Enzo Ferrari: Speed, Passion and Rivalry
By Arnaldo Teodorani Intro
If you put all your Hot Wheels in a bag, close your eyes, and choose one at random … you
are likely to find a car maker with whom this guy had some sort sort of rivalry or grudge. Today’s protagonist was born with an unquenchable
thirst for speed, an unbridled passion for winning, and the resolve to design & build
the most powerful engines the world had ever seen. To achieve his dreams, it was only natural
that he would create a few enemies along the way. His motto was “Think and act as a winner. That’s how you will achieve your objective.” His favourite car was “The one I haven’t
designed yet!”. His name was Enzo Ferrari, a name that needs
no further introduction. Ferrari
vs The Flu
Enzo Anselmo Ferrari was born in Modena, northern Italy on February 18, 1898. Due to a heavy snowfall, his parents had to
wait for two days before the birth could be recorded. Mom Adalgisa came from a wealthy family of
land owners, while dad Alfredo had set up a mechanic workshop, employing 30 workers
and providing metal parts to national railways. Enzo was the youngest of two sons. With older brother Alfredo Jr, nicknamed ‘Dino’,
he shared several passions. The earliest one was for sports journalism:
at the tender age of nine, Enzo had one of his articles published by the largest national
sports paper in Italy: “Inter Milan defeats Modena 7 – 1”
Next, Enzo wanted to become an opera singer. Every Saturday night, dad would take Enzo
and Dino to the theatre: As Enzo fell in love with every other girl who could hit a high
note, he figured the best chance for him to score with the ladies of the stage was to
become a tenor. Enzo’s third and most enduring passion was
speed. Since a very young age, the Ferrari brothers
could be seen whizzing around Modena on their roller skates and bicycles, but it was clear
this was not enough. In 1908, Alfredo took the two boys to a motor
race in nearby Bologna. It was a revelation, a new obsession that
slowly started replacing all other interests. Enzo and Dino spent the following years building
confidence on rickety motorcycles and practicing their autographs, already thinking about their
successes. But then, calendars turned to May 1915, when
Italy joined the Entente in WWI, ,Dino was drafted into the Army and sent to fight the
Austro-Hungarians. He was exposed to many dangers, of course,
but the one that proved most lethal did not carry rifles nor bayonets. In 1916, an outbreak of flu claimed the boy’s
life. If that wasn’t enough, the same epidemic
may have been the cause for Alfredo’s Sr death, during the same year. In the span of just a few months Enzo had
lost both his beloved big brother and father. Moreover, the family business had collapsed,
and the young Ferrari had to provide for his mother and himself. Enzo dropped out of school and found a job
as an instructor in a school for metal workers. But the experience didn’t last long. He was soon over the age of 18, and it was
time for him to be conscripted, too. Enzo was assigned to the 3rd Regiment of Alpine
artillery. Thanks to his skill as a mechanic and a metal
worker, he was assigned the delicate task of maintaining and repairing the sophisticated
machinery used by Alpine troops to carry artillery pieces up mountain tops and glaciers, i.e.
