Ferrari
S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in
Maranello
Maranello ( Modenese: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna in Northern Italy, 18 km from Modena, with a population of 17,504 as of 2017. It is known worldwide as the home of Ferrari and the Formula 1 rac ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
. Founded by
Enzo Ferrari
Enzo Anselmo Giuseppe Maria Ferrari (; 20 February 1898 – 14 August 1988) was an Italian motor racing driver and entrepreneur, the founder of the Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team, and subsequently of the Ferrari automobil ...
(1898–1988) in 1939 from the
Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." "A ...
racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built
its first car in 1940, and produced its first Ferrari-badged car in 1947.
Fiat S.p.A. acquired 50% of Ferrari in 1969 and expanded its stake to 90% in 1988. In October 2014,
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) announced its intentions to separate Ferrari S.p.A. from FCA; as of the announcement FCA owned 90% of Ferrari. The separation began in October 2015 with a restructuring that established Ferrari N.V. (a company
incorporated in the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
) as the new
holding company
A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
of the Ferrari S.p.A. group, and the subsequent sale by FCA of 10% of the shares in an
IPO
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...
and concurrent listing of
common share
Common stock is a form of corporate equity ownership, a type of security. The terms voting share and ordinary share are also used frequently outside of the United States. They are known as equity shares or ordinary shares in the UK and other Comm ...
s on the
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed ...
.
Through the remaining steps of the separation, FCA's interest in Ferrari's business was distributed to shareholders of FCA, with 10% continuing to be owned by
Piero Ferrari
Piero Lardi Ferrari (born 22 May 1945Rancati, p. 107) is an Italian billionaire businessman and sport personality. He is the second and only living son of Enzo Ferrari, and a 10.23% owner of the Ferrari automotive company, of which he is the vic ...
. The
spin-off was completed on the 3rd of January 2016.
Throughout its history, the company has been noted for its continued participation in
racing
In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific go ...
, especially in
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
, where it is the oldest and
most successful racing team, holding the most constructors' championships (16) and having produced the highest number of drivers' championship wins (15). Ferrari road cars are generally seen as a symbol of speed, luxury and wealth. Ferrari cars are built at the 165,000 square-metre (16.5-hectare)
Maranello
Maranello ( Modenese: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna in Northern Italy, 18 km from Modena, with a population of 17,504 as of 2017. It is known worldwide as the home of Ferrari and the Formula 1 rac ...
factory. In 2014 Ferrari was rated the world's most powerful brand by Brand Finance. As of 2021, Ferrari is the
10th-largest car manufacturer by market capitalisation, with $52.21 billion.
History
Enzo Ferrari was not initially interested in the idea of producing road cars when he formed
Scuderia Ferrari in 1929, with headquarters in
Modena. Scuderia Ferrari (pronounced ) literally means "Ferrari Stable" and is usually used to mean "Team Ferrari." Ferrari bought, prepared, and fielded
Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." "A ...
racing cars for
gentleman driver
A pay driver is a driver for a professional auto racing team who, instead of being paid by the owner of their car, drives for free and brings with them either personal sponsorship or personal or family funding to finance the team's operations. Th ...
s, functioning as the racing division of Alfa Romeo. In 1933, Alfa Romeo withdrew its in-house racing team and Scuderia Ferrari took over as its
works team
A works team (sometimes factory team, company team) is a sports team that is financed and run by a manufacturer or other business. Sometimes, works teams contain or are entirely made up of employees of the supporting company.
Association footb ...
:
the ''Scuderia'' received Alfa's Grand Prix cars of the latest specifications and fielded many famous drivers such as
Tazio Nuvolari
Tazio Giorgio Nuvolari (; 16 November 1892 – 11 August 1953) was an Italian racing driver. He first raced motorcycles and then concentrated on sports cars and single-seaters. A resident of Mantua, he was known as 'Il Mantovano Volante' ( ...
and
Achille Varzi. In 1938, Alfa Romeo again brought its racing operation in-house, forming ''
Alfa Corse
Alfa Corse is Alfa Romeo's factory racing team. Throughout the years, Alfa Corse has competed in various forms of motorsport, from Grand Prix motor racing to touring car racing.
Alfa Corse was officially formed in the beginning of 1938, after th ...
'' in
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
and hired Enzo Ferrari as manager of the new racing department; thereby disbanding the Scuderia Ferrari.
In September 1939, Ferrari left Alfa Romeo under the provision he would not use the Ferrari name in association with races or racing cars for at least four years.
A few days later he founded ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', with headquarters in the facilities of the old ''Scuderia Ferrari''.
The new company ostensibly produced machine tools and aircraft accessories. In 1940, Ferrari produced a racing car – the
Tipo 815, based on a Fiat platform. It was the first Ferrari car and debuted at the 1940
Mille Miglia
The Mille Miglia (, ''Thousand Miles'') was an open-road, motorsport endurance race established in 1927 by the young Counts Francesco Mazzotti and Aymo Maggi, which took place in Italy twenty-four times from 1927 to 1957 (thirteen before World ...
, but due to
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
it saw little competition. In 1943, the Ferrari factory moved to
Maranello
Maranello ( Modenese: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna in Northern Italy, 18 km from Modena, with a population of 17,504 as of 2017. It is known worldwide as the home of Ferrari and the Formula 1 rac ...
, where it has remained ever since. The factory was bombed by the
Allies
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
and subsequently rebuilt including works for road car production.
The first Ferrari-badged car was the 1947
125 S, powered by a 1.5 L
V12 engine
A V12 engine is a twelve-cylinder piston engine where two banks of six cylinders are arranged in a V configuration around a common crankshaft. V12 engines are more common than V10 engines. However, they are less common than V8 engines.
The f ...
;
Enzo Ferrari reluctantly built and sold his automobiles to fund
Scuderia Ferrari.
The ''Scuderia Ferrari'' name was resurrected to denote the factory racing cars and distinguish them from those fielded by customer teams.
In 1960, the company was restructured as a public corporation under the name SEFAC S.p.A. (Società Esercizio Fabbriche Automobili e Corse).
Early in 1969, Fiat took a 50% stake in Ferrari. An immediate result was an increase in available investment funds, and work started at once on a factory extension intended to transfer production from Fiat's Turin plant of the Ferrari-engined Fiat Dino. New model investment further up in the Ferrari range also received a boost.
