- From Passionate Kid to Racing Driver
- Scuderia Ferrari: The Seed Is Planted (1929)
- Breaking from Alfa and World War II
- 1947: The Official Birth of Ferrari
- Key Early Milestones
- From Workshop to Global Symbol
- Enzo Ferrari: The Man Behind the Myth
- What Made Ferrari Different from the Start?
- The Boy and the Prancing Horse
The legend of Ferrari was not written overnight. It is the product of one Italian man’s obsession—Enzo Ferrari—and decades of struggle, risk, and stubborn belief that his name belonged on the fastest, most emotive cars in the world. What began as a small racing outfit in northern Italy has become the global benchmark for speed, craftsmanship, and automotive prestige.
From Passionate Kid to Racing Driver
Enzo Ferrari was born in 1898 in Modena, Italy, to a modest family working in metal fabrication.
From an early age, he was captivated by the new world of automobiles and motorsport, attending races with his father and brother and dreaming of being part of the action one day.
After World War I, Enzo worked as a test driver for a small car company in Milan, then joined Alfa Romeo in 1920 as a works racing driver.
Scuderia Ferrari: The Seed Is Planted (1929)
In 1929, Enzo founded Scuderia Ferrari in Modena—not as a carmaker, but as a racing team that prepared and ran Alfa Romeo cars for wealthy privateers.
The Scuderia quickly evolved into Alfa Romeo’s de facto factory racing arm, fielding elite drivers and winning major Grand Prix events throughout the 1930s.
This early success cemented Enzo’s belief that racing and engineering greatness were inseparable—and that there was room for a brand built entirely around that idea.
Breaking from Alfa and World War II
In 1937, Alfa Romeo decided to take racing fully in-house, absorbing Scuderia Ferrari into “Alfa Corse” and appointing Enzo as sporting director.
Tensions with Alfa management soon grew, and in 1939 Enzo left, using his settlement to establish a small company called Auto Avio Costruzioni in Modena.
A non-compete clause prevented him from using the Ferrari name or competing under it for four years, but he still managed to build two AAC 815 racing cars for the 1940 Mille Miglia.
World War II then forced the factory to switch to war production; bombing raids later drove Enzo to relocate operations from Modena to the nearby town of Maranello.
1947: The Official Birth of Ferrari
With the war over and his non-compete expired, Enzo decided to finally put his own name on a car.
In 1947, he founded Ferrari S.p.A. in Maranello, and unveiled the first true Ferrari: the 125 S, powered by a bespoke V12 designed by Gioachino Colombo.
That same year, the 125 S scored Ferrari’s first race victory at the Grand Prix of Rome, signaling that the new marque was a serious racing contender from day one.
Key Early Milestones
1948 – Ferrari wins the Mille Miglia road race, building its reputation in brutally demanding endurance events.
1949 – A Ferrari 166 MM claims victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, cementing the brand as an emerging endurance racing powerhouse.
1951 – Ferrari earns its first Formula 1 Grand Prix win at Silverstone against Alfa Romeo, the very company Enzo left.
1952–53 – Alberto Ascari delivers Ferrari its first F1 World Drivers’ Championship titles, establishing the Scuderia as a permanent force in Grand Prix racing.
From Workshop to Global Symbol
Enzo Ferrari: The Man Behind the Myth
Enzo Ferrari was known as demanding, sometimes ruthless, yet fiercely loyal to racing and engineering excellence.
He rarely traveled far from Maranello, avoided airplanes and elevators, and rarely gave interviews—preferring the factory floor and the pit wall to magazine covers.
Under his leadership, Ferrari’s racing team amassed nine F1 Drivers’ Championships and eight Constructors’ titles during his lifetime, along with countless sports-car victories.
What Made Ferrari Different from the Start?
The Prancing Horse: Borrowed from World War I ace Francesco Baracca’s emblem, the Cavallino Rampante became Ferrari’s brand soul—symbolizing courage, power, and Italian pride.
Rosso Corsa: The national racing red of Italy became Ferrari’s default color, instantly linking every red car to racing heritage.
“Race first, sell later”: Enzo often said he only built and sold road cars so he could fund racing, not the other way around.
The Boy and the Prancing Horse
Legend has it that in the early days in Maranello, a local boy visiting the workshop asked Enzo: “Do you think your cars will ever be famous outside Italy?” Enzo looked at the gleaming red bodywork and simply replied:
As long as the Prancing Horse is on the nose, glory will find its way.
Decades later, that simple conviction has proven true across every continent.
