. (Photo by Reg Lancaster)
Enzo Ferrari the founder of the Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team sits at his office in 1985 in Maranello, Italy. (Photo by Grand Prix Photo)
Enzo Ferrari was an Italian racing driver, designer, and entrepreneur. He devoted his life to building immensely powerful sports cars and a championship racing team. Ferrari cars are generally seen as a symbol of luxury and wealth and often dominated world racing competition in the second half of the 20th century.
Background
Enzo Ferrari was born on February 20, 1898, in Modena, Kingdom of Italy. The second son of Adalgisa Bisbini, noble landowner from Forlì, and Alfredo Ferrari, owner of a mechanical workshop in Carpigiana, Enzo Ferrari spent his childhood in Maranello, in the house that is now home to the Casa Enzo Ferrari Museum.
When he was 10 his father took Ferrari and his brother Alfredo Jr. to an automobile race in Bologna. There he saw Vincenzo Lancia battle Felice Nazzaro in the 1908 Circuit di Bologna. After attending a number of other races he decided that he too wanted to become a racing car driver.
Education
Ferrari had a passion for race cars and race car driving since a very early age in his life and decided that he wanted to be a racing driver at the tender age of 10, and also dreamed of becoming an opera singer, but the deaths of his father and brother from the flu in 1916 forced him to grow up quickly, and he left school to become an instructor for Modena's fire service workshop.
Career
During World War I, in 1916, both Ferrari's father and brother died due to the outbreak of the Italian flu. Around the same time, he was called to join the war and was assigned to the Third Alpine Regiment, Val Seriana. He contracted the 1918 flu pandemic, which led to his discharge at the end of the war. Upon getting a letter of recommendation from the military authorities, Ferrari applied for a job with Fiat in 1918. Unfortunately, there were no vacancies there at the time. But, he got a job as a test driver, in Turin, in a motor company that changed light trucks into chassis, collaborating with an Italo-Argentinian body shop in Milan.
In a 1919 race at the Targa Florio, he finished ninth. With the help of his friend Ugo Sivocci he got a job with Alfa-Romeo in 1920 and had success as a racing driver. In 1926, overburdened and stressed, Ferrari experienced an emotional breakdown and stopped racing. He turned down a few offers, including one for a big race in Mussolini's presence. He switched to fixing cars for Alfa, but his racing career was mostly over, though he did race in 1927 and a few times thereafter, but with less success than he had previously.
In 1923, young Ferrari won the Circuit of Sivocci at Ravenna. There, he acquired the legendary ace pilot Francesco Baracca's World War I pilot badge, a prancing horse on a yellow shield. This icon would have to wait until 1932 to be displayed on a racing car.
Said to be unwilling to damage an engine by pushing it to its limits, Ferrari nonetheless won his share of races and was honored by his country for his sporting achievements. In 1929, he pulled together his own team of drivers and engineers for his Scuderia Ferrari (Ferrari Stable). Comprised mainly of Alfa Romeos, the Scuderia soon became the official racing arm of the automaker.
1931 was Ferrari’s last year as a racing driver. His last race was at the Three Provinces circuit where he came second, driving an Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 MM. Because of his increasing family and other professional commitments, he abandoned racing this year. In 1933, due to financial constraints, Alfa stopped its association with Scuderia Ferrari. Alfa took control of its racing efforts in 1937 once again, and Ferrari was reduced to mere Director of Sports.
In 1937 he quit Alfa-Romeo under the agreement that he could not race or design anything under his name for four years. During World War II, Ferrari's company was forced to undertake war production for Mussolini's fascist government, thus supplying auto parts for the Italian military. Allied bombing forced him to relocate the factory from Modena to Maranello. After World War II Ferrari was able to shed his fascist-tainted reputation. He concentrated all efforts on the design of the car that would carry his name.