In 1988, Enzo Ferrari oversaw the launch of the
Ferrari F40
The Ferrari F40 (''tipo'' F120) is a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive sports car engineered by Nicola Materazzi with styling by Pininfarina. It was built from 1987 until 1992, with the LM and GTE race car versions continuing production until 199 ...
, the last new Ferrari launched before his death later that year. In 1989, the company was renamed Ferrari S.p.A.
From 2002 to 2004, Ferrari produced
the Enzo, their fastest model at the time, which was introduced and named in honour of the company's founder, Enzo Ferrari. It was to be called the F60, continuing on from the F40 and F50, but Ferrari was so pleased with it, they called it the Enzo instead. It was initially offered to loyal and recurring customers, each of the 399 made (minus the 400th which was donated to the Vatican for charity) had a price tag of $650,000 apiece (equivalent to £400,900).
On 15 September 2012, 964 Ferrari cars worth over $162 million (£99.95 million) attended the Ferrari Driving Days event at Silverstone Circuit and paraded round the
Silverstone Circuit setting a world record.
Ferrari's former CEO and Chairman,
Luca di Montezemolo
Luca Cordero di Montezemolo (; born 31 August 1947) is an Italian businessman, former Chairman of Ferrari, and formerly Chairman of Fiat S.p.A. and President of Confindustria and FIEG. He comes from an aristocratic family from the region of Pied ...
, resigned from the company after 23 years, who was succeeded by
Amedeo Felisa
Amedeo Felisa (born 1946) is an Italian businessman, and the chief executive (CEO) of Aston Martin since May 2022. He was CEO of Ferrari from 2008 to 2016.
Felisa was born in Milan in 1946. He earned a degree in mechanical engineering from the Po ...
and finally on 3 May 2016 Amedeo resigned and was succeeded by
Sergio Marchionne
Sergio Marchionne (; 17 June 1952 – 25 July 2018) was an Italian-Canadian businessman, widely known for his turnarounds of the automakers Fiat and Chrysler, his business acumen and his outspoken and often frank approach, especially when dealing ...
, CEO and Chairman of
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Ferrari's parent company. In July 2018, Marchionne was replaced by board member
Louis Camilleri
Louis Carey Camilleri (born 13 January 1955) is the former CEO of Ferrari and chairman of Philip Morris International. He resigned from both positions with immediate effect on 10 December 2020, citing personal reasons.
Early life and education ...
as CEO and by
John Elkann
John Philip Jacob Elkann (born 1 April 1976) is an Italian industrialist. In 1997, he became the chosen heir of his grandfather Gianni Agnelli, following the death of Gianni's nephew Giovanni Alberto Agnelli and since 2004 has been leading the A ...
as chairman.
On 29 October 2014, the
FCA group, resulting from the merger between manufacturers Fiat and Chrysler, announced the split of its luxury brand, Ferrari. The aim was to turn Ferrari into an independent brand, 10% of whose stake would be sold in an IPO in 2015. Ferrari officially priced its initial public offering at $52 a share after the market close on 20 October 2015.
On 10 December 2020, CEO
Louis Camilleri
Louis Carey Camilleri (born 13 January 1955) is the former CEO of Ferrari and chairman of Philip Morris International. He resigned from both positions with immediate effect on 10 December 2020, citing personal reasons.
Early life and education ...
announced that he will step down as CEO and chairman
John Elkann
John Philip Jacob Elkann (born 1 April 1976) is an Italian industrialist. In 1997, he became the chosen heir of his grandfather Gianni Agnelli, following the death of Gianni's nephew Giovanni Alberto Agnelli and since 2004 has been leading the A ...
will step in to the Interim CEO role until a permanent successor is selected.
On 9 June 2021, the company announced the appointment of
Benedetto Vigna from Geneva-based
STMicroelectronics as its next CEO starting September.
Motorsport
Since the company's beginnings, Ferrari has been involved in motorsport, competing in a range of categories including
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
and
sports car racing
Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing is ...
through its
Scuderia Ferrari sporting division as well as supplying cars and engines to other teams and for one-make race series.
1940
AAC 815 was the first racing car to be designed by Enzo Ferrari, although it was not badged as a Ferrari model.
Scuderia Ferrari
''Scuderia'' Ferrari has participated in several classes of motorsport, though it is currently only officially involved in Formula One. It is the only team to have competed in the Formula One World Championship continuously since its inception in 1950.
José Froilán González
José Froilán González (October 5, 1922 – June 15, 2013) was an Argentine racing driver, particularly notable for scoring Ferrari's first win in a Formula One World Championship race at the 1951 British Grand Prix. He made his Formula One ...
gave the team its first F1 victory at the
1951 British Grand Prix
The 1951 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 14 July 1951 at the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire, England. It was race 5 of 8 in the 1951 World Championship of Drivers and was contested over 90 laps. The race was the ...
.
Alberto Ascari
Alberto Ascari (; 13 July 1918 – 26 May 1955) was an Italian racing driver and a two time Formula One World Champion. He was a multitalented racer who competed in motorcycle racing before switching to cars. Ascari won consecutive world titles ...
gave Ferrari its first
Drivers Championship a year later. Ferrari is the oldest team in the championship, and the most successful: the team holds nearly every Formula One record. , the team's records include 15 World Drivers Championship titles, 16 World Constructors Championship titles, 221 Grand Prix victories, 6736.27 points, 679 podium finishes, 207
pole positions, and 230 fastest laps in 890 Grands Prix contested. Of the 19 tracks used in
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
, 8 have lap records set by the
F2004, with a further 3 set by the
F2003-GA,
F2008 and
F10.
Ferrari drivers include:
Tazio Nuvolari
Tazio Giorgio Nuvolari (; 16 November 1892 – 11 August 1953) was an Italian racing driver. He first raced motorcycles and then concentrated on sports cars and single-seaters. A resident of Mantua, he was known as 'Il Mantovano Volante' ( ...
,
José Froilán González
José Froilán González (October 5, 1922 – June 15, 2013) was an Argentine racing driver, particularly notable for scoring Ferrari's first win in a Formula One World Championship race at the 1951 British Grand Prix. He made his Formula One ...
,
Juan Manuel Fangio,
Alberto Ascari
Alberto Ascari (; 13 July 1918 – 26 May 1955) was an Italian racing driver and a two time Formula One World Champion. He was a multitalented racer who competed in motorcycle racing before switching to cars. Ascari won consecutive world titles ...
