Ferrari is an Italian manufacturer of high-performance sports cars for road and track racing and for driving by automobile enthusiasts. Ferrari’s automobiles include some of the most famous ever produced.
The company’s founder, Enzo Ferrari, began his career as a successful racing driver in Italy . In 1929, Ferrari founded Scuderia Ferrari, a company that specialized in mechanical work for race cars. Soon, the company hired drivers and began to participate in races, emerging as a racing team. In 1940, Ferrari designed a race car of his own. It was called the Auto Avio Costruzioni 815. The car was not a success, and Ferrari produced just two of them. But after World War II (1939-1945), Ferrari tried again, this time producing cars under his own name.
In 1947, Ferrari built a new car called the 125 S. Again, only a few of them were built. But the 125 S performed well, and it served as a starting point for Ferrari’s later models. Like later Ferrari cars, the 125 S featured a powerful V-12 engine —an engine with two rows of six cylinders each, arranged in a V shape. Beginning with the 125 S, Ferrari marked his cars with the prancing horse logo now associated with the company. Ferrari borrowed this image—and dedicated it to—the famous Italian pilot Francesco Baracca, who had put it on his fighter planes during World War I (1914-1918).
By the early 1950’s, Ferrari’s cars were winning major world races. Ferrari built a reputation for cars that combined superb engineering with elegant design. The 250 Testa Rossa, built from 1956 to 1961, is among the most prized cars ever produced. Testa Rossa is Italian for red head, a name that referred to the red-painted valve covers on the car’s engine.
In 1961, struggles among company leadership led to the loss of some of Ferrari’s best employees, and the company’s future was in doubt. But new talent joined the company at its time of need, in particular the engineer Mauro Forghieri and the designer Sergio Scaglietti. Ferrari then continued its success with the 250 GTO. One of the most celebrated road-racing cars of all time, the 250 GTO was noted equally for its elegance and its performance.
In addition to dominating road sports, Ferrari has been a leader in Formula One racing, the most expensive and most prestigious form of automobile racing. Ferrari’s race car division, Scuderia Ferrari, ranks as the most successful Formula One team. It holds numerous Formula One records, including the greatest number of Grand Prix wins.