mules and donkeys. So, yeah, Ferrari spent his war years changing
shoe horses – mule horses? – almost frozen to death on some mountain
top. Now, remember that flu that had claimed Alfredo
Sr and Dino? Some believe it was an early round of what
later became known as the ‘Spanish flu’. During the winter of 1918, Enzo was unlucky
enough to fall sick early on during the pandemic. However, it may have been a blessing in disguise,
as he was sent to a hospital far away from the front: there, he fully recovered, and
was later honourably discharged, before the war ended in November. Around the same period, Enzo moved to Turin,
seeking employment as a test driver and mechanic with FIAT. Enzo did not land the job, but was hired instead
by a much smaller company, CMN. [Caption: C.M.N.] [Caption changes to: Costruzioni Meccaniche
Nazionali] Which stands for … well, whatever that caption
says. By early 1919, he was still a test driver,
but later that year, he was promoted to race driver and made his much-coveted debut in
the world of professional car racing. Ferrari
Vs Oxen
The occasion was the uphill race from Parma to another place I will not pronounce,
[Caption: Poggio di Berceto] and Ferrari was at the wheel of a CMN model
15/20, running a 4-cylinder, 2.3 litre engine. Enzo arrived in a solid 4th position, not
bad for a beginner, but he knew he could do better. On the 23rd of November, the CMN team got
him to race at the ‘Targa Florio’, one of the most prestigious motoring competitions
in Italy. That… was a disaster. The fuel tank developed a serious problem,
which lost Enzo more than 40 minutes. After a brief stint with Isotta Fraschini,
Enzo was hired by the heavyweights of the time, Alfa Romeo. At the next Targa Florio, in November 1920,
Enzo was driving an Alfa 40/60, with a roaring 6-litre engine, that got him to second position
at the finishing line. [Isn’t she a beauty??] This marked the beginning of a long and fruitful
collaboration between the present and future masters of the race tracks. In 1921, Enzo scored another silver medal
with Alfa Romeo, but also experienced his first accident. This happened at the Grand Prix of Brescia,
where a herd of oxen had decided to take a walk across the track during the race! Enzo steered away on time, but his 40/60 skidded
off the road and crashed to a halt. Oxen aside, Ferrari met few obstacles in his
growth as a solidly famous – albeit not stellar -- professional driver. In 1923, Enzo married his fiancée Laura Garello. He had been attracted to her by her sense
of humour, and she had initially been attracted to him thanks to his glamourous occupation
as a jockey on wheels. But she soon started to resent Enzo’s absolute
dedication to motor racing. Laura was also concerned about Enzo’s own
safety and tried to steer him toward more ‘stable’ careers. But Enzo was too stubborn. He later joked that if Laura had had her way,
he would have switched from driving cars to driving trams. Still in 1923, Enzo scored another important
victory in the city of Ravenna, not far from his hometown. On that occasion, he got to meet two of his
VIP fans, Count Baracca and his wife Paolina. The Baraccas had lost a son during WWI, as
many more had, including the Ferraris. Their son, Captain Francesco Baracca, was
a certified flying ace, having downed 34 enemy planes during the conflict. Legend has it that after defeating in a dog
fight a German hailing from Stuttgart, he had adopted as an emblem for his fighter plane
the heraldic animal of that city. And after that victory in Ravenna, Countess
Paolina wanted to make a gift to Enzo: why didn’t he adopt the same animal, a symbol
of speed and power, as a lucky charm? Enzo agreed: since that day, all his cars
would be painted with the emblem, which later became almost synonymous with his name. And this is how the rearing black horse first
became the symbol of a flying ace, then made it to the logos of not one, but two legendary
sports car manufacturers, on both sides of the Alps: Ferrari and the Stuttgart-based
Porsche. The rearing horse must have worked its charm,
because in 1924, Enzo won yet another cup, the ‘Coppa Acerbo’, which brought him
to the attention of Italy’s Prime Minister, Benito Mussolini, who awarded Ferrari with
a Knighthood. During the same year, Enzo got to meet the
Big Man himself. The Duce was visiting a Senator in Modena
and Ferrari was given the honour to lead the motorcade of the Prime Minister. After the first stop, Ferrari was accosted
by Mussolini’s chauffeur with a request. Could he drive slower for the next leg of
the trip? Apparently, Mussolini had insisted on driving
himself in his official limo, so that he might prove he could keep up with the famous racer. He had kept up with Ferrari, but had almost