,
Luigi Chinetti
Luigi Chinetti (July 17, 1901 – August 17, 1994) was an Italian-born racecar driver, who emigrated to the United States during World War II. He drove in 12 consecutive 24 Hours of Le Mans races, taking three outright wins there and taking two m ...
,
Eugenio Castellotti
Eugenio Castellotti (10 October 1930 – 14 March 1957) was a Formula One driver from Italy.
Driving career
Castellotti was born in Lodi, Italy. He acquired a Ferrari at the age of twenty, from a local benefactor, and began racing sports cars ...
,
Maurice Trintignant
Maurice Bienvenu Jean Paul Trintignant (30 October 1917 – 13 February 2005) was a motor racing driver and vintner from France. He competed in the Formula One World Championship for fourteen years, between 1950 and 1964, one of the longest care ...
,
Wolfgang von Trips
Wolfgang Alexander Albert Eduard Maximilian Reichsgraf Berghe von Trips (; 4 May 1928 – 10 September 1961), also known simply as Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips and nicknamed 'Taffy' by friends and fellow racers, was a German racing driver. He ...
,
Phil Hill,
Olivier Gendebien
Olivier Jean Marie Fernand Gendebien (12 January 1924 – 2 October 1998) was a Belgian racing driver who was called "one of the greatest sportscar racers of all time".
Rally racer
Gendebien spent some years in the Belgian Congo. On his return ...
,
Mike Hawthorn
John Michael Hawthorn (10 April 1929 – 22 January 1959) was a British racing driver. He became the United Kingdom's first Formula One World Champion driver in 1958, whereupon he announced his retirement, having been profoundly affected by the ...
,
Peter Collins,
Giancarlo Baghetti,
Ricardo Rodríguez,
Chris Amon
Christopher Arthur Amon (20 July 1943 – 3 August 2016) was a New Zealand motor racing driver. He was active in Formula One racing in the 1960s and 1970s, and is widely regarded as one of the best F1 drivers never to win a championship Grand ...
,
John Surtees
John Surtees, (11 February 1934 – 10 March 2017) was a British Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Formula One driver. On his way to become a seven-time Grand Prix motorcycle World Champion, he won his first title in 1956, and followed with ...
,
Lorenzo Bandini
Lorenzo Bandini (21 December 193510 May 1967) was an Italian motor racing driver who raced in Formula One for the Scuderia Centro Sud and Ferrari teams.
Career
Bandini was born in Barce in Cyrenaica, Libya,"Hulme Takes Monaco Race; Bandini S ...
,
Ludovico Scarfiotti
Ludovico Scarfiotti (18 October 1933 – 8 June 1968) was a Formula One and sports car driver from Italy. Just prior to entering Formula One, he won the 1963 24 Hours of Le Mans for Ferrari. He later participated in 12 World Championship F ...
,
Jacky Ickx
Jacques Bernard "Jacky" Ickx (; born 1 January 1945) is a Belgian former racing driver who won the 24 Hours of Le Mans six times (second-highest of all time) and achieved eight wins and 25 podium finishes in Formula One. He greatly contributed ...
,
Mario Andretti
Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940) is an Italian-born American former racing driver. One of the most successful drivers in the history of motorsports, Andretti is one of only two drivers to have won races in Formula One, IndyCar, t ...
,
Clay Regazzoni
Gianclaudio Giuseppe "Clay" Regazzoni (5 September 1939 – 15 December 2006) was a Swiss racing driver. He competed in Formula One races from 1970 to 1980, winning five Grands Prix. His first win was the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in his debu ...
,
Niki Lauda
Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda (22 February 1949 – 20 May 2019) was an Austrian Formula One driver and aviation entrepreneur. He was a three-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, winning in , and , and is the only driver in Formula ...
,
Carlos Reutemann
Carlos Alberto "Lole" Reutemann (12 April 1942 – 7 July 2021) was an Argentine racing driver who raced in Formula One from to , and later became a politician in his native province of Santa Fe, for the Justicialist Party, and governor o ...
,
Jody Scheckter
Jody David Scheckter (born 29 January 1950) is a South African business proprietor and former motor racing driver. He competed in Formula One from 1972 to 1980, winning the Drivers' Championship in with Ferrari. Scheckter remains the only Afri ...
,
Gilles Villeneuve
Joseph Gilles Henri Villeneuve () (January 18, 1950 – May 8, 1982) was a Canadian racing driver, who spent six years in Grand Prix motor racing with Ferrari, winning six races and widespread acclaim for his performances.
An enthusiast of ...
,
Didier Pironi,
Patrick Tambay,
René Arnoux
René Alexandre Arnoux (; born 4 July 1948) is a French former racing driver who competed in 12 Formula One seasons (1978 to 1989). He participated in 165 World Championship Grands Prix (149 starts) winning seven of them, achieving 22 podium fi ...
,
Michele Alboreto
Michele Alboreto (; 23 December 1956 – 25 April 2001) was an Italian racing driver. He was runner up to Alain Prost in the 1985 Formula One World Championship, as well as winning the 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans and 2001 12 Hours of Sebring spo ...
,
Gerhard Berger
Gerhard Berger (born 27 August 1959) is an Austrian former Formula One racing driver. He competed in Formula One for 14 seasons, twice finishing 3rd overall in the championship ( and ), both times driving for Ferrari. He won ten Grands Prix, ach ...
,
Nigel Mansell,
Alain Prost
Alain Marie Pascal Prost (; born 24 February 1955) is a French retired racing driver and Formula One team owner. A four-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, from 1987 until 2001 he held the record for most Grand Prix victories until Micha ...
,
Jean Alesi
Jean Alesi (born Giovanni Alesi, 11 June 1964) is a French professional racing driver of Italian origin. After successes in minor categories, notably winning the 1989 Formula 3000 Championship, his Formula One career included spells at Tyrrell ...
,
Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher (; ; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver who competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Lewis ...
,
Eddie Irvine
Edmund Irvine Jr. (; born 10 November 1965) is a former racing driver from Northern Ireland. He competed in Formula One between 1993 and 2002, and finished runner-up in the 1999 World Drivers' Championship, driving for Scuderia Ferrari.
He b ...
,
Rubens Barrichello
Rubens "Rubinho" Gonçalves Barrichello (, ; born 23 May 1972) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who competed in Formula One between and . He currently competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 111 T ...
