Ferrari

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Ferrari is an Italian manufacturer of racing cars and high-performance sports cars formed by Enzo Ferrari in 1929. At first, Scuderia Ferrari sponsored drivers and manufactured racecars; the company went into independent car production in 1946, eventually became Ferrari S.p.A., and is now controlled by the Fiat group. The company is based in Maranello, near Modena, Italy.

History

See also:
Enzo Ferrari for the founder's life story
History of Ferrari for details on the Ferrari automobile company
Scuderia Ferrari for further history of the Ferrari racing team

1929-1946

Ferrari founder Enzo Ferrari never intended to produce road cars when he formed Scuderia Ferrari in 1929 as a sponsor for amateur drivers headquartered in Modena. Ferrari prepared and successfully raced various drivers in Alfa Romeo cars until 1938, when he was officially hired by Alfa as head of their racing department.

In 1940, upon learning of the company's plan to absorb his beloved Scuderia and take control of his racing efforts, he quit Alfa. Because he was prohibited by contract from racing for several years, the Scuderia briefly became Auto Avio Costruzioni Ferrari, which ostensibly produced machine tools and aircraft accessories. Ferrari did in fact produce one racecar, the Tipo 815, in the non-competition period; it was thus the first actual Ferrari car, 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 in 1944 and rebuilt in 1946 to include a works for road car production.

"Scuderia Ferrari" literally means "Ferrari Stable" in keeping with the prancing horse emblem; the name is figuratively translated as "Team Ferrari."

1957 Ferrari 250 GT Tour De France

1945-present

File:Ferrari Prancing Horse.jpg
The Prancing Horse decorating the rear of a 360 Modena

The first Ferrari road car was the 1947 125 S, powered by a 1.5 L V12 engine; Enzo reluctantly built and sold his automobiles to fund the Scuderia. While his beautiful and blazingly fast cars quickly gained a reputation for excellence, Enzo maintained a famous distaste for his customers, most of whom he felt were buying his cars for the prestige and not the performance value.

Ferrari road cars, noted for their exquisite styling by design houses such as Pininfarina, have long been one of the ultimate accessories for the rich and young (or young-at-heart). Other design houses that have done work for Ferrari over the years include Scaglietti, Bertone, Touring, Ghia, and Vignale.

Ferrari cars feature highly-tuned small V8 and V12 engines, often in a mid-engined configuration; until the introduction of fuel injection in the 1980s, they were quite temperamental. Until the mid-1980s they carried a reputation for unreliability and bad engineering, though these were written off by enthusiasts as "character." Ferrari owners have famously and religiously defended the merits of their cars while virulently criticizing other brands.

As of 2004, FIAT owns 56% of Ferrari, Mediobanca owns 15%, Commerzbank owns 10%, Lehman Brothers owns 7%, and Enzo's son Piero Ferrari owns 10%.

Racing

File:Ferrari.F1.Schumacher.jpg
Schumacher's Ferrari F1

Main article: Scuderia Ferrari

Enzo Ferrari's true passion, despite his extensive road car business, was always auto racing. His Scuderia started as an independent sponsor for drivers in various cars, but soon became the Alfa Romeo in-house racing team. After Ferrari's departure from Alfa, he began to design and produce cars of his own; the Ferrari team first appeared on the European grand prix scene after the end of World War II.

The Scuderia joined the Formula One World Championship in the first year of its existence, 1950. José Froilán González gave the team its first victory at the 1951 British Grand Prix. Alberto Ascari gave Ferrari its first World Championship a year later. Ferrari is the oldest team left in the championship, not to mention the most successful: the team holds nearly every Formula One record. As of 2004, the team's records include fourteen World Drivers Championship titles (1952, 1953, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1964, 1975, 1977, 1979, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004), fourteen World Constructors Championship titles (1961, 1964, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004, 179 grand prix victories, 3445 and a half points, 544 podium finishes, 174 pole positions, 11,182 laps led, and 180 fastest laps in 1622 grands prix contested.

Famous drivers include Tazio Nuvolari, Juan Manuel Fangio, Alberto Ascari, Phil Hill, Mike Hawthorn, John Surtees, Niki Lauda, Jody Scheckter, Gilles Villeneuve, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost and Michael Schumacher.