killed all his passengers in the process! In July of 1925, Ferrari experienced for the
first time the death of a friend at the wheel. This was Antonio Ascari, the star pilot of
the Alfa Romeo team, who crashed his Alfa P2 while in the lead at the French Grand Prix. Ascari had been more than a friend -- he was
a role model who would later inspire many of Ferrari’s business decision. But the show had to go on, and the team needed
a new driver. Enzo put forward the perfect candidate: Tazio
Nuvolari, a promising motorcycle racer. The real experts among you will recognize
the name of this legendary driver, whom Ferdinand Porsche described as “the greatest driver
of the past, present and future”. Tazio was Enzo’s polar opposite: physically
diminutive but absolutely reckless, he did not have any qualms in completely wrecking
his cars in order to get a victory. Thanks to his talent the Alfa team continued
accumulating trophies, and so did Enzo. Over the following years Ferrari won two more
Grand Prix, this time on an Alfa Romeo 6C-1500 SS;
[Isn’t she lovely?] The biggest professional achievement of this
period was the 1929 foundation of the “Scuderia Ferrari”, or the “Ferrari motor stable”:
this would be the new official denomination of Alfa Romeo’s racing team, managed, both
on and off the track, by Enzo. Under his direction, the ‘Scuderia’ participated
in 22 races, winning 8 of them. Enzo’s wife Laura, may have disapproved
of racing as a dangerous occupation, but took a keen interest in the managerial aspect of
leading a ‘motor stable’. She was frequently seen at the garages and
training tracks, sometimes providing valuable support to Enzo, sometimes overstepping the
mark with her meddling - we’ll see later how this would become a recurrent problem. 1929 also marked Enzo’s first significant
meeting with the lady who became his long-term mistress: Lina Lardi. A daughter of an acquaintance, Enzo had briefly
met Lina when she was 14. Now, Enzo was 31, and Lina was 19. He greeted he girl with the pick-up line,
“How did you get so beautiful, in so little time?” Which is kind of cringey, but it did work! Ferrari
vs Maserati
On the August 9, 1931, Tazio Nuvolari, the new star of the Ferrari team, won the Three
Provinces rally, a coveted cup. Ferrari finished a very close second. This event is significant not only because
it could have been another trophy In Enzo’s cabinet, and not only because it marked the
rise of Nuvolari, but because this was the last race, ever, for the racer from Modena. The tipping point was Laura’s pregnancy:
he wasn’t going to risk his life and leave his unborn child fatherless. Enzo’s first child was born on January 19,
1932. His name was Alfredo, aka ‘Dino’, in honour
of Enzo’s beloved brother. Just like the other Dino, Enzo’s son would
face an unlucky destiny. The little boy was born with a congenital
disease, muscular dystrophy, which leads to a progressive weakening of the muscles and
severe disability. Enzo would remain extremely close to his son,
doing anything possible to find a cure for Muscular Dystrophy, or at least alleviate
his suffering. Biographers have speculated that Enzo’s
constant worry at Dino’s condition may have had a negative impact on his personality,
making him a more somber and short-tempered person than he used to be. During the 1930s, though, Enzo’s headaches
were still mainly of a professional nature. A rival shop had just opened in town: the
Maserati car shop and racing team. The Maserati brothers had first set up their
workshop in Bologna, but in the early 1930s, they had moved operations to Modena, just
a short stone’s throw from Scuderia Ferrari HQ. The Maserati were basically doing what Ferrari
had been dreaming of doing, but hadn’t realised yet: building their cars AND racing the same
cars under their own name. After moving to Modena, the Maseratis seemed
set on humiliating Enzo, so they poached his star driver, Nuvolari. During most of 1934, Maserati dominated Scuderia
Ferrari thanks to Nuvolari’s victories on a 6C 34. [Isn’t she wondeful?] Nuvolari piled it on by having several bales
of hay delivered to Ferrari – the joke being that Alfa Romeos ran on donkey-power, rather
than the considerable horsepower of the Maseratis. Someone like Enzo Ferrari would not tolerate
that level of trolling, especially from someone who looked like a gnome. [visual proof here, more available on request]
Ferrari and his team of engineers set their minds on designing a new car that would put
Nuvolari and Maserati in their place, and that was another legendary piece of engineering:
the Alfa Romeo 158, or "Alfetta." [How can you not love her?] It wasn’t long before the 158 bagged a first
position at the ‘Ciano Cup’, a first AND second position at the Grand Prix of Milan,