,
Felipe Massa,
Kimi Räikkönen,
Fernando Alonso,
Sebastian Vettel,
Charles Leclerc
Charles Marc Hervé Perceval Leclerc (; born 16 October 1997) is a Monégasque racing driver, currently racing in Formula One for Scuderia Ferrari. He won the GP3 Series championship in 2016 and the FIA Formula 2 Championship in .
Leclerc ...
and
Carlos Sainz Jr.
At the end of the 2006 season, the team courted controversy by continuing to allow
Marlboro
Marlboro (, ) is an American brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by Philip Morris USA (a branch of Altria) within the United States and by Philip Morris International (now separate from Altria) outside the US. The largest Mar ...
to sponsor them after they, along with the other F1 teams, made a promise to end
sponsorship
Sponsoring something (or someone) is the act of supporting an event, activity, person, or organization financially or through the provision of products or services. The individual or group that provides the support, similar to a benefactor, is k ...
deals with
tobacco manufacturers. A five-year deal was agreed and although this was not due to end until 2011, in April 2008 Marlboro dropped their on-car branding on Ferrari.
In addition to Formula One, Ferrari also entered cars in sportscar racing, the two programs existing in parallel for many years.
In 1949,
Luigi Chinetti
Luigi Chinetti (July 17, 1901 – August 17, 1994) was an Italian-born racecar driver, who emigrated to the United States during World War II. He drove in 12 consecutive 24 Hours of Le Mans races, taking three outright wins there and taking two m ...
drove a
166 M to Ferrari's first win in
motorsports, the
24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose ...
. Ferrari went on to dominate the early years of the
World Sportscar Championship
The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992.
The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and ...
which was created in
1953
Events
January
* January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma.
* January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a government-in-exile in Oslo.
* January 14
** Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen President of Yug ...
, winning the title seven out of its first nine years.
When the championship format changed in
1962
Events January
* January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand.
* January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism.
* January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...
, Ferrari earned titles in at least one class each year through to
1965 and then again in
1967
Events
January
* January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair.
* January 5
** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...
. Ferrari would win one final title, the
1972 World Championship of Makes before Enzo decided to leave
sports car
A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...
racing after 1973 and allow Scuderia Ferrari to concentrate solely on
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
.
During Ferrari's seasons of the World Sportscars Championship, they also gained more wins at the
24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose ...
, with the factory team earning their first in . Another win would come in , followed by five consecutive wins from to . Luigi Chinetti's
North American Racing Team
The North American Racing Team (NART) is a motorsport racing team founded in 1958. It was created by businessman Luigi Chinetti to promote the Ferrari marque in United States through success in endurance racing.
It was created in 1958 when Chin ...
(NART) would take Ferrari's final victory at Le Mans in .
Although Scuderia Ferrari no longer participated in sports cars after 1973, they have occasionally built various successful sports cars for
privateers. These include the
512 BB LM in the 1970s, the
333 SP which won the
IMSA GT Championship
IMSA GT was a sports car racing series organized by International Motor Sports Association. Races took place primarily in the United States, and occasionally in Canada.
History
The series was founded in 1969 by John and Peggy Bishop, and Bill ...
in the 1990s, and currently the
458 GT2 and GT3 which are currently winning championships in their respective classes.
Competizioni GT official drivers
Race cars for other teams
Throughout its history, Ferrari has supplied racing cars to other entrants, aside from its own works
Scuderia Ferrari team.
In the 1950s and '60s, Ferrari supplied Formula One cars to a number of private entrants and other teams. One famous example was
Tony Vandervell
Guy Anthony "Tony" Vandervell (8 September 1898 – 10 March 1967) was a British industrialist, motor racing financier, and founder of the Vanwall Formula One racing team.
Motorsport
Vandervell was the son of Charles Vandervell, founder of CAV, ...
's team, which raced the
Thinwall Special
Vanwall was a motor racing team and racing car constructor that was active in Formula One during the 1950s. Founded by Tony Vandervell, the Vanwall name was derived by combining the name of the team owner with that of his Thinwall bearings ...
modified Ferraris before building their own
Vanwall
Vanwall was a motor racing team and racing car constructor that was active in Formula One during the 1950s. Founded by Tony Vandervell, the Vanwall name was derived by combining the name of the team owner with that of his Thinwall bearings ...
cars. The
North American Racing Team
The North American Racing Team (NART) is a motorsport racing team founded in 1958. It was created by businessman Luigi Chinetti to promote the Ferrari marque in United States through success in endurance racing.
It was created in 1958 when Chin ...
's entries in the final three rounds of the 1969 season were the last occasions on which a team other than Scuderia Ferrari entered a World Championship Grand Prix with a Ferrari car.
Ferrari supplied cars complete with V8 engines for the
A1 Grand Prix
A1 Grand Prix (A1GP) was a "single-make" open-wheel auto racing series that ran from 2005 until 2009. It was unique in its field in that competitors solely represented their nation as opposed to themselves or a team, the usual format in most for ...
series, from the 2008–09 season. The car was designed by Rory Byrne and is styled to resemble the 2004 Ferrari Formula one car.
Ferrari currently runs a customer GT program for a racing version of its
458 and has done so for the 458's predecessors, dating back to the 355 in the late 1990s. Such private teams as the American
Risi Competizione
Risi Competizione is an Italo-American auto racing Ferrari factory-backed team formed by Giuseppe Risi in 1997. Initially, the team had a partnership with Doyle Racing using the name Doyle-Risi Racing, but soon Giuseppe Risi took full control of t ...
and Italian
AF Corse teams have been very successful with Ferrari GT racers over the years. This car, made for endurance sportscar racing to compete against such racing versions of the
Audi R8
The Audi R8 is a mid-engine, 2-seater sports car, which uses Audi's trademark quattro permanent all-wheel drive system. It was introduced by the German car manufacturer Audi AG in 2006.
The car is exclusively designed, developed, and manufac ...
,
McLaren MP4-12C
The McLaren MP4-12C, later known simply as the McLaren 12C, is a sports car that was designed and manufactured by McLaren Automotive. It was the first ever production car wholly designed and built by McLaren, and their first production road ...
, and
BMW Z4 (E89)
The BMW Z4 (E89) is the second generation of the BMW Z4 range of two-door roadsters, and was produced from 2009 to 2016. The E89 replaced the E85/E86 Z4 and is the fourth model in the BMW Z Series.
