CuriositiesHistory of the Ferrari brand

History of the Ferrari brand: origin and evolution

Talking about sports cars or speed is inexorably linked to Ferrari, and it is no less, because we are facing one of the most luxurious and recognized sports vehicle brands in the world.

Enzo Ferrari el Piloto
Enzo Ferrari

The origin of everything can be placed at the end of the First World War, at the end of 1918, when a young participant in the contest finds work as a test pilot in a car company located in Turin: it was Enzo Ferrari.

It was not just any pilot, his character and courage would make him an official pilot of the CMN (Construzioni Meccaniche Nazionali). In 1919, he made his debut in the career of Parma-Poggio di Berceto where he finished fourth.

Carrera Parma-Poggio di Berceto
Parma-Poggio di Berceto

In 1920, Enzo began a period of collaboration with the Alfa Romeo brand, which would last 20 years, as a driver of his cars. An almost triumphal start, because at the controls of an Alfa Romeo 40/60 HP was second in the Targa Florio of 1920.

It was in the late 1920s, in 1929, when Enzo Ferrari founded his own team and created his official team consisting of Alfa Romeo vehicles.

Alfa Romeo en la Targa Florio de 1920
Alfa Romeo at the Targa Florio 1920

A few years later, in 1935, Ferrari took its first steps as a car manufacturer in its workshop in Modena, manufacturing its first racing car: the Alfa Romeo Bimotore. Two years later (1937) he built the Alfetta 158, with which he achieved a great dominance by winning a multitude of races and achieving, several years later, the first prize of the F1 and two world prizes.

Alfa Romeo Alfetta 158

In 1939, Enzo decided to abandon definitively his collaboration with the brand, under a clause that did not allow him to use the name “Ferrari” in his associations or models for 4 years. The old workshop of the Scuderia reopens its doors in Modena, under the name of Auto Avio Costruzioni, in which it intended to manufacture its own race cars. Thus, the first Ferrari model with a Fiat chassis was born, the Auto Avio Costruzioni 815.

After a difficult stage for the racing market, due to the Second World War, the Italian brand is reborn under the name of “Ferrari” with a new factory in Maranello. It is here where the first model was born that would wear the emblem of the Cavallino Rampante, the 125 S. Manufactured in 1945, with an engine V12 and 1500cc, debuted in 1947 at the hands of Franco Cortese, who would get beat in the Mille Miglia and in the 24 hours of Le Mans, in 1948 and 1949 respectively.

Coche Ferrari 125S
Ferrari 125S

In 1956 his son Dino died, who had been working on a 1500cc. V6 engine until his death. In his honor, Ferrari decided to call “Dino” all engines with 6-cylinder V mechanics that were designed thereafter.

Just after the 1950s, a new discipline emerged within the races, the Formula 1. However, it was not until 1961 that Ferrari won the Constructors’ Championship with Paul Hill at the wheel, also becoming world champion. A double achievement to be repeated in 1964 by John Surtees.

A year before the death of Enzo Ferrari in 1988, the F40 came to light, the latest model created under his personal supervision. After his death, Fiat acquires 90% of the shares of the brand and the company is renamed Ferrari S.P.A.

Ferrari F40

Since then and to the present, the Italian firm has not stopped renewing itself, as the revolution in 2012 with its FF model, the first Ferrari in its history with 4-wheel drive, or new models of its sports vehicles, both for competition and urban.  

Ferrari FF

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