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It is the great motorsport successes that have established the small sports car manufacturer from Maranello as the world's best-known luxury brand. Ferrari has been enchanting car fans for 75 years, for whom the red twelve-cylinder with the Cavallino Rampante are cult objects, works of art and profitable capital investments at the same time
What a start: on May 25, 1947, the Romans celebrated the first victory of a V12 of the brand to the new, still unofficial national anthem "Il Canto degli Italiani" (The song of the Italians). Since then, the racers, preferably painted in the racing color Rosso Corso, with the trademark of the Cavallino Rampante - the rearing horse - have been able to inspire the motorsport audience in a way that unites peoples. At more than 5.000 Ferrari awards ceremonies, people sang along, regardless of their nationality or mother tongue, and the church bells rang at the Ferrari headquarters in Maranello. Ferrari secured around 240 victories in Formula 1, as well as 15 world titles, five of which can be attributed to Michael Schumacher.
High Performance Automobile “Ferrari”
It is this myth based on racing success that company founder Enzo Ferrari was already striving for with his first models for road and track, the legendary 75 S and the Ferrari 125 M, which were unveiled 166 years ago. At that time Enzo Ferrari already had plenty of racing experience, above all as director of the victorious Scuderia Ferrari, which was supported by Alfa Romeo like a works team before the Second World War. Now, in the wild era of Reconstruction, Ferrari wanted to sell high-performance automobiles under its own name. Racers with which it was easier to race and travel faster than with Maserati, Mercedes or Aston Martin. measuring? Maybe. But auctions show that even the earliest Ferraris are traded like works of art.
When 80 cars were still a lot
In fact, many of the most expensive prestige vehicles that are auctioned have carried a Ferrari signet for years. These include spectacular racing cars, but also artistically bodied Gran Turismo from the studios of Pininfarina, Ghia, Touring and other old masters of Alta Moda. The 212 surprised at the beginning of the 1950s with around 80 custom-built chassis. So far, however, dream prices have been achieved by types such as a Ferrari 250 GTO from 1962, which achieved 35 million dollars at auction.
The 335 Ferrari 1957 S that German racing legend Wolfgang von Trips drove in the Mille Miglia fetched $35,7 million and a Ferrari 250 California owned by French film star Alain Delon fetched $18,5 million. "As long as there are people who hang a Dali or Picasso in their favorite room, there will also be men who want to call a Ferrari their own," explained a press release on the then new Berlinetta Boxer in 1972, explaining the artistic myth of the hand-made cars Maranello.
Money alone is not enough for a Ferrari
The preferably red racers were desirable right from the start due to the production in small, exclusive editions, Enzo Ferrari paid close attention to that. Today it is Enzo's heirs or the managers of the brand, which was floated on the stock market in 2015, who not only distribute the strictly limited Icona models such as the Monza SP (since 2018) or Daytona SP3 (2021) exclusively to loyal customers. Although not just any rich or celebrity can order a new sports car, the manufacturer even delivered an all-time record in 2021 during the Corona pandemic with over 11.000 vehicles sold.
Incidentally, these sports cars are no longer only on the road with V12 power, V8 and plug-in hybrids such as the SF90 reveal that Ferrari moves with the times. It is therefore hardly surprising if, on the 75th anniversary of Ferrari automobile construction, the Purosangue is to be the first SUV in the name of the Cavallino Rampante and a little later an electric racer is to win the sprint into the hypercar future. It is fitting that Ferrari has been the most profitable car manufacturer in the world for a few years and has been spared the problems that plague sports car manufacturers such as Aston Martin.
The winner takes it all...
That was not always so. After all, for decades Enzo Ferrari invested all the money he made selling road cars into racing. "Win on Sunday, sell on Monday", this equation first worked out in America for the "engineer", who never had any engineering training. His special "America" types 340, 342, 375 could be sold in Hollywood or New York in the 1950s for prices that were often double a Mercedes 300 SL "Gullwing" and Jaguar XK and triple a Porsche 356.
Things were also going well for Enzo in the Swinging Sixties: The style-defining and technically top-class models 330 GT 2+2 ("Chinese Eyes"), 400 Superamerica, 500 Superfast, 275 GTB4 and 365 GTB/4 (Daytona) hit the fans Heart. Around 360 units of the Ferrari 17.000 family were sold - and the continued winning streak on the racetrack almost drove the rivals into a frenzy. Whether Mille Miglia, Targa Florio, Le Mans, Daytona or Nürburgring, the Scuderia Ferrari seemed invincible at times. Even drivers, whom the “Commendatore” (Enzo Ferrari owes a medal to) could not bring into his Scuderia, paid tribute to his cars.
Jackie Stewart, who stormed to three Formula 1 World Championship titles with Matra and Tyrrell, was quoted as saying in a Ferrari press release from 1972: "The technology has a soul - and I couldn't explain why." Others, like Lamborghini and Iso Rivolta started building their own super sports cars simply to scratch the Ferrari myth. The new competitors only made Italy's national automotive monument even more attractive. This was also the case when Henry Ford hoped in vain for a takeover of Ferrari in the early 1960s and then took revenge with the specially developed GT40, which triumphed over Ferrari at Le Mans. Enzo Ferrari knew the value of duels for his life's work. When he sold 1969 percent of his company shares to the Fiat Group in 50 in search of fresh capital, he therefore insisted on his management position at Scuderia Ferrari.