The E89 Z4 was the first Z Series model to ...
has proven to be successful, but not as successful as its predecessor, the
F430. The
Ferrari Challenge
The Ferrari Challenge is a single-marque motorsport championship that was created in 1993 for owners of the 348 Berlinetta who wanted to become involved in racing. The series was proposed by Ferrari Club Nederland founder and President Hans ...
is a one-make racing series for the
Ferrari 458
The Ferrari 458 Italia (Type F142) is a mid-engine sports car produced by Ferrari. The F458 is the successor of the F430, and was first officially unveiled at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show. It was succeeded by the 488 GTB (Gran Turismo Berl ...
. The
FXX
FXX is an American basic cable channel owned by the Walt Disney Television unit of The Walt Disney Company through FX Networks, LLC. It is the partner channel of FX, with its programming focusing on original and acquired comedy series and fe ...
is not road legal and is therefore only used for track events.
Road cars
The first vehicle made with the Ferrari name was the
125 S. Only two of this small two-seat sports/racing V12 car were made. In 1949, the
166 Inter was introduced marking the company's significant move into the grand touring road car market. The first 166 Inter was a four-seat (2+2)
berlinetta
A berlinetta (from it, berlinetta; ) is a sports coupé, typically with two seats but also including 2+2 cars. The original meaning for ''berlinetta'' in Italian is “little saloon”. Introduced in the 1930s, the term was popularised by Fe ...
coupe with body work designed by
Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera. Road cars quickly became the bulk of Ferrari sales.
The early Ferrari cars typically featured bodywork designed and customised by independent
coachbuilders such as
Pininfarina
Pininfarina S.p.A. (short for Carrozzeria Pininfarina) is an Italian car design firm and coachbuilder, with headquarters in Cambiano, Turin, Italy. The company was founded by Battista "Pinin" Farina in 1930.
On 14 December 2015, the Indian ...
,
Scaglietti
Carrozzeria Scaglietti () was an Italian automobile design and coachbuilding company active in the 1950s. It was founded by Sergio Scaglietti in 1951 as an automobile repair concern, but was located across the road from Ferrari in Maranello outsid ...
,
Zagato
Zagato is an independent coachbuilding company and total design centre located northwest of Milan in Terrazzano, a small village near Rho, Lombardy, Italy. The company's premises occupies an area of 23,000 square metres (250,000 sq ft)- 11,000 ...
,
Vignale
Vignale is the luxury car sub-brand of Ford Motor Company used in automobiles sold in Europe.[Bertone Bertone is an Italian surname meaning "descendant of Roberto". Notable people with the surname include:
* Alicia Bertone, American academic, researcher, and veterinary surgeon
* Catherine Bertone (born 1972), Turkish-born female Italian marathon ...]
.
The original road cars were typically two-seat front-engined V12s. This platform served Ferrari very well through the 1950s and 1960s. In 1968 the
Dino was introduced as the first two-seat rear mid-engined Ferrari. The Dino was produced primarily with a V6 engine, however, a V8 model was also developed. This rear mid-engine layout would go on to be used in many Ferraris of the 1980s, 1990s and to the present day. Current road cars typically use V8 or V12 engines, with V8 models making up well over half of the marque's total production. Historically, Ferrari has also produced
flat 12 engines.
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 closely related to the 308 GTB.
Ferrari entered the mid-engined 12-cylinder fray with the
Berlinetta Boxer in 1973. The later
Testarossa (also mid-engined 12 cylinders) remains one of the most popular and famous Ferrari road cars of all time.
The company has also produced several front-engined 2+2 cars, culminating in the recent V12 model
Lusso and V8 models
Roma
Roma or ROMA may refer to:
Places Australia
* Roma, Queensland, a town
** Roma Airport
** Roma Courthouse
** Electoral district of Roma, defunct
** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council
*Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
,
Portofino
Portofino (; ) is a ''comune'' located in the Metropolitan City of Genoa on the Italian Riviera. The town is clustered around its small harbour, and is known for the colourfully painted buildings that line the shore. Since the late 19th century ...
and
Lusso T. The
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
is credited with initiating the popular current model line of V8 front-engined 2+2 grand touring performance sports cars.
Starting in the early 2010s with the
LaFerrari
LaFerrari, project name F150 is a limited production mid-engine mild hybrid sports car built by Italian automotive manufacturer Ferrari. LaFerrari means "The Ferrari" in Italian and some other Romance languages, in the sense that it is the " ...
, the focus was shifted away from the use of independent coach builders to what is now the standard, Ferrari relying on in-house design from the Centro Stile Ferrari for the design of all its road cars.
Current models
Customization
In the 1950s and 1960s, clients often personalized their vehicles as they came straight from the factory.
This philosophy added to the mystique of the brand. Every Ferrari that comes out of Maranello is built to an individual customer's specification. In this sense, each vehicle is a unique result of a specific client's desire.
Ferrari formalized this concept with its earlier Carrozzeria Scaglietti programme. The options offered here were more typical such as racing seats, rearview cameras, and other special trim. In late 2011, Ferrari announced a significant update of this philosophy. The Tailor Made programme allows clients to work with designers in Maranello to make decisions at every step of the process. Through this program almost any trim, any exterior color or any interior material is possible. The program carries on the original tradition and emphasizes the idea of each car being unique.
Supercars
The 1984
288 GTO
The Ferrari GTO (often referred to as Ferrari 288 GTO) (Type F114) is an exotic homologation of the Ferrari 308 GTB produced from 1984 to 1987 in Ferrari's Maranello factory, designated GT for Gran Turismo and O for ''Omologata'' (homologated ...
may be considered the first in the line of Ferrari supercars. This pedigree extends through the
Enzo Ferrari
Enzo Anselmo Giuseppe Maria Ferrari (; 20 February 1898 – 14 August 1988) was an Italian motor racing driver and entrepreneur, the founder of the Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team, and subsequently of the Ferrari automobil ...
to the
LaFerrari
LaFerrari, project name F150 is a limited production mid-engine mild hybrid sports car built by Italian automotive manufacturer Ferrari. LaFerrari means "The Ferrari" in Italian and some other Romance languages, in the sense that it is the " ...
. In February 2019, at the 89th Geneva International Motor Show, Ferrari revealed its latest mid-engine V8 supercar, the
F8 Tributo.
Ferrari SF90 Stradale
The Ferrari SF90 Stradale (Type F173) is a mid-engine PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle) sports car produced by the Italian automobile manufacturer Ferrari. The car shares its name with the SF90 Formula One car with SF90 standing for the 90 ...
is the first-ever Ferrari to feature PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle) architecture which sees the internal combustion engine integrated with three electric motors, two of which are independent and located on the front axle, with the third at the rear between the engine and the gearbox.
