Enzo Anselmo Ferrari (pronounced [ˈɛntso anˈsɛlmo ferˈrari]) (February 18, 1898[1] – August 14, 1988) Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI[2] was an Italian race car driver and entrepreneur, the founder of the Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team, and subsequently of the Ferrari car manufacturer. He was often referred to as "il Commendatore"
Born in Modena, Enzo Ferrari grew up with little formal education but a strong desire to race cars. During World War I he was assigned to the third Alpine Artillery division of the Italian Army. His father Alfredo, as well as his older brother, also named Alfredo, died in 1916 as a result of a widespread Italian flu outbreak. Ferrari became severely ill himself in the 1918 flu pandemic and was consequently discharged from Italian service. Upon returning home he found that the family firm had collapsed.
Having no other job prospects, Ferrari eventually settled for a job at a smaller car company called CMN (Costruzioni Meccaniche Nazionali), redesigning used truck bodies into small passenger cars. He took up racing in 1919 on the CMN team, but had little initial success.
He left CMN in 1920 to work at Alfa Romeo and racing their cars in local races he had more success. In 1923, racing in Ravenna, he acquired the Prancing Horse badge which decorated the fuselage of Francesco Baracca's (Italy's leading ace of WWI) SPAD S.XIII fighter, given from his mother, taken from the wreckage of the plane after his mysterious death. This icon would have to wait until 1932 to be displayed on a racing car. It is interesting to note that the Ferrari emblem matches that of the city of Stuttgart and is identical to the center of the Porsche emblem.
In 1924 Ferrari won the Coppa Acerbo at Pescara. His successes in local races encouraged Alfa to offer him a chance of much more prestigious competition. Ferrari turned this opportunity down and did not race again until 1927. He continued to work directly for Alfa Romeo until 1929 before starting Scuderia Ferrari as the racing team for Alfa.
Ferrari managed the development of the factory Alfa cars, and built up a team of over forty drivers, including Giuseppe Campari and Tazio Nuvolari. Ferrari himself continued racing until 1932.
The support of Alfa Romeo lasted until 1933, when financial constraints made Alfa withdraw. Only at the intervention of Pirelli did Ferrari receive any cars at all. Despite the quality of the Scuderia drivers, the company won few victories (1935 in Germany by Nuvolari was a notable exception). Auto Union and Mercedes dominated the era.
In 1937 Alfa took control of its racing efforts again and again, reducing Ferrari to Director of Sports under Alfa's engineering director. Ferrari soon left, but a contract clause restricted him from racing or designing for four years.
In response, Ferrari organized Auto-Avio Costruzioni, a company supplying parts to other racing teams. Ferrari did manage to manufacture two cars for the 1940 [Mille Miglia]], driven by Alberto Ascari and Lotario Rangoni. During World War II his firm was involved in war production for Mussolini's fascist government. Following Allied bombing of the factory, Ferrari relocated from Modena to Maranello. It was not until after World War II that Ferrari sought to shed his fascist reputation and make cars bearing his name, founding today's Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947.
The first open-wheel race was in Turin in 1948 and the first victory came later in the year in Lago di Garda. Ferrari participated in the Formula 1 World Championship since its introduction in 1950 but the first victory was not until the British Grand Prix of 1951. The first championship came in 1952–53, when the Formula One season was raced with Formula Two cars. The company also sold production sports cars in order to finance the racing endeavours not only in Grands Prix but also in events such as the Mille Miglia and Le Mans.
Ferrari's decision to continue racing in the Mille Miglia, a dangerous and grueling long-distance competition over mostly unpaved roads, brought the company new victories and greatly increased public recognition. However, increasing speeds, poor roads, and nonexistent crowd protection eventually spelled disaster for both the race and Ferrari. During the 1957 Mille Miglia, near the town of Guidizzolo, a 4.0-litre Ferrari 335S driven by the flamboyant Alfonso de Portago was traveling at 250 km/h when it blew a tire and crashed into the roadside crowd, killing de Portago, his co-driver, and nine spectators, including five children. In response, Enzo Ferrari and Englebert, the tyre manufacturer were charged with manslaughter in a lengthy criminal prosecution that was finally dismissed in 1961. It was later concluded that team's decision to continue racing de Portago's car[3] for an extra stage rather than stop for a tyre change caused the accident. The tragedy led to the decision of some racing competitors, such as Maserati, to leave racing competition entirely.
Many of the firm's greatest victories came at Le Mans (14 victories, including six in a row 1960–65) rather than in Grand Prix. Certainly the company was more involved there than in Formula One during the 1950s and 1960s despite the successes of Juan-Manuel Fangio (1956), Mike Hawthorn (1958), Phil Hill (1961) and John Surtees (1964).
In the 1960s the problems of reduced demand and inadequate financing forced Ferrari to allow Fiat to take a stake in the company. Ferrari had offered Ford the opportunity to buy the firm in 1963 for US$18 million but, late in negotiations, Ferrari withdrew. This decision triggered Ford's decision to launch a serious European sports car racing program, which resulted into the Ford GT40. The company became joint-stock and Fiat took a small share in 1965 and then in 1969 they increased their holding to 50% of the company. (In 1988 Fiat's holding rose to 90%).
Ferrari remained managing director until 1971. Despite stepping down he remained an influence over the firm until his death. The input of Fiat took some time to have effect. It was not until 1975 with Niki Lauda the firm won any championships — the skill of the driver and the ability of the engine overcoming the deficiencies of the chassis and aerodynamics. After those successes and the promise of Jody Scheckter's title in 1979, the company's Formula One championship hopes fell into the doldrums.
1982 opened with a strong car, the 126C2, world-class drivers, and promising results in the early races. However, Gilles Villeneuve was killed in the 126C2 in May, and teammate Didier Pironi had his career cut short in a violent end over end flip on the misty back straight at Hockenheim in August. Pironi was leading the driver's championship at the time; he would lose the lead as he sat out the remaining races. The team would not see championship glory again during Ferrari's lifetime.
Ferrari's management style was autocratic and he was known to pit driver against driver in the hope of improving performance. He did not often get close to his drivers.[4]
Enzo Ferrari was married to Laura Dominica Garello Ferrari (c. 1900 - 1978) from 1932 until her death.[6] They had one son, Alfredo "Dino", who was born in 1932 and groomed as Enzo's successor, but he suffered from ill-health and died from muscular dystrophy in 1956.[7] Enzo had a second son, Piero, with his mistress Lina Lardi in 1945. Piero was recognized as Enzo's son after Laura's death, and is currently a vice-president of the Ferrari company with a 10% share ownership.[8]
After the death of Luigi Musso, Ferrari avidly pursued a relationship with Musso's girlfriend Fiamma Breschi. “I said I couldn’t marry him,” Breschi stated, “first of all because I was still in love (with Musso), and secondly because of the age difference.” After a long period of correspondence, Breschi agreed to become his mistress, and Ferrari arranged a house and small shop for her near Modena. Breschi frequently attended team races and regularly reported to Ferrari on personnel and equipment issues she had observed.
Enzo Ferrari spent a reserved life, and rarely granted interviews.
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