The "Cavallino Rampante"

Count Francesco Baracca

The famous symbol of Ferrari is a black prancing horse on yellow background, usually with the letters S F for Scuderia Ferrari.

The horse was originally the symbol of Count Francesco Baracca, a legendary "asso" (ace) of the Italian air force during World War I, who painted it on the side of his planes. Baracca died very young on June 19, 1918, shot down after 34 victorious duels and many team victories; he soon became a national hero.

Baracca had wanted the prancing horse on his planes because his squad, the "Battaglione Aviatori", was enrolled in a Cavalry regiment (air forces were at their first years of life and had no separate administration), and also because he himself was reputed to be the best cavaliere of his team.

File:Scuderia Ferrari Logo.jpg
The Scuderia Ferrari Logo

It has been supposed that the choice of a horse was perhaps partly due to the fact that his noble family was known for having many horses on their estates at Lugo di Romagna. Another theory suggests Baracca copied the rampant horse design from a shot down German pilot who had the emblem of the city of Stuttgart on his plane. This is supported by the evidence that Barraca's horse looks more similar to the one of Stuttgart (not changed since 1938) than the current Ferrari design, especially as the legs of the horses are concerned.

Interestingly, rivalling German sports car manufacturer Porsche designed its logo by embeddeding the prancing horse logo of Stuttgart into the emblem of the state of Württemberg, just like the city is placed within the state. In the 1920s, Ferdinand Porsche had constructed supercharged cars for Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart before starting his own engineering company there in the 1930s, designing the Auto Union race cars, amongst others.

Curiously, the name Stuttgart is derived from Stutengarten, an ancient form of the modern German word Gestüt, which translates into English as stud farm and into Italian as scuderia. In turn, the Italians call Stuttgart Stoccarda. Obviously, the Ferrari-led Alfa team often met the Silver Arrow teams of Mercedes-Benz (from Stuttgart itself) and later Auto Union at race tracks in the 1920s and 30s, so each knew of the other.

File:Stuttgart coat of arms.jpg
Coat of Arms of the City of Stuttgart

On June 17, 1923, Enzo Ferrari won a race at the Savio track in Ravenna where he met the Countess Paolina, mother of Baracca. The Countess asked that he use the horse on his cars, suggesting that it would grant him good luck, but the first race at which Alfa would let him use the horse on Scuderia cars was eleven years later at SPA 24 Hours in 1932. Ferrari won.

Ferrari left the horse black as it had been on Baracca's plane; however, he added a canary yellow background because it was the symbolic color of his birthplace, Modena.

The prancing horse has not always been uniquely identified with the Ferrari brand: Fabio Taglioni used it on his Ducati motorbikes. Taglioni's father was, in fact, a companion of Baracca's and fought with him in the 91st Air Squad. But, as Ferrari's fame grew, Ducati abandoned the horse; this may have been the result of a private agreement between the two brands.

The prancing horse is now a trademark of Ferrari.

List of models

Until the mid-1990s, Ferrari followed a three-number naming scheme based on engine displacement:

  • V6 and V8 models used the total displacement (in deciliters) for the first two digits and the number of cylinders as the third. Thus, the 206 was a 2.0 L V6-powered vehicle, while the 348 used a 3.4 L V8.
  • V12 models used the displacement per cylinder (in cubic centimeters) for all three digits. Therefore, the famed 365 Daytona had a 4380 cc engine (365 times 12).

Most Ferraris were also given designations referring to their body style. In general, the following conventions were used:

  • M standing for "Modificata," this suffix is placed to the end of a model's number designation to denote that it is a modified version of its predecessor and not a complete evolution (see F512M and 575M Maranello).
  • GTB models are closed Berlinettas, or coupes
  • GTS models, in older models, are convertibles (see 365 GTS4); however, in late models, this suffix is used for targa top models (see 348 GTS, and F355 GTS; exception being the 348 TS, which is the only targa named differently). The convertible models now use the suffix "Spider" (see F355 Spider, and Ferrari 360 Spider).