Concept cars and specials
Ferrari has produced a number of
concept car
A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle, show vehicle or prototype) is a car made to showcase new styling and/or new technology. They are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or ...
s, such as the
Mythos
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrati ...
. While some of these were quite radical (such as the
Modulo) and never intended for production, others such as the Mythos have shown styling elements that were later incorporated into production models.
The most recent concept car to be produced by Ferrari themselves was the 2010
Millechili.
A number of
one-off
In the field of vehicles authorized to drive, a one-off vehicle is a vehicle that was manufactured only once. The production of unique vehicles is reduced to one unit in each case.
The easiest cases to analyze are those of cars and motorcycles. Un ...
special versions of Ferrari road cars have also been produced, commissioned to
coachbuilders by wealthy owners. Recent examples include the
P4/5 and the
612 Kappa.
Ferrari Special Projects
The Special Projects programme, also called the Portfolio Coachbuilding Programme, was launched in 2008 as a way to revive the tradition of past one-off and limited production coachbuilt Ferrari models, allowing clients to work with Ferrari and top Italian coachbuilders to create bespoke bodied models based on modern Ferrari road cars.
Engineering and design is done by Ferrari, sometimes in cooperation with external design houses like
Pininfarina
Pininfarina S.p.A. (short for Carrozzeria Pininfarina) is an Italian car design firm and coachbuilder, with headquarters in Cambiano, Turin, Italy. The company was founded by Battista "Pinin" Farina in 1930.
On 14 December 2015, the Indian ...
or
Fioravanti, and the vehicles receive full
homologation to be road legal.
Since the creation of Ferrari's in-house styling centre in 2010 though, the focus has shifted away somewhat from outside coachbuilders and more towards creating new in-house designs for clients.
The first car to be completed under this programme was the 2008
SP1, commissioned by a Japanese business executive. The second was the
P540 Superfast Aperta, commissioned by an American collector.
The following is a list of Special Projects cars that have been made public:
Bio-fuel and hybrid cars
An
F430 Spider that runs on
ethanol
Ethanol (abbr. EtOH; also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound. It is an alcohol with the chemical formula . Its formula can be also written as or (an ethyl group linked to a ...
was displayed at the
2008 Detroit Auto Show. At the
2010 Geneva Motor Show, Ferrari unveiled a hybrid version of their flagship
599. Called the "HY-KERS Concept", Ferrari's hybrid system adds more than 100 horsepower on top of the 599 Fiorano's 612 HP. Also in mid-2014, the flagship
LaFerrari
LaFerrari, project name F150 is a limited production mid-engine mild hybrid sports car built by Italian automotive manufacturer Ferrari. LaFerrari means "The Ferrari" in Italian and some other Romance languages, in the sense that it is the " ...
was put into production.
Naming conventions
From the beginning, the Ferrari naming convention consisted of a three-digit unitary displacement of an engine cylinder with an additional suffix representing the purpose of a vehicle. Therefore,
Ferrari 125 S
:''See also the Ferrari 125 F1, a Formula One race car sharing the same engine''
The Ferrari 125 S (commonly 125 or 125 Sport) was a 1.5 litre race car built in 1947 by automaker Ferrari of Modena, Italy, its first vehicle. Only two were made.
A ...
had V12 engine with a unitary displacement of 124.73 cc; whilst S-suffix represented Sport. Other race cars also received names invoking particular races like
Ferrari 166 MM for Mille Miglia. With the introduction of road-going models, the suffix Inter was added, inspired by the Scuderia Inter racing team of Igor Troubetzkoy. Popular at that time
166-series had engines with 166.25 cc of unitary displacement and a very diverse
250
__NOTOC__
Year 250 (Roman numerals, CCL) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Traianus and Gratus (or, less frequently, y ...
-series had of total displacement and 246.10 cc of unitary. Later series of road cars were renamed Europa and top-of-the-line series America and Superamerica.
Until the early 1990s, Ferrari followed a three-number naming scheme based on
engine displacement
Engine displacement is the measure of the cylinder volume swept by all of the pistons of a piston engine, excluding the combustion chambers. It is commonly used as an expression of an engine's size, and by extension as a loose indicator of the ...
and a number of cylinders:
*
V6 and V8 models used the total displacement (in decilitres) 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, although, for the
F355, the last digit refers to 5 valves per cylinder. Upon introduction of the
360 Modena, the digits for V8 models (which now carried a name as well as a number) refer only to total engine displacement. The numerical indication aspect of this name carried on to the
F430; the F430's replacement, the
458 Italia, uses the same naming as the 206 and 348. The
488 uses the system formerly used by the V12 cars.
*
V12 V12 or V-12 may refer to:
Aircraft
* Mil V-12, a Soviet heavy lift helicopter
* Pilatus OV-12, a planned American military utility aircraft
* Rockwell XFV-12, an American experimental aircraft project
* Škoda-Kauba V12, a Czechoslovak experim ...
models used the displacement (in cubic centimetres) of one cylinder. Therefore, the famed 365 Daytona had a V12. However, some newer V12-engined Ferraris, such as the
599, have three-number designations that refer only to total engine displacement or boxer-style designations such as the
ominallysix-litre, V12
612
__NOTOC__
Year 612 (Roman numerals, DCXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 612 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini ...
.
*
Flat 12 models used the displacement in litres for the first digit and the number of cylinders for the next two digits. Therefore, the 512 BB was five-litre flat 12 (a Berlinetta Boxer, in this case). However, the original Berlinetta Boxer was the
365 GT4 BB, which was named in a similar manner to the V12 models.
* Flagship models (aka "halo cars") use the letter F followed by the anniversary in years, such as the
F40 and
F50. The
Enzo
Enzo is an Italian given name derivative of the German name Heinz. It can be used also as the short form for Lorenzo, Vincenzo, Innocenzo, or Fiorenzo. It is most common in the Romance-speaking world, particularly in Italy and Latin Americ ...
skipped this rule, although the F60 name was applied to a Ferrari Formula One car and is sometimes attached to the Enzo.
* Some models, such as the 1980
Mondial and 1984
Testarossa did not follow a three-number naming scheme.
