Ferrari History: Founding, Growth & Key Milestones

Enzo Ferrari

Enzo Ferrari, famously known as 'Il Commendatore', was a complex, notoriously abrasive, and effective figure. He didn't care about selling road cars; his only passion was winning races. When Alfa Romeo withdrew its racing support, Ferrari left to build his own cars, legally barred from using his own name on a car for four years. In 1947, the first true Ferrari, the 125 S, drove out of the factory gates in Maranello. For decades, Enzo viewed the wealthy clients who bought his road cars largely as a nuisance, a necessary evil to generate cash to fund his Formula 1 and Le Mans teams. He was famous for pitting his own engineers and drivers against each other to drive performance, resulting in a culture of extreme pressure and historic victories. He ran the company with total autocratic control until he sold a 50% stake to Fiat in 1969 to ensure the financial survival of his racing team. He died in 1988 at the age of 90, having built the most famous automotive brand in history purely as a byproduct of his racing obsession. Born in Modena in 1898, Enzo developed an early fascination with auto racing after attending a track event with his father. Despite a lack of formal engineering education, his natural charisma, ambition, and sheer force of will allowed him to assemble and manage teams of effective engineers and drivers. Enzo Ferrari was born in 1898.