Scuderia Ferrari, which would later develop into the Ferrari S.p.A we know today, was set up in 1929 by Enzo Ferrari as a race car sponsorship company which literally translated into Stable Ferrari (but more commonly known as Team Ferrari). It is the oldest team in the Grand Prix having been a participant since 1932. The company went into the production of street-legal vehicles in the late 40s and were bought into by Fiat in 1969. This year, Fiat have announced that they wish to sell their share of the company which, at the time of the announcement, was around 90%.
Secunda Ferrari trained and raced amateur racers in Alfa Romeo cars until 1938 when he was hired by the car manufacturer as head of their motor racing department. This arrangement would be shaken to it’s core however when 1941 saw the confiscation of Alfa Romeo by the Axis Powers in order to contribute to the war effort. Ferrari’s team was too small to be taken and was instead assigned to producing parts for vehicles. As part of his contract Enzo Ferrari was banned from racing for 4 years and so his company (which had become part of Alfa Romeo) changed it’s name to Auto Avio Costruzioni Ferrari.
The first actual ferrari was made in this period and debuted during the 1940s. However, due to World War II it saw very little competition. The company moved its factory to Maranello in 1943 where it was bombed by the Allies in 1944. Rebuilding his factory in 1946, Enzo Ferrari made Maranello Ferrari’s permanent home and it has been based there ever since.
After the war, Ferrari began work on it’s first road-legal car which would be released a year after the factory was rebuilt: The 1947 125 S. Enzo was reluctant to build road cars, however, he needed the funds they produced to back Scuderia Ferrari.
Enzo Ferrari passed away in 1988 but not before he personally oversaw the launch of arguably one of the world’s most famous supercars ever made. The Ferrari F40 was a rear wheel drive, two door coupé which was sold at roughly £1,324,500 in today’s equivalent prices. There have been reports however that people have paid up to 4 times this much for one.
Since they first started their Formula one World Championship career, the team has completed 888 races with 221 victories and 207 pole positions. They have also had 230 Fastest Laps. They came 3rd in the latest Gran Prix in 2013 and hope to just as well if not better this year in the US.
The logo is perhaps one of the most recognisable logos in the world of motor racing and features a black prancing horse on a yellow background. The horse was the logo of the Italian World War I ace Francesco Baracca’s fighter plane and was adopted by Ferrari after Baracca was shot down 1918 at the request of Baracca’s parents. They asked Ferrari to carry on the fallen pilots tradition of sportsmanship, gallantry and boldness.
Since its founding, Ferrari has been known for it’s dedication to perfection in engineering which have been reflected in all things bearing their name be it formula 1, sports cars or even the watches that bear their name.
Pick up your watch today and share in the legacy that is Ferrari racing.