Enzo Ferrari
Born: February 18,1898
Birth Place: Modena, Italy
Died: August 14, 1988
Father: Alfredo Ferrari
Brother: Alfredo Ferrari Jr.
There was an automobile race in Bologna, which Alfredo Ferrari decided to attend with his sons. Enzo was 10 at this time. A famous battle between Vincenzo Lancia and Felice Nazarro took place in 1908 at Circuit di Bologna. After attending a few other races he wanted to become a racing driver. Ferrari’s education was barely average, in fact, he would not be able to get a well paid job. In 1916, his father and brother died. This tragedy would haunt him for rest of his life. He almost died during World War I from worldwide flu of 1918. He found a job in new opened factory Fiat. A while after he got a job at CMN, a small carmaker involved in converting war surplus. His main duties included test driving and delivering chassis to coach builder. This was the time when he finally took up racing. He finished ninth at Targa Florio. His friend Ugo Sivocci helped him with finding a job in Alfa Romeo who, in 1920, entered some modified production cars. Ferrari finished second driving Alfa Romeo. Giorgio Rimmi, Nicolas Romeo’s aide, noticed his success and he managed to take care of Ferrari.
He won a race at the Circuit of Sivocci at Ravenna in 1923 where he met Francesco Baracca, the father of legendary Italian W.W.I. racer. He earned Baracca’s attention who gave him his son’s squadron badge which was the famous Prancing Horseon a yellow shield. It was the greatest victory he scored in 1924 winning the Coppa Acerbo. This is what he said about his victory:
“Among the different competitions whom, in that time, I participated in, I remember with particular satisfaction my victory at Pescara in 1924, with an Alfa Romeo R.L.
With this car I had won at Ravenna the Racetrack of Savio and at Rovigo the Racetrack of Polesine, but in the Acerbo Cup I initialed my fame as a pilot. In fact I was able to beat the Mercedes, which was just returning from the success of the Targa Florio. In the team of the Alfa there was also Campari with the famous P2, but, unfortunately, he was forced to retire. My mechanic was Eugenio Siena, a Campari's cousin, full of an agonistic spirit which was over his relationship duties, who died in Tripoli in the Grand Prix of 1938 when he was graduating as an international pilot. As agreed, since the first lap I should have looked for the shape of Campari's P2 in the driving mirror, if I had lead the way, to give him way with dispatch. I had a very speedy start and at each lap I repeated my search in the mirror, but in vain: I couldn't see the P2.
Worried about his absence - Campari's car was faster than mine- and the chase of Bonmartini and Giulio Masetti's Mercedes, I looked at Siena with a first sign to slow down. But Siena gave a cry where there was not even a shadow of worry about the delay of his cousin: So I insisted on the first position, and I won. Campari explained me that he had hidden the car in a by-street, after having retired for a damage to the change-gear, so that the antagonists would not have realized too soon his surrender... “
He was doing so well that he was promoted to full factory driver. That means he came from second hand cars to competing latest race cars at French Grand Prix. Nobody was able to say what happened next but for some reason Ferrari could not take part in the biggest race of his career. Ferrari became Rimini’s “Mr.Fixit” and he was able to resume his position at Alfa Romeo. He gave up racing until 1927, in fact, his career was over before it really began. He was quite successful in minor events after that. Ferrari got married and by this time he owned an Alfa distributorship in Modena. He felt like starting his own business so he created Scuderia Ferrari in 1929. Augusto and Alfredo managed to sponsor his firm. They were heirs of textile fortune. After Alfa Romeo temporarily withdrawn from racing in 1925, Scuderia was supposed to assist wealthy Alfa Romeo customers. It’s main task was to deliver mechanical support and any other services required by customers. Ferrari exchanged with Alfa Romeo guarantee of technical assistance with stock in his company. Bosch, Pirelli and Shell agreed to make similar deals with Ferrari. Amateur driver Giuseppe Campari has joined Ferrari’s team. He was followed by talented driver Tazio Nuvolari. Scuderia Ferrari was now ready for starting new season. Scuderia Ferrari was able to boast 50 full and part-time drivers during first year. From 22 events team competed in, they could score 8 victories and several good placings. This caused a sensation. Drivers received percentage of the price money won, instead of regular salary. Scuderia paid all fees required to get driver and his car to race. It was almost unbelievable that someone young like Ferrari could survive in tough Formula 1 world.
