History of Ferrari

Enzo Ferrari was born in Modena, Italy, in 1898. He first worked as a race car driver. In the 1920s, Alfa Romeo hired him as a driver, and he went on to win several races, including the 2nd Circuito di Modena.

In 1929, Ferrari started Scuderia Ferrari, which is now Ferrari’s official race car business. It began as a part of Alfa that focused on preparing race cars for gentlemen drivers. At the time, sports car racing was gaining popularity among the rich and famous, who were the only ones who could afford it.

In 1931, Enzo came in second at the Circuito Tre Province, the last time he drove in a race. He wanted to pay attention to his family and the birth of his first child, Alfredo, who most people call Dino.

But he still worked for Scuderia and built cars for Alfa until 1939. In September of that year, he quit his job as Head of Alfa Corse to start his own car company, Auto Avio Costruzioni, in Modena, Italy, where he was born and raised. Because of his leaving, he couldn’t use the Ferrari name on any of his cars or in any races for at least four years. To keep the deal, the company didn’t change its name to Auto Costruzioni Ferrari until 1957, and the Ferrari 125 S was the first car to be called a Ferrari. In 1945, Ferrari came out with a V12 engine, which became one of its most recognizable features. The first Ferrari model, the 125 S or 125 Sport, didn’t leave the plant on Via Abetone Inferiore in Maranello, Italy, until 1947, almost ten years after Enzo left Alfa. At first, there were just two kinds.

In May that year, the car took part in its first race at the Piacenza Circuit. The Rome Grand Prix was won on May 25. The car was supposed to come out earlier, but World War II caused the release date to be moved back. After bombs hit the plant in Modena, the company moved to Maranello and built the famous factory it still uses today.

During the next few decades, the Italian car company did well because its cars won big races like the Mille Miglia in 1948, the Le Mans 24 Hour Race in 1949, and the Formula One World Championship Grand Prix in 1951.

Luigi Chinetti, a race car driver, opened the first Ferrari showroom and factory in the United States at the start of the 1950s. Before this, Ferraris were mostly owned by rich people who liked driving and used them to compete in races. Later, the site moved from Manhattan to Connecticut, but the US became one of the most profitable places to sell Ferraris.

Dino, Enzo’s oldest son, died of muscular dystrophy in 1956. This was a terrible event. The company went through a time of change in the 1960s. First, in 1961, some of the company’s employees, such as top engineers Carlo Chiti and Giotto Bizzarrini, left to start a new car company called ATS. At the time, they wanted it to compete directly with Ferrari. People said that Enzo’s wife Laura’s heavy participation in running the business was the cause of the split.

Engineer Mauro Forghieri and body designer Sergio Scaglietti were chosen to finish the 250 GTO, which, ironically, became known as one of the most famous sports cars ever.

At the end of the 1960s, Enzo understood that the company needed a partner to stay successful and grow in the face of competition and market challenges. In 1969, it found a partner in the Fiat Group, which bought 50% of the company.

The F40 was first sold in 1987. It would be the last car that Enzo Ferrari would work on. The next year, he died at 90, and the Fiat Group raised its company share to 90%.

After Enzo died, Luca di Montezemolo took over as Ferrari’s head from 1991 until October 2014. Sergio Marchionne, the present CEO, took his place, and plans were made to split Ferrari from the Fiat Group. In 2015, Ferrari N.V. went public and started selling at almost $10 billion on the New York Stock Exchange. In 2016, it started trading on the Milan Stock Exchange.