Most Ferraris were also given designations referring to their body style. In general, the following conventions were used:
* M ("Modificata"), placed at the end of a model's number, denotes a modified version of its predecessor and not a complete evolution (see
F512 M and
575 M Maranello).
* GTB ("Gran Turismo Berlinetta") models are closed
Berlinetta
A berlinetta (from it, berlinetta; ) is a sports coupé, typically with two seats but also including 2+2 cars. The original meaning for ''berlinetta'' in Italian is “little saloon”. Introduced in the 1930s, the term was popularised by Fe ...
s, or
coupés.
* GTS ("Gran Turismo Scoperta") this suffix can be seen in older spiders, or
convertibles
A convertible or cabriolet () is a passenger car that can be driven with or without a roof in place. The methods of retracting and storing the roof vary among eras and manufacturers.
A convertible car's design allows an open-air driving expe ...
(see
365 GTS/4). Now the convertible models use the suffix
"Spider" (spelt "i") (see
F355 Spider, and
360 Spider). In more recent models, this suffix is used for
targa top
Targa top, or targa for short, is a semi-convertible car body style with a removable roof section and a full width roll bar behind the seats. The term was first used on the 1966 Porsche 911 Targa, and it remains a registered trademark of Porsc ...
models (see
Dino 246 GTS
The Dino 206 GT, 246 GT and 246 GTS are V6 mid-engined sports cars produced by Ferrari and sold under the Dino marque between 1967 and 1974.
The Dino 246 was the first automobile manufactured by Ferrari in high numbers. It is lauded by many ...
, and
F355 GTS), which is an absolutely correct use of the suffix since "scoperta" means "uncovered". An increasing number of people tend to refer to GTS as "Gran Turismo Spyder", which creates the false assumption that Ferrari does not know the difference between "spyder" and "targa". The
348 TS, which is the only targa named differently, is an exception.
* GTO ("Gran Turismo Omologata"), placed at the end of a model's number, denotes a modified version of its predecessor. It designates a model that has been designed and improved for racetrack use while still being street legal. Only three models bear those three letters: the 250 GTO of 1962, the 288 GTO of 1984, and the 599 GTO of 2010.
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 official factory names. The Daytona name commemorates Ferrari's triple success in the February 1967
24 Hours of Daytona
The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layo ...
with the
330 P4. Only in the 1973 Daytona 24 Hours, a
365 GTB/4 run by NART (who raced Ferraris in America) ran second, behind a
Porsche 911.
The various
Dino models were named for Enzo's son, Dino Ferrari, and were marketed as Dinos by Ferrari and sold at Ferrari dealersfor all intents and purposes they are Ferraris.
In the mid-1990s, Ferrari added the letter "F" to the beginning of all models (a practice abandoned after the
F512 M and
F355, but adopted again with the
F430, but not with its successor, the
Ferrari 458
The Ferrari 458 Italia (Type F142) is a mid-engine sports car produced by Ferrari. The F458 is the successor of the F430, and was first officially unveiled at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show. It was succeeded by the 488 GTB (Gran Turismo Berl ...
).
Identity
The famous symbol of the Ferrari race team is the ''Cavallino Rampante'' ("prancing horse") black prancing
stallion on a yellow shield, usually with the letters ''S F'' (for ''Scuderia Ferrari''), with three stripes of green, white and red (the Italian national colors) at the top. The road cars have a rectangular badge on the hood (see picture at top of page), and, optionally, the shield-shaped race logo on the sides of both front wings, close to the door.
On 17 June 1923, Enzo Ferrari won a race at the Savio track in
Ravenna
Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the ca ...
where he met Countess Paolina, mother of Count
Francesco Baracca
Count Francesco Baracca (9 May 1888 – 19 June 1918) was Italy's top fighter ace of World War I. He was credited with 34 aerial victories. The emblem he wore side by side on his plane of a black horse prancing on its two rear hooves in ...
, an ace of the
Italian air force
, colours =
, colours_label =
, march = (Ordinance March of the Air Force) by Alberto Di Miniello
, mascot =
, anniversaries = 28 March ...
and national hero of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, who used to paint a horse on the side of his planes. The Countess asked Enzo to use this horse on his cars, suggesting that it would bring him good luck. The original "prancing horse" on Baracca's airplane was painted in red on a white cloud-like shape, but Ferrari chose to have the horse in black (as it had been painted as a sign of grief on Baracca's squadron planes after the pilot was killed in action) and he added a
canary yellow background as this is the color of the city of Modena, his birthplace. The Ferrari horse was, from the very beginning, markedly different from the Baracca horse in most details, the most noticeable being the tail that in the original Baracca version was pointing downward.
Ferrari has used the ''cavallino rampante'' on official company stationery since 1929. Since the
Spa 24 Hours
The 24 Hours of Spa is an endurance racing event for cars held annually since 1924 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium. It is currently sponsored by TotalEnergies.
History
The Spa 24 Hours was conceived by Jules de Their ...
of 9 July 1932, the ''cavallino rampante'' has been used on Alfa Romeos raced by Scuderia Ferrari.
The motif of a prancing horse is old, it can be found on ancient coins. A similar black horse on a yellow shield is the
coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...
of the German city of
Stuttgart, home of
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...
and the design bureau of
Porsche, both being main competitors of Alfa and Ferrari in the 1930s. The city's name derives from ''Stutengarten'', an ancient form of the German word ''Gestüt'', which translates into English as ''stud farm'' and into Italian as ''scuderia''.
Porsche also includes the Stuttgart sign in its corporate logo, centred in the emblem of the state of
Württemberg
Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart.
Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Württ ...
. Stuttgart's ''Rössle'' has both rear legs firmly planted on the soil, like Baracca's horse, but unlike Ferrari's ''cavallino''.
Fabio Taglioni
Fabio Taglioni (10 September 1920 – 18 July 2001) was an Italian engineer.
Born in Lugo di Romagna, he was chief designer and technical director of Ducati from 1954 until 1989. His desmodromic 90° V-twin engine design is still used in al ...
used the ''cavallino rampante'' on his
Ducati motorbikes, as Taglioni was born at Lugo di Romagna like Baracca, and his father too was a military pilot during WWI (although not part of Baracca's squadron, as is sometimes mistakenly reported). As Ferrari's fame grew, Ducati abandoned the horse- perhaps the result of a private agreement between the two companies.
The ''cavallino rampante'' is the visual symbol of Ferrari. Cavallino Magazine uses the name, but not the logo. Other companies use similar logos: Avanti, an Austrian company operating over 100 filling stations, uses a prancing horse logo which is nearly identical to Ferrari's, as does Iron Horse Bicycles and Norfolk Southern Railway.