and a first, second AND third position at the Grand Prix of Tripoli. All this happened during the 1937-1938 period,
years in which Alfa Romeo had decided to formally absorb Scuderia Ferrari within their ranks. On the September 6, 1939, Enzo Ferrari quit
Alfa Romeo for good, with a special clause in his severance package: he would refrain
from using ‘Ferrari’ in any mechanical, car manufacturing or racing enterprise. And so he did, naming his newly founded company
‘A.A.C.’, which stands for this name below, which you can mispronounce on your own. [Caption: Auto Avio Costruzioni]
In 1940, AAC debuted with the model 815, which looked like something Golden Age Bruce Wayne
would fill with gadgets. The 815 participated in the ‘Mille Miglia’,
a thousand-mile long road race with legendary status, but the results were not impressive. Very soon, Ferrari would need to face challenges
of another kind, as Italy broke its non-belligerent status and fully entered WWII. Like many other mechanical firms, AAC would
have to serve the war effort. Ferrari
Vs The Partisans/The Fascists/The Allies
In 1943, Ferrari moved his plant from Modena to the smaller town of Maranello. Meanwhile, in Rome, the Grand Council of the
Fascist Party had voted Mussolini out of power on the 25th of July. This was followed by the surprise declaration
of an armistice on the 8th of September; as a consequence, Northern Italy would be occupied
by German and Fascist forces, locked in a civil war with Resistance fighters of many
denominations: monarchists, Catholics and communist partisans. The latter were known for exacting a sort
of protection money on rich landowners and factory tycoons. Ferrari was no exception, and he regularly
paid his dues. The left-wing resistance brigades did not
consider him in a good light, as he had gained a reputation as a supporter of the Fascist
Regime. He had accepted that AAC would be converted
into a plant to manufacture tank components and other spare parts for the war effort,
and he was good friends with one Edoardo Weber, the king of carburettors, a staunch supporter
of the Fascist Republic now installed in the North. The communist brigades had tolerated Ferrari
for several months, but in October of 1944, a special tribunal had issued a death sentence
for him. Before they could carry out the penalty, though,
they needed a final judgement from their man who knew him best: one Giuseppe Zanarini,
the partisan who collected protection money from Ferrari. When Zanarini went to meet Ferrari, he found
him pale, tired and solemn. He had just heard the news that Weber, his
carburettor friend, had been executed by the partisans in Bologna. Enzo had a hunch that he would be next. In his later memoirs, Zanarini reported how
Ferrari did not appear scared, only sad, that he would not live long enough to fully realise
the dream he had been pursuing for years, to build and develop his own cars. After a long and tense conversation, Zanarini
settled on a compromise: if Ferrari could ‘donate’ to the resistance 500,000 Liras
– that’s about 600,000 USD in today’s money – they would let him live. Enzo asked for 12 days to find the money,
and Zanarini agreed. Later, the partisan reported back to his superiors
that Ferrari could be more useful to their cause if he stayed alive. And indeed he would be useful. After paying his ticket for survival, Ferrari
proceed to actively collaborate with the resistance, using his factory to hide stashes of weapons
and ammo, which would then be forwarded to the partisans. He was even given custody of the underground
Communist Party’s secret archives, which he hid at his home. On at least one occasion he even performed
a delicate mission. he used his car to smuggle out of Modena the
Fascist Mayor, a double-agent for the resistance, to secret meetings with partisan leaders. The Mayor was under suspicion from the Fascist
secret police and Enzo was risking arrest, too, by facilitating these meetings. On top of all this, Ferrari had to look after
the day-to-day running of his company. He had to adapt its production to the demands
of the Ministry of War, meaning that by end of 1944, most of AAC’s output consisted
of hydraulic honing machines … which I confess I have no idea what they are, nor what was
their importance to the war effort. The Allies must have had a better idea, because
they bombed Ferrari’s plant twice, in November 1944 and February 1945. A New Beginning
After the bloody conclusion of World War II, Ferrari had two more reasons to celebrate:
first, the birth of his second son Piero, born from his relationship with Lina Lardi. Then, he officially changed his company’s
name to ‘Ferrari’ and released the first vehicle on his name, the Ferrari 125 S.
