Ferrari - A Brief History
By
Rubel Zaman
When people think of Ferrari, they likely envision a bright red,
super-fast and highly sporty vehicle - with a hefty price tag to go
along with it. While that imagery is likely correct in a lot of ways,
many people do not know the history of Ferrari or how the car came
about.
Ferrari is actually named after the owner; Enzo Ferrari. One of the most amazing and perhaps shocking revelation about Enzo is probably the fact that he worked for none other than Alfa Romero between the years of 1920 through 1929. Even though he stopped working for Alfa Romero around 1929, Enzo continued to race Alfas for another ten years, after he started his own racing company. It had been Enzo Ferrari's dream, since he was a lad of about twelve years old, to become a race car driver and here he had his chance.
When World War II broke out, racing lost some of its popularity due to the world issues and the concentration on survival and global happenings. During this time, Ferrari had left racing for Alfa Romero and had promised in an agreement to not use his own name (Enzo Ferrari) in connection with any races for a period of four years. Since this corresponded with WWII and racing was slowing down, this didn't seem to affect Ferrari so much at the time.
However, that didn't mean that Enzo stopped with his dream of racing and building cars. He continued to build cars and brought in legendary designers for his collections. Many of his race cars have inspired the 'road' version that customers bought then and today. Another interesting fact is that in 1951 one of the Ferrari designs actually beat out Alfa Romero which was definitely a high point in the Ferrari's industrious business.
Throughout the decades many influences changed parts of the Ferrari and racing. In the 1940s, the Ferrari was first imported into the United States by driver Luigi Chinetti. In 1950 only about 70-80 Ferraris were made in a year; however, that changed and grew to 300 just ten years later in 1960. Unfortunately, tragic struck Enzo in 1956 when Dino, his son, passed away at the tender age of 24 from muscular dystrophy. Dino had been a big part in helping to build the Ferrari's V6 engine.
In 1969 Enzo Ferrari decided to sell part of the company. Even though there were rumours that Ford was in line to buy some of the Ferrari shares, ultimately Fiat won out and had partial ownership. The Ferrari continued to thrive and become more and more popular, making another debut in the classic movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off. In 1988, at the age of 90, Enzo Ferrari passed away which left Fiat with 90 per cent of shares in Ferrari.
Imagine how different racing and cars would be now if Enzo Ferrari had not had his dream and lived it. Throughout several decades, he and others worked to create the fabulous Ferrari that it is today.
Ferrari is actually named after the owner; Enzo Ferrari. One of the most amazing and perhaps shocking revelation about Enzo is probably the fact that he worked for none other than Alfa Romero between the years of 1920 through 1929. Even though he stopped working for Alfa Romero around 1929, Enzo continued to race Alfas for another ten years, after he started his own racing company. It had been Enzo Ferrari's dream, since he was a lad of about twelve years old, to become a race car driver and here he had his chance.
When World War II broke out, racing lost some of its popularity due to the world issues and the concentration on survival and global happenings. During this time, Ferrari had left racing for Alfa Romero and had promised in an agreement to not use his own name (Enzo Ferrari) in connection with any races for a period of four years. Since this corresponded with WWII and racing was slowing down, this didn't seem to affect Ferrari so much at the time.
However, that didn't mean that Enzo stopped with his dream of racing and building cars. He continued to build cars and brought in legendary designers for his collections. Many of his race cars have inspired the 'road' version that customers bought then and today. Another interesting fact is that in 1951 one of the Ferrari designs actually beat out Alfa Romero which was definitely a high point in the Ferrari's industrious business.
Throughout the decades many influences changed parts of the Ferrari and racing. In the 1940s, the Ferrari was first imported into the United States by driver Luigi Chinetti. In 1950 only about 70-80 Ferraris were made in a year; however, that changed and grew to 300 just ten years later in 1960. Unfortunately, tragic struck Enzo in 1956 when Dino, his son, passed away at the tender age of 24 from muscular dystrophy. Dino had been a big part in helping to build the Ferrari's V6 engine.
In 1969 Enzo Ferrari decided to sell part of the company. Even though there were rumours that Ford was in line to buy some of the Ferrari shares, ultimately Fiat won out and had partial ownership. The Ferrari continued to thrive and become more and more popular, making another debut in the classic movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off. In 1988, at the age of 90, Enzo Ferrari passed away which left Fiat with 90 per cent of shares in Ferrari.
Imagine how different racing and cars would be now if Enzo Ferrari had not had his dream and lived it. Throughout several decades, he and others worked to create the fabulous Ferrari that it is today.
TreatMe.net offers a range of driving experience days including the chance to try your hand driving a Ferrari.
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