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Ferrari
Tagline
Net Worth
$36,180,000,000
Started in (City)
Modena
Started in (Country)
Italy
Incorporation Date
13th December, 1939
Bankruptcy Date
-
Founders
- Enzo Ferrari
About
Ferrari is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari on 13th of September, 1939 out of Alfa Romeo’s race division as Auto Avio Costruzioni, the company built its first car in 1940. However, the company’s inception as an auto manufacturer is usually recognized in 1947, when the first Ferrari-badged car was completed. Throughout its history, the company has been noted for its continued participation in racing, especially in Formula One, where it is the oldest and most successful racing team, holding the most constructors championships and having produced the highest number of drivers' championship wins .Ferrari road cars are generally seen as a symbol of speed, luxury and wealth. Ferrari cars are built at the 165,000 square-meter (16.5-hectare) Maranello factory.
Beginning
Enzo Ferrari was not initially interested in the idea of producing road cars when he formed Scuderia Ferrari in 1929, with headquarters in Modena. Scuderia Ferrari literally means "Ferrari Stable" and is usually used to mean "Team Ferrari." Ferrari was bought,prepared, and fielded Alfa Romeo racing cars for gentleman drivers, functioning as the racing division of Alfa Romeo. In 1933, Alfa Romeo withdrew its in-house racing team and Scuderia Ferrari took over as its works team, the Scuderia received Alfa’s Grand Prix cars of the latest specifications and fielded many famous drivers such as Tazio Nuvolari and Achille Varzi. In 1938, Alfa Romeo brought its racing operation again in-house, forming Alfa Corse in Milan and hired Enzo Ferrari as manager of the new racing department; therefore the Scuderia Ferrari was disbanded.
In September 1939, Ferrari left Alfa Romeo under the provision he would not use the Ferrari name in association with races or racing cars for at least four years. A few days later he founded Auto Avio Costruzioni, headquartered in the facilities of the old Scuderia Ferrari. The new company ostensibly produced machine tools and aircraft accessories. In 1940, Ferrari produced a race car – the Tipo 815, based on a Fiat platform. It was the first Ferrari car and debuted at the 1940 Mille Miglia, 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 by the Allies and subsequently rebuilt including works for road car production.
Road to Success
Ferrari is not only known for majestic sports cars, deafening formula 1™ race cars but also for the power, the acceleration, and the exhilaration that its drivers experience. Here is the wonderful success story of Enzo Ferrari! Enzo Ferrari, born in 1898, has always had racing in his blood combined with the strong desire to become a race driver. However, the First World War began when Enzo Ferrari was 16, which lead him to become a mule-skinner in the 3rd Alpine Artillery division of the Italian Army. In his early years, Ferrari suffered a lot of throwbacks, such as the death of his father and brother and the realization that the family firm had collapsed when he returned after the end of the war. Being young and ambitious, Ferrari applied for a job at the Italian car manufacturer FIAT, but suffered another setback, after being rejected. Ferrari’s unsuccessful attempts to start working for FIAT lead him to the CMN racing team that were redesigning truck bodies into passenger cars.Ferraris success story began when he left the CMN racing team, where he had little to no initial success, to start racing for the Alpha Romeo racing team. Ferraris successes in the local races promoted him to become the head of the Scuderia Ferrari, Alfa’s racing team, where he started to develop a racing team that won only few victories, despite the high quality of the drives. Alfa Romeo withdraw their engagement in 1933, when financial constraints arose, which lead Ferrari to leave Alfa in 1937, after being demoted to director of sports. Enzo Ferrari had founded a company that supplied car parts to racing teams, when the Second World War began, where his company became involved in the war production. After the war, Ferrari founded Ferrari S.p.A., which is where the success story of the company Ferrari started to evolve.
Challenges
The big V8-powered Shelby Cobra challenged the Ferraris in the early 1960s. By the mid 1960s, Ford tried to buy Ferrari but no agreement was reached. Instead, the Ford GT40 ended the dominance of Ferrari Prototypes at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966 when GT-40 Mark IIs finished 1-2-3. Ford dominated Le Mans again in 1967 in the Mark IV. After the performance of the big V8-powered Ford at the 1967 Le Mans, the FIA banned prototypes over 3000cc, which also affected the 330Ps. The change was announced in late 1967 and came in effect for 1968; for that season, the Scuderia did not take part in sports car racing in protest. These years saw a new challenger. Formerly competing with smaller cars only, the Germans entered the new 3-litre sports car prototype class in 1968 with the Porsche 908, while Ferrari raced the Ferrari 312P in only few events in 1969. In March, the presentation of the 5 litre Porsche 917, built in advance in 25 exemplars, had surprised also Ferrari, which answered later that year with the production of 25 Ferrari 512S, funded from the money gained by the FIAT deal. At that time, Porsche had almost a full season of experience with their new car, and took the World Sportscar Championship where Ferrari was only 4th. The 1970 season saw epic battles between the two teams and the many cars they entered, yet Porsche won every event except Sebring, where the victorious car and its drivers Ignazio Giunti/Nino Vaccarella/Mario Andretti had their origins in Italy. Ferrari decided to give up the 512 in 1971 in order to prepare the new 312PB for the 1972 season, when only 3 litre class would be allowed.
Failures
On Oct. 5, Enzo Ferrari climbed into the driver's seat and competed in his first race. He finished fourth. The would-be race driver won 13 of the 47 races he entered. Not bad, but hardly one for the record books.In time, Ferrari would abandon race car driving and go to work for Alfa Romeo. A management clash led to his dismissal in 1939 and he spent World War 2 making machine tools. After the end of the war, Ferrari got his chance to make his own automobiles. The first Ferraris appeared in 1947, when his entry won the Rome Grand Prix. A couple of years later, Ferrari came in first at the Le Mans road race and by 1952, Alberto Ascari, one of his team's drivers, was crowned racing's world racing champion by winning each competition he entered that year. Armchair historians may wonder how things might have ended up had Ferrari won that first competition. But for legions of auto design fans, Ferrari's subsequent mediocrity as a race car driver turned out to be an unalloyed blessing. Here's a look at some of his handicraft through the decades.
Achievements
- Winners of the 2015 Pirelli Ferrari Classic race series.
- Winners of the 2015 Pirelli Ferrari classic Driver of the Year award
- The Gilles Villeneuve Trophy 2015 Ferrari Owners club (2nd time winners).
- Third in the 2014 Pirelli Ferrari Classic race series.
- The Gilles Villeneuve Trophy 2013 Ferrari Owners club
Subsidies
- Scuderia Ferrari S.p.A.
CEOs
- John Elkann