This naming system can be confusing, as some entirely different vehicles used the same engine type and body style. Many Ferraris also had other names affixed (like Daytona) to identify them further. Many such names are actually not the car's official name given by the factory. The 365 GTB4 model only became known as a Daytona after racing variants run by N.A.R.T. (North American Racing Team, who raced Ferrari's in America) won the famous 24 hour race of the same name. As well, the 250 GTO's famous acronym, which means Gran Turismo Omologato, was simply a name the Italian press gave the car which referred to the way Ferrari had, in a sense, avoided the rules and successfully homologated the car for racing purposes (Ferrari had convinced the FIA, somehow, someway, that the 250 GTO was the same car as previous 250's). This was done probably to avoid confusion with the multiple 250 models which were produced before the GTO.

In the mid 1990s, Ferrari added the letter "F" to the beginning of all models (a practice quickly abandoned after the F512M and F355, but recently picked up again with the F430).

Road Models and Photos (click on the appropriate item)

Ferrari timeline, 1948-1967 Ferrari road car timeline 1960s-1990s >
Type 1940s 1950s 1960s
7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Sports 125 S 166 S+166 SC 195 S 212 Exp 225 S 250 MM 250 Monza 250 GT Tour de France 250 GT SWB 250 GTO 250 LM
159 S 250 S 250 Export
GT 166 Inter 195 Inter 212 Inter 250 Europa 250 GT Europa 250 GT Boano 250 GT Ellena 250 GT Coupe PF 250 GT Lusso 330 GTC 365 GTC
275 GTB 275 GTB/4
Spyder/Cabriolet 250 GT 275 GTS 330 GTS 365 GTS
2 plus 2 250 GT/E 330 GT 365 GT
America 340 375 America/MM 410 Superamerica 400 Superamerica 500 Superfast 365 California


< Ferrari timeline 1948–1967 Ferrari timeline 1960s-1990s Ferrari timeline 1990–Present >
Type 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
8 cylinder Mid-engine berlinetta 308 308 i 308 QV 328 348 360
208 208 Turbo GTB/GTS Turbo F355
Mid-engine 2+2 308 GT4 Mondial 8 Mondial QV Mondial 3.2 Mondial t
208 GT4
12 cylinder Boxer berlinetta 365 BB 512 BB 512i BB Testarossa 512TR F512M
Grand tourer 250 275 365 GTB/4
"Daytona" 		550 Maranello
America 330 365
2+2 coupé 250 GT/E 330 GT 2+2 365 GT 2+2 365GTC/4 GT4 2+2 400 400 i 412 456 456 M
Supercar 250 GTO 250 LM 288
GTO 		F40 F50
Sold under the Dino marque until 1976; see also Ferrari Dino


File:WOIshow.jpg
Ferrari's at the Wheels Of Italy Show in Minneapolis, MN

Sports cars

Ferrari's earliest models were pure sports cars, not the exotics we know today.

  • 1948-1950 166
  • 1951 195 Coupe
  • 1951-1952 212 Coupe/Cabriolet
  • 1952 340 MM Berlinetta/Spider

Mid-engine V6/V8

File:308.jpg
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The Dino was the first mid-engined Ferrari. This layout would go on to be used in most Ferraris of the 1980s and 1990s. V6 and V8 Ferrari models make up well over half of the marque's total production.

2-seat Gran Turismo

Ferrari quickly moved into the Gran Turismo market, and the bulk of the company's sales remain in this area.

Mid-engine 2+2

Ferrari Dino

For a time, Ferrari built 2+2 versions of its mid-engined V8 cars. Although they looked quite different from their 2-seat counterparts, both the GT4 and Mondial were very closely-related to the 308 GTB.

Front-engine-2+2

File:612.jpg
Ferrari 612 Scaglietti

The company has also produced front-engined 2+2 cars, culminating in the current 612 Scaglietti.

Mid-engine 12-cylinder

Ferrari entered the mid-engined 12-cylinder fray with the flattened Berlinetta Boxer in 1971. The later Testarossa remains one of the most famous Ferraris.

Supercars

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2b/Scarsdale_Concours_Enzo_2.jpg/250px-Scarsdale_Concours_Enzo_2.jpg The company's loftiest efforts have been in the supercar market.

SUV

Possible Ferrari SUV?

Competition models

Current

Past

1958 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa from the Ralph Lauren collection

See also

Internal Links

Ferrari Value in Italy (Euro)

External links

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