| Born in Emilia-Romagna, and raised in Modena, Italy, | | | | first victory was not until the British Grand Prix of |
| Enzo Ferrari grew up with little formal education but a | | | | 1951. The first championship came in 1952-53, when |
| strong desire to race cars. During World War I he | | | | the Formula One season was raced with Formula |
| was a mule-skinner in the Italian Army. His | | | | Two cars. The company also sold production sports |
| grandfather, Alfredo, died in 1916 as a result of a | | | | cars in order to finance the racing endeavours not |
| widespread Italian flu outbreak. Enzo became sick | | | | only in Grand Prix but also in events such as the Mille |
| himself and was consequently discharged from Italian | | | | Miglia and Le Mans. Indeed many of the firm's |
| service. Upon returning home he found that the | | | | greatest victories came at Le Mans (14 victories, |
| family firm had collapsed. Having no other job | | | | including six in a row 1960-65) rather than in Grand |
| prospects he sought unsuccessfully to find work at | | | | Prix, certainly the company was more involved there |
| Fiat and eventually settled for a job at a smaller car | | | | than in Formula One during the 1950s and 1960s |
| company called CMN redesigning used truck bodies | | | | despite the successes of Juan-Manuel Fangio (1956), |
| into small, passenger cars. He took up racing in 1919 | | | | Mike Hawthorn (1958), Phil Hill (1961) and John |
| on the CMN team, but had little initial success. | | | | Surtees (1964). |
| He left CMN in 1920 to work at Alfa Romeo and | | | | In the 1960s the problems of reduced demand and |
| racing their cars in local races he had more success. | | | | inadequate financing forced Ferrari to allow Fiat to |
| In 1923, racing in Ravenna, he acquired the Prancing | | | | take a stake in the company. Ford had tried to buy |
| Horse badge which decorated the fuselage of | | | | the firm in 1963 for US$18 million but had been |
| Francesco Baracca's (Italy's leading ace of WWI) | | | | rejected. The company became joint-stock and Fiat |
| SPAD fighter, given from his mother, taken from the | | | | took a small share in 1965 and then in 1969 they |
| wreckage of the plane after his mysterious death. | | | | increased their holding to 50% of the company. (In |
| This icon would have to wait until 1932 to be | | | | 1988 Fiat's holding was increased to 90%). |
| plastered on a racing car. In 1924 he won the Coppa | | | | Ferrari remained managing director until 1971. Despite |
| Acerbo at Pescara. His successes in local races | | | | stepping down he remained an influence over the |
| encouraged Alfa to offer him a chance of much | | | | firm until his death. The input of Fiat took some time |
| more prestigious competition and he was lauded by | | | | to have effect. It was not until 1975 with Niki Lauda |
| Mussolini. Ferrari turned this opportunity down and in | | | | that the firm won any championships - the skill of the |
| something of a funk he did not race again until 1927 | | | | driver and the ability of the engine overcoming the |
| and even then his racing career was mostly over. He | | | | deficiencies of the chassis and aerodynamics. But |
| continued to work directly for Alfa Romeo until 1929 | | | | after those successes and the promise of Jody |
| before starting Scuderia Ferrari as the racing team | | | | Scheckter title in 1979, the company's Formula One |
| for Alfa. | | | | championship hopes fell into the doldrums. 1982 |
| Ferrari managed the development of the factory Alfa | | | | opened with a strong car, the 126C2, world-class |
| cars, and built up a team of over forty drivers, | | | | drivers, and promising results in the early races. |
| including Giuseppe Campari and Tazio Nuvolari. Ferrari | | | | However, Gilles Villeneuve was killed in the 126C2 in |
| himself continued racing until the birth of his first son | | | | May, and teammate Didier Pironi had his career cut |
| in 1932 (Alfredo Ferrari, known as Dino, who died in | | | | short in a violent end over end flip on the misty |
| 1956). | | | | backstraight at Hockenheim in August. Pironi was |
| The support of Alfa Romeo lasted until 1933 when | | | | leading the driver's championship at the time; he |
| financial constraints made Alfa withdraw. Only at the | | | | would lose the lead as he sat out the remaining races. |
| intervention of Pirelli did Ferrari receive any cars at all. | | | | The team would not see championship glory again |
| Despite the quality of the Scuderia drivers the | | | | during Ferrari's lifetime. |
| company won few victories (1935 in Germany by | | | | Enzo Ferrari died in Modena in 1988 at the age of 90 |
| Nuvolari was a notable exception). Auto Union and | | | | at the beginning of the dominance of the McLaren |
| Mercedes dominated the era. | | | | Honda combination. The only race which McLaren did |
| In 1937 Alfa took control of its racing efforts again, | | | | not win in 1988 was the Italian Grand Prix - this was |
| reducing Ferrari to Director of Sports under Alfa's | | | | held just weeks after Enzo's death, and, fittingly, the |
| engineering director. Ferrari soon left, but a contract | | | | result was a 1-2 finish for Ferrari, with Gerhard Berger |
| clause restricted him from racing or designing for four | | | | leading home Michele Alboreto. After Enzo's death, |
| years. | | | | thee Scuderia Ferrari team has had further success, |
| He set up Auto-Avio Costruzioni, a company | | | | notably with Michael Schumacher from 1996-2005. |
| supplying parts to other racing teams. But in the Mille | | | | Made a Cavaliere del Lavoro in 1952, to add to his |
| Miglia of 1940 the company manufactured two cars | | | | honours of Cavaliere and Commendatore in the |
| to compete, driven by Alberto Ascari and Lotario | | | | 1920s, Enzo also received a number of honorary |
| Rangoni. During World War II his firm was involved in | | | | degrees, the Hammarskjöld Prize in 1962, the |
| war production and following bombing relocated from | | | | Columbus Prize in 1965, and the De Gasperi Award in |
| Modena to Maranello. It was not until after World | | | | 1987. In 1994, he was posthumously inducted into the |
| War II that Ferrari sought to shed his fascist | | | | International Motorsports Hall of Fame. Enzo famously |
| reputation and make cars bearing his name, founding | | | | used purple ink in his fountain pen, although the |
| today's Ferrari S.p. A. in 1945. | | | | reason for this remains unclear. |
| The first open-wheeled race was in Turin in 1948 and | | | | After the death of his son, Alfredo "Dino" Ferrari, |
| the first victory came later in the year in Lago di | | | | Enzo wore sunglasses just about every day to honor |
| Garda. Ferrari participated in the Formula 1 World | | | | his son. |
| Championship since its introduction in 1950 but the | | | | |