Colour
Since the 1920s, Italian race cars of
Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." "A ...
, Maserati and later Ferrari and Abarth were (and often still are) painted in "race red" (''Rosso Corsa''). This was the customary List of international auto racing colors, national racing color of
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, as recommended between the World Wars by the organizations that later would become the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA. It refers to the nationality of the competing team, not that of the car manufacturer or driver. In that scheme, French-entered cars such as Bugatti were blue, German such as Auto Union and Mercedes-Benz in motorsport, Mercedes white (since 1934 also bare sheet metal Silver Arrows, silver), and British British racing green, green such as the mid-1960s Team Lotus, Lotus and British Racing Motors, BRM, for instance.
Ferrari won the 1964 World championship with
John Surtees
John Surtees, (11 February 1934 – 10 March 2017) was a British Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Formula One driver. On his way to become a seven-time Grand Prix motorcycle World Champion, he won his first title in 1956, and followed with ...
by competing for the last two races in North America with cars painted in the US-American race colors white and blue, as these were not entered by the Italian factory themselves, but by the U.S.-based
North American Racing Team
The North American Racing Team (NART) is a motorsport racing team founded in 1958. It was created by businessman Luigi Chinetti to promote the Ferrari marque in United States through success in endurance racing.
It was created in 1958 when Chin ...
(NART) team. This was done as a protest concerning arguments between Ferrari and the Italian Racing Authorities regarding the homologation of a new mid-engined Ferrari race car.
Corporate affairs
In 1963, Enzo Ferrari was approached by the Ford Motor Company about a possible buy out. Ford audited Ferrari's assets but legal negotiations and talks were unilaterally cut off by Ferrari when he realized that the deal offered by Ford would not enable him to stay at the helm of the company racing program. Henry Ford II consequently directed his racing division to negotiate with Lotus Cars, Lotus, Lola Cars, Lola, and Cooper Car Company, Cooper to build a car capable of beating Ferrari on the world endurance circuit, eventually resulting in the production of the Ford GT40 in 1964.
As the Ford deal fell through, FIAT approached Ferrari with a more flexible proposal and purchased controlling interests in the company in 1969. Enzo Ferrari retained a 10% share, which is currently owned by his son Piero Lardi Ferrari.
Ferrari has an internally managed merchandising line that licenses many products bearing the Ferrari brand, including eyewear, pens, pencils, electronic goods, perfume, cologne, clothing, high-tech bicycles, watches, cell phones, and laptop computers.
Ferrari also runs a museum, the Museo Ferrari in
Maranello
Maranello ( Modenese: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna in Northern Italy, 18 km from Modena, with a population of 17,504 as of 2017. It is known worldwide as the home of Ferrari and the Formula 1 rac ...
, which displays road and race cars and other items from the company's history.
Formula Uomo programme
In 1997, Ferrari launched a long term master planned effort to improve overall corporate efficiency, production and employee happiness. The program was called Formula Uomo and became a case study in social sustainability. It took over ten years to fully implement and included over €200 million (2008) in investment.
Technical partnerships
Ferrari has had a long-standing relationship with Shell Oil. It is a technical partnership with Ferrari and Ducati to test as well as supply fuel and oils to the Formula One, MotoGP and World Superbike racing teams. For example, the Shell V-Power premium gasoline fuel has been developed with the many years of technical expertise between Shell and Ferrari.
Ferrari has had agreements to supply Formula One engines to a number of other teams over the years, and currently supply the Alfa Romeo in Formula One, Alfa Romeo and Haas F1 F1 teams.
Sales history
As of the end of 2019, the total of Ferrari built and sold cars in their whole company history is 219,062.
;Annual Ferrari sales to end customers (number of type-approved vehicles)
:
:
Recalls
In January 2020 the Italian carmaker said it will recall 982 vehicles for passenger airbags due to the Takata Corporation#Defective_airbag_recalls_(2013–present), Takata airbag recalls.
If the inflator explodes, the airbag will spew metal shrapnel at passengers, which can cause severe injury.
[ Every car involved will get a new passenger-side airbag assembly, complete with a new inflator without the dangerous propellant.][
On 8 August 2022, the company recalled almost every car it's sold in the US since 2005 over a potential for brake failure.] According to an National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, NHTSA recall filing, 23,555 Ferrari models sold in America are fitted with a potentially faulty brake fluid reservoir cap that may not vent pressure adequately.[ The fix is simple.][
]
Stores
Roughly thirty Ferrari boutiques exist worldwide, with two owned by Ferrari and the rest operating as franchising, franchises. The stores sell branded clothes, accessories and racing memorabilia. Clothing includes upscale and lower-priced collections for men, women, and children.
Some stores include race car Arcade game, simulation games for entertainment.
Attractions
There are currently two Ferrari-themed amusement parks in the world.
Ferrari World Abu Dhabi
Opened in 2010, Ferrari World Abu Dhabi is the first Ferrari-branded theme park in the world and boasts 37 rides and attractions. Located on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, it is home to the world's fastest roller coaster - Formula Rossa, and a dynamic coaster with one of the world's tallest loop - Flying Aces (roller coaster), Flying Aces.
Ferrari Land in PortAventura
Opened in 2017, Ferrari Land in PortAventura World resort is the second such Ferrari-themed amusement park in the world, after Ferrari World Abu Dhabi. With 16 rides and attractions, it is home to Europe's fastest and highest vertical accelerator coaster - Red Force (roller coaster), Red Force.
See also
* List of Ferrari road cars
* List of Ferrari engines
* List of Ferrari competition cars
* List of Ferrari engines
* Scuderia Ferrari
* List of car brands
* List of companies of Italy
Citations
General references
*
* Adler, Dennis, ''Ferrari: The Road from Maranello''. Random House, 2006. .
External links
*
Ferrari Official Car Configurator
Ferrari Past Models on auto.ferrari.com
Ferrari Single-seaters on formula1.ferrari.com
Ferrari Special Projects listing on Coachbuild.com
*
{{authority control
Ferrari,
Italian companies established in 1947
2015 initial public offerings
Automotive companies established in 1947
Car manufacturers of Italy
Companies listed on the Borsa Italiana
Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange
Italian brands
Luxury motor vehicle manufacturers
Sports car manufacturers
Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1947
Car brands
Corporate spin-offs
Enzo Ferrari