Scuderia Ferrari, this time Alfa Romeo’s official racing department of the factory, was supported by Alfa Romeo. This would not continue too long due to fact that Alfa Romeo announced withdrawal from racing 1933 season. This was mainly caused by financial problems. Scuderia was now in big trouble, It seemed that it would be able to continue without Alfa Romeo’s support but, eventually, Ferrari’s own supply of new racing cars ran out. But Scuderia was lucky. Pirelli interceded and convinced Alfa to supply Ferrari with six P3's and the services of engineer Luigi Bazzi and test driver Attilio Marinoni. Scuderia would once again be in Alfa Romeo’s racing department. It was not until 1932 that Ferrari’s son Alfredo, also known as Dino was born and ferrari decided to retire from racing. Team took more professional turn. Count Carlo Felice Trossi, who was a part-time driver as well as full-time millionaire, managed to buy Alfredo Caniato. Ferrari now looked all set to make his true mark on racing scene. But what happened that Ferrari didn’t count on was formation of Auto Union and Mercedes in Germany. An ex-Bugatti driver, Rene Dreyfus from France, was given opportunity to race for Ferrari. In 1935 he did so and he was rather shocked by difference between his old team and Ferrari.
“The difference between being a member of the Bugatti team and Scuderia Ferrari was virtually night and day. I lived with Meo Constantini, the Bugatti team manager, I visited with Ferrari. With Ferrari, I learned the business of racing, for there was no doubt he was a businessman. Enzo Ferrari was a pleasant person and friendly, but not openly affectionate. There was, for example, none of the sense of belonging to the family that I had with the Maserati brothers, nor the sense of spirited fun and intimacy that I had with Meo Constantini. Enzo Ferrari loved racing, of that there was no question. Still, it was more than an enthusiast’s love, but one tempered by the practical realization that this was a good way to build a nice, profitable empire. I knew he was going to be a big man one day, even then when the cars he raced carried somebody else’s name. I felt sure that eventually they would carry his.”
- Rene Dreyfus
There were many famous names racing for Scuderia Ferrari such as Giuseppe Campari, Louis Chiron, Achille Varzi and the greatest of them all Tazio Nuvolari. Except for his great victory in the 1935 German Grand Prix, victories were just occasional. Team was now in big crisis due to mighty German Auto Union and Mercedes. Ferrari was given a chance to passenger the great Nuvolari. He was asked for it on the “Three Provinces” Circuit, which Nuvolari did not know very well.
"At the first bend," Ferrari writes, "I had the clear sensation that Tazio had taken it badly and that we would end up in the ditch; I felt myself stiffen as I waited for the crunch. Instead, we found ourselves on the next straight with the car in a perfect position. I looked at him," Ferrari goes on. "His rugged face was calm, just as it always was, and certainly not the face of someone who had just escaped a hair-raising spin. I had the same sensation at the second bend. By the fourth or fifth bend I began to understand; in the meantime, I had noticed that through the entire bend Tazio did not lift his foot from the accelerator, and that, in fact, it was flat on the floor. As bend followed bend, I discovered his secret. Nuvolari entered the bend somewhat earlier than my driver's instinct would have told me to. But he went into the bend in an unusual way: with one movement he aimed the nose of the car at the inside edge, just where the curve itself started. His foot was flat down, and he had obviously changed down to the right gear before going through this fearsome rigmarole. In this way he put the car into a four-wheel drift, making the most of the thrust of the centrifugal force and keeping it on the road with the traction of the driving wheels. Throughout the bend the car shaved the inside edge, and when the bend turned into the straight the car was in the normal position for accelerating down it, with no need for any corrections." Ferrari honestly admits that he soon became used to this exercise, because he saw Nuvolari do it countless times. "But each time I seemed to be climbing into a roller coaster and finding myself coming through the downhill run with that sort of dazed feeling that we all know."
He suggested to Alfa to build 1.5 liter voiturette class cars but the decision he got from Alfa said that he had to bring the racing effort back in-house. After being the man in charge at the Scuderia he found himself, the new Direttore Sportivo, working under Alfa’s engineering director, Wilfredo Ricart. It was the situation he could not take anymore so he decided to quit. As part of his severance agreement he could not compete against his former bosses for four years. He managed to start his own company called Auto-Avio Costruzioni. Its main production consisted of machine parts for various clients. In 1940 Ferrari produced his first two racing cars labeled AAC 815 and they were to be driven by Alberti Ascari and Lothario Rangoni.