Ferrari resumed designing racing cars at the conclusion of the war, and in March 1947 he took the first official Ferrari, the 125 S, out for a test-drive. The marque scored its first win that year, at the Rome Grand Prix, and went on to notch victories at the Mille Miglia in 1948, the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1949 and the British Grand Prix in 1951. In 1952 and 1953, Ferrari driver Alberto Ascari won the world racing championship. Around this time, the company also began producing cars for road use, with the rich and famous lining up for a chance to purchase one of these dazzling vehicles.
Despite rocketing to the top of the racing industry in the 1950s, Ferrari endured immense personal turmoil during this period. The biggest blow was the death of his son Dino from muscular dystrophy in 1956, a devastating loss that turned him into a recluse. In addition, six of his drivers were killed between 1955 and 1965, and he was even tried for manslaughter (and acquitted) after one of his cars careened into the roadside crowd at the 1957 Mille Miglia and killed nine spectators. In 1957, Ferrari and Englebert, the tire manufacturer, were charged with manslaughter when during Mille Miglia, Alfonso de Portago, driving Ferrari, died along with his co-driver when one of the tires blew. Nine people out of the audience were also killed. The prosecution was dismissed in 1961.
In 1969, Ferrari sold 50% of its shares to Fiat but Enzo Ferrari remained 100% in control of the racing endeavors. This offer was first made to Ford but Ferrari did not go forward with it, knowing that he would not be able to remain in control of the important decisions if he will involve Ford with his company. In 1974, Ferrari retired from the position of managing director of the road car division’s position. He then nominated Luca Cordero di Montezemolo as the Formula one team manager and asked him to represent him at all the race meetings.
Ferrari formally resigned as president of his company in 1977, although he effectively retained control of the business. In 1982, Ferrari made sturdy cars and chose world-class drivers. Although Ferrari remained involved with Scuderia until his death there were not any more championships for Ferrari. In 1987, The F40, the last car to be created under Enzo Ferrari's management, was unveiled.
Ferrari tended to scorn technological advances that he did not come up with himself, so he was slow to accept things like disc brakes, rear-mounted engines, and fuel-injection systems. As a result, the stranglehold his cars had on races around the world began to loosen. Still, by the time he died in 1988, Ferrari cars had won more than 4,000 races.
Quotations:
"Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines."
"I have never gone on a real trip, never taken a holiday. The best holiday for me is spent in my workshops when nearly everybody else is on vacation."
"I have yet to meet anyone quite so stubborn as myself and animated by this overpowering passion that leaves me no time for thought or anything else. I have, in fact, no interest in life outside racing cars."
"Everyone dreams of driving a Ferrari, it was my intent from the start."
"All the innovations learned from racing experience can find practical application in the normal production models."
Personality
Ferrari was a recluse and hardly made any public appearances or gave any interviews. He was also known to be a workaholic. It is believed that Ferrari used to induce competition between his drivers and used to encourage them to be at the position of number one driver.
Enzo wore the same black tinted glasses every day for the rest of his life in honor of his son who died of muscular dystrophy. Enzo also famously used purple ink in his fountain pen, although the reason for this remains unclear. Enzo suffered from claustrophobia hence his reluctance to enter tight spaces like airplanes and elevators.
Enzo Ferrari was also known as The Commander, a nickname that may have been given to him by the Italian King Victor Emmanuel III.
Quotes from others about the person
"His dream always was to become Ferrari - the team, the factory, the cars. And he did become that. But in private, he was humble. He didn't take himself overly seriously and could see the humor in the situation. What he did take very seriously was the factory, the work, and the people who worked for him. Enzo Ferrari didn't need to play up to perception. You don't need to pose like Ferrari when you are Ferrari." - Marco Piccinini
Interests
Sport & Clubs
Racing
Connections
In 1932, Ferrari married Laura Dominica Garello Ferrari. They had a son together called Alfredo "Dino" Ferrari. He died from muscular dystrophy in 1956. Following the death of his wife in 1978, he admitted to fathering another son, Piero, with his mistress Lina Lardi, whose presence was discreet as it was important in the private and professional life of the great builder.