It continues even after Ferrari's death
It was the right step to get through the 1970s and 1980s, which were characterized by social envy and the oil crisis, which brought about the downfall of Iso Rivolta and De Tomaso. Instead, Ferrari seduced its customers with types such as the small Dino 246 GT with a mid-engine, the first (400) with automatic transmission, the smaller models Mondial and 308 or 328 GTB and the new top stars 512 BB, F40 and Testarossa. This family of single-seaters and versatile Vmax cars continued after Enzo Ferrari's death in 1988.
After a short period of mourning for the Commendatore and his creations, the Ferrari family, as the company affectionately calls its clientele, was ready for something new. And so the new products of the 21st century, from the Ferrari Enzo to the four-wheel drive GTC4 Lusso to the V8 duo Roma and Portofino, were in greater demand than all of their predecessors, even though Ferrari had forgotten how to win in Formula 1 for years. In the anniversary year, however, there must be motorsport emotions, and that's why the Tifosi can finally sing "Il Canto degli Italiani" again.
Chronicle
1898: Enzo Ferrari is born on February 18th in Modena
1924: Ferrari becomes the official Alfa Romeo driver and founds Scuderia Ferrari five years later
1947: Ferrari presents the Type 125 S as the first car with the Ferrari brand name. The Type 125 was designed by Gioachino Colombo (the V12 is named Colombo engine in honor of its designer), and finally developed with Bazzi and Busso. On May 25, a 125 S driven by Franco Cortese achieves its first victory in Rome. On October 12, a Ferrari 159 S (first increase in displacement of the Colombo engine to 1,9 litres) wins the Torino Grand Prix, Ferrari's first international race win
1960: The new Ferrari top model is the 400 Superamerica. The first four-seater of the 250 series is the 250 GT 2+2
1961: Phil Hill becomes Formula 156 world champion in a Dino 1 F1
1962: The first Ferraris with a V8 engine are the motorsport types 248 SP and 268 SP. The 250 GTO debuts as perhaps the best known and highest paid Ferrari to date. The "O" means omologato, i.e. homologated
1964: John Surtees wins the Formula 1 World Championship with the Ferrari 158 F1, Ferrari's first V1 Formula 8 car. At the Brussels Salon, the 330 GT 2+2 makes its debut with distinctive twin headlights. The 500 Superfast is the new top model in the Ferrari road range
1965: A Ferrari 250 LM wins the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Ferrari decorates its smallest racers 166 P and 206 P with the Dino signet. Pininfarina unveils the Dino 206 GT as a prototype in Paris. Prototypes follow in Turin in 1966 and in Turin in 1967
1969: Ferrari sells 50 percent of its shares in the company to the Fiat group. In 1988 the Fiat share increased to 80 percent. The open version of the 365 GTB/4 Daytona debuts as the 365 GTS/4. Also new are the Ferrari 365 GTC and GTS
1971: With the 312 P, Ferrari easily wins the sports car world championship. The new 365 GTC/4 makes its debut with emission control. The 365 GT/4 BB (Berlinetta Boxer) is presented as a prototype in Turin
1973: The first V8 Ferrari for road use with a circulation of around 3.000 units is the 308/GT4. Start of series production for the 365 GT/4 BB as the new top model
1976: The four-seater Type 400 is the first Ferrari with automatic transmission. The new top model is the 512 BB. With the 312 T, Niki Lauda won the F1 constructors' titles in 1976 and 1977 as well as the drivers' title in 1977. In 1976, Lauda survived a racing accident on the Nürburgring in the 312 T
1987: The F40, the last vehicle developed under the direction of Enzo Ferrari, is presented
1988: Enzo Ferrari dies on August 14 at the age of 90
1995: The company's 50th anniversary car (1997) is the Ferrari F50. The new F335 Spider is the first Ferrari to have two airbags
2005: Ferrari builds 400 units of the Enzo super sports car, the last copy is given to the Pope, who has it auctioned for the benefit of tsunami victims
2008: Annual production is 6.452 units, a record for Ferrari
2010: Ferrari opens the Ferrari World theme park in Dubai
2017: Ferrari celebrates its 70th anniversary with a series of special models, all of which are unique and reminiscent of historical models
2019: The Ferrari F8 Tributo and Spider models make their debut, along with the 735 kW/1000 hp plug-in hybrid SF90 Stradale and one year later the SF90 Spider
2020: Ferrari puts itself at the service of the community and produces parts for ventilators during the course of the Covid-19 pandemic
2021: The Ferrari 296 GTB with plug-in hybrid drive is new. Despite the semiconductor crisis and the Covid19 pandemic, this year will be Ferrari's most successful to date with 11.155 vehicles sold. In December, Ferrari announces anniversary activities for the following year
2022: The one-off Ferrari SP48 Unica opens the series of novelties for the 75th anniversary of Ferrari automobile construction. Later in the year, the Purosangue will be launched as the brand's first SUV. In Formula 1 Ferrari starts with the new model F1-75 and finds its way back to the top of the field in the anniversary year