Ferrari History
1929–1946
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, Alfa Romeo was absorbed by the government as part of the war effort. Enzo Ferrari's division was small enough to be unaffected by this. 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. Also known as SEFAC (Scuderia Enzo Ferrari Auto Corse) Ferrari did in fact produce one racecar, the Tipo 815, in the non-competition period; it was thus the first actual Ferrari car (it debuted at the 1940 Mille Miglia), 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. Right up to Il Commendatore's death, this would remain little more than a source of funding for his first love, racing.
"Scuderia Ferrari" literally means "Ferrari Stable"; the name is figuratively translated as "Team Ferrari". (It is correctly pronounced "skoo deh REE ah".)
1945–present
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. However, at one point, Enzo Ferrari's cars were exceeded in performance by the Spanish firm, Pegaso, which later went defunct.
Ferrari road cars, noted for magnificent styling by design houses like Pininfarina, have long been one of the ultimate accessories for the rich. Other design houses that have done work for Ferrari over the years include Scaglietti, Bertone, Touring, Ghia, and Vignale.
In 2005, 4 universities (Coventry University for one) were granted the grand offer to come up with the next vehicle line-up for Ferrari in a student competition named 'Ferrari Concepts of the Myth'. 20 winners were allowed to show off their concepts in a ¼ scale model and present their work to the board and the compelling historic names at Ferrari to allow for 3 out right winners to have the chance at working in the Ferrari design studio there at Maranello.
As of 2006, the Fiat Group owns 56% of Ferrari, Mediobanca 29%, Mubadala 5%, and Enzo's son Piero Ferrari 10%. By the end of September, 2006 the Fiat Group intends to repurchase the 29% owned by Mediobanca, bringing its share to 85%. Fiat has shelved plans for an IPO because Fiat Auto has now returned to profitability, thus removing pressure from the group. The most Ferrari's sold in europe in 2004 and 2005 were in turkey.
Ferrari Racing
Main article: Scuderia Ferrari
Michael Schumacher in practice at the Formula One 2005 United States Grand Prix.
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Michael Schumacher in practice at the Formula One 2005 United States Grand Prix.
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.
In 1949, Luigi Chinetti drove a Model 166M to Ferrari's first win in motorsports, which was at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Chinetti drove the automobile for all except twenty minutes of the Grand Prix race. Chinetti soon became the American dealer for Ferraris and established the North American Racing Team, Ferrari's official racing arm. The dealership is reported to have provided the sales that kept the company in business through sales to wealthy Americans, such as Briggs Cunningham, who bought the first one Chinetti sold through the new dealership.
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 Drivers 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 2005, 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, 3,445 and a half points, 544 podium finishes, 174 pole positions, 11,182 laps led, and 180 fastest laps in 1,622 Grands Prix contested.
Notable Ferrari drivers include Tazio Nuvolari, Juan Manuel Fangio, Luigi Chinetti, Alberto Ascari, Wolfgang von Trips, Phil Hill, Olivier Gendebien, Mike Hawthorn, Peter Collins, John Surtees, Jacky Ickx, Mario Andretti, Niki Lauda, Carlos Reutemann, Jody Scheckter, Gilles Villeneuve, Didier Pironi, Michele Alboreto, Gerhard Berger, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Jean Alesi, Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher.
Current Team Ferrari Drivers for 2006 F1 Season: Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa. At the end of the 2006 season the team courted controversy by continuing to allow Marlboro to sponser them after they, along with the other F1 teams, made a promise to end sponsership deals with tobacco manufacturers. A five year deal worth a reported $500 million was agreed.
Drivers for 2007 have been announced as Felipe Massa and Kimi Räikkönen. |
