October 5th, 1919. Enzo Ferrari makes his racing career debut, entering a hill climb event in Parma, Italy, in which he finished fourth.
Ferrari’s racing career was fairly short, as he retired in the mid-1920s, having only won 13 of the 47 races he entered.
Enzo Ferrari founded Scuderia Ferrari (Ferrari racing team) in Modena, Italy in 1929, affiliated to Alfa Romeo. A disagreement about management styles meant Alfa Romeo let Ferrari go in 1939, but he remained in charge of Scuderia Ferrari. The war disrupted the production of racing cars, so it wasn’t until 1947 that the first Ferraris appeared on the market, complete with the prancing horse logo that is so well-known. The prancing horse was originally the personal emblem of a pilot in World War I (Francesco Baracca) however Ferrari made alterations to the design, for example the upturned tail. The yellow background is the colour of Modena, the original home of Scuderia Ferrari, which is of course what the S.F. stands for.
Ferrari’s racing success began when the company won the Rome Grand Prix in 1947. In 1949, the first race back after the Second World War, a Ferrari won the 24 Hours of Le Mans road race for the first time. Ferrari driver Alberto Ascari became the world champion in 1952, and then again in 1953, making him the first driver in Formula One to win back-to-back championships. The 1950s were perhaps the most successful for Ferrari – they won 8 world championships and 5 Grand Prix championships. Ferraris were bigger and more powerful than any other team’s, and Enzo Ferrari ensured his success by entering as many cars as he could into each of the races.
However, this success came with a price – in the decade between 1955 and 1965, 25% of Ferrari’s drivers were killed in crashes, and on five different occasions a Ferrari had flown into crowds and killed 50 bystanders in total. In fact, in 1957, Enzo Ferrari was even put on trial for manslaughter as a result of one of these incidents – a crash in the 1957 Mille Miglia after a burst tyre, which killed the driver, co-driver and nine spectators. Enzo Ferrari was acquitted, but the Mille Miglia was never held again, and in fact all motor sport was banned on home soil by Italian authorities for many months after the accident.
Ferrari was perhaps slower at updating his cars than other teams over the years, taking longer to accept technological advancements he hadn’t himself created. As a result, the team began to lose it’s undeniable hold on the top spots in motor racing. Still, by the time Enzo Ferrari died in 1988, his cars had won more than 4,000 races, and the prancing horse remains one of the most recognisable manufacturers logos to both regular people and petrol heads around the world.
Pippa
Third Year History
History @ Aber 