Ferrari, in his first years, was much more concerned in Scuderia as a team manager should be unlike the last few years where he didn’t attend many races and the information about progress of his drivers were given to him over the telephone or in reports from his employees. It was still more than obvious that his team is still in pretty good even when he stopped attending races but this was not what the team members wanted to see.
Ferrari was ready to enter Grand Prix of Monaco in 1947 with his own Grand Prix car - 1.5 liter Tipo125. Gioacchino Colombo, old Ferrari’s collaborator, help him with the design of car. Ferrari had to wait four years for his victory but he finally earned it at the British Grand Prix in the hands of Argentine Froilan Gonzales. Team’s chance for World Championship evaporated with Ferrari’s experiment with Pirelli tires. The result was thrown treads, which allowed Fangio to win the race and his first title.
Ferrari used to turn all cars that weren’t sold to scrap or scavenged for parts. Ferrari would become common feature at all major sport car events such as Le Mans, the Targa Florio and the Mille Miglia where he would score his greatest victories. In 1948 Nuvolari, even tough in bad health, was scheduled to drive a Cisitalia but the car was not ready at that time. He was given a Ferrari 166C intended for Count Igor Troubetzkoy. It was very hard for Nuvolari to drive with his bad health and without a fender and engine bonnet. He damaged his driving seat that was replaced with bag of oranges and he still keep driving faster and faster. There was even a rumor going on that he was ready to die behind the wheel but that certainly wasn’t true for Nuvolari. When Ferrari saw him at one control stop he begged him to stop but he had decided to continue. It was the spring that ended his effort instantly.
During 1952-53 season it was Ferrari’s Tipo500 that dominated Formula 1. The reason might be because there have been a shortage of Formula 1 cars so they had to be replaced by Formula 2 cars. Double world champion Alberto Ascari have won 9 win for Ferrari. For 1954 Ascari left Ferrari and joined Lancia where he would drive one of the the Jano-designed D50s. Unfortunately Ascari died when he was testing a Ferrari sports car. Lancia had now no other chance than withdraw from racing and Fiat turned all cars, including their designer Vittorio Jano, over to Ferrari. There was a British guy that supplied Ferrari with ThinWall bearings that were used in all their engines. His name was Guy Vandervell and he had been a part of BRM group but quit in disgust. He had purchased Ferrari’s cars and raced them and he built his own cars that eventually beat the Italian cars. It was not until then that Ferrari decided to climb back on top. But this was only beginning of what he could expect from British invasion. The manufacturers produced their own engines, chassis, aerodynamics, in other words these were all Ferrari’s weaknesses. He realized that this was just enough and he managed to produce his famous Gran Turismo car with help from Battista “Pinin” farina. This was lucky conjunction because his victories at Le Mans and other long distance races made Ferrari famous all over the world. The demands of producing sportcars and Grand Prix cars highly overcame company’s limitations.
There was a financial dilemma for Ferrari in the end of sixties. He couldn’t maintain balance between meeting all demands of producing cars a their own racing program. To their rescue came Fiat and Angeli family. Ferrari was criticized by his new paymaster for not dominating their smaller British rivals.
In 1975, Niki Lauda came to help Ferrari’s team out. He’s won two World Championships and three Constructor titles in three years. Ferrari replaced Fiat-12 engine by 1.5 liter turbo V6. This turned out to be a strong and reliable engine. Gilles Villeneuve was able to score a few times for Ferrari but although he has been doing his best it was chassis that needed improvement. Somewhere in the middle of the season Dr Harvey Postlewaite came to Ferrari. His job was to work on improved chassis for following season. Postlewaite wanted to build a carbon-fibre composite chassis but had to settle on a monocoque with a Nomex honeycomb skin because of Ferrari’s lack of experience with the new material. With quite decent chassis, team was under pressure in 1982. The result was Villeneuve’s death and other injuries of his teammate - Didier Pironi.
Ferrari hoped to see a top driver in his team but he could not live to see that day. He died in 1988 in the age of 90. Team continued with good work and they were able to score some victories thanks to Jean Todt. In 1993 he joined the team and hired Niki Lauda as a technical advisor. In 1996 they added two-time World Champion Michael Schumacher to the equation and 1997 Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne from Benneton were added to finish the remade team. It was in 1998 that Ferrari returned to winning and Williams and McLaren had to be prepared to compete with this tough rival.