[Feast your eyes] The 125 S was the first of many Ferraris to
carry a V12 engine, which has two banks of six cylinders each, arranged in a ‘V’
shape, at a 60° angle. The following ten years were a decade of success. Ferrari scooped a third position at the 1948
Grand Prix of Italy and then went on to win the ‘Thousand Miles’ road race. In October, at Lake Garda, Enzo scored his
first victory against his old employers, Alfa Romeo. In 1949, the Ferrari team participated in
49 competitions, winning 30. When the first Formula 1 World Championship
took place in Silverstone, on May 13, 1950, the Ferrari team was not there. Enzo was biding his time; he wanted to make
sure his ‘scuderia’ was ready for a victory. A huge victory came in July 1951, when Ferrari
driver Froilàn Gonzales beat legendary Alfa Romeo pilot Manuel Fangio. This defeat was a tipping point for Alfa,
whose leadership decided to abandon racing for good. Regarding the implications of this win, Enzo
Ferrari said: "Today, I have killed my mother”
With Alfa out of the way, Enzo had free rein: in 1952 and 1953, his Scuderia won the F1
World Championship twice in a row. Naturally, all these victories would fill
newspaper headlines, meaning plenty of free advertising for Ferrari’s other line of
work, his “regular” cars for private clients. Enzo and his team designed at least 20 different
models in the 1950s, mostly in their distinctive flame red. Enzo’s eldest son Dino, a gifted engineer,
had been working on an evolution of the V12 engine, requiring only 6 cylinders, i.e. the
V6 1500 cm3 Unfortunately, Dino would not see the new
line of cars to fruition. His muscular dystrophy had been degenerating
his body for years, and he died on the June 30, 1956, at age 24. Enzo Ferrari never recovered from the death
of his son. According to friends and co-workers, his personality
became even more introverted, sombre and confrontational, almost dictatorial at work. He started wearing his signature sunglasses,
which he never removed in public, as a sign of mourning. Ferrari even decided to never attend another
race, and he stopped frequenting theatres, cinemas, and concert halls. Later in life, he made a confession to a biographer. Shortly before Dino’s death, Father and
son had been on a mountain trip. Not bearing the thought of watching him slowly
die, Enzo had been one breath away from hugging Dino and jumping to their deaths from a cliff. The only thought that had kept him from this
gesture was that of his other son, Piero, who was not even 10 at the time. Following Dino’s death, Enzo only had a
few peaceful years to mourn, before the start of the worst decade for his company, the 1960s. Ferrari
Vs Ferrari
1961 was the year that risked ending it all, the year of ‘The Great Ferrari Walkout’. It all started with Enzo’s wife Laura and
her increased involvement in company affairs. This meddling did not sit well with Sales
Managers Girolamo Gardini, who threatened to leave if Laura wasn't removed from company
affairs. Guess what? Gardini was fired. But the sales manager was not the only executive
with a grudge against Mrs. Ferrari. Eight more key employees had Gardini’s back. When their pal was dismissed, the eight executives
staged a mass walkout, leaving Ferrari without some of his best people and with upcoming
sports car projects in limbo. Some of the engineers even went to create
a rival company, ATS, which still produces high-end supercars to this day. Racing-wise, Ferrari had a good year, apparently. He secured both the World Championship of
Drivers and the International Cup for F1 Manufacturers title in 1961. But the glory from trophies could not hide
the tragic trend of accidents involving Ferrari’s drivers. In 1957, drivers Castellotti and Portago had
fatal crashes in two separate races, both of which resulted in audience injuries, too. In 1958, it was drivers Musso and Collins,
who died two weeks apart. All these accidents led to the worst tragedy
by far, Wolfgang Von Trips’ accident at the Monza track on September the 10 1961,
a crash which claimed the lives of the driver and 14 spectators. It got so bad that even the Vatican was involved
-- inside the pages of its official newspapers, the Holy See compared Enzo Ferrari to Cronus
of Greek Mythology, the Titan who devoured his own children. Ferrari
Vs Tractors
Sometime in 1963, Enzo had a spat with one of his clients, a local producer of boilers
and tractors. This client had struck it rich with his machinery
and had treated himself to a Ferrari 250 GT. He didn’t just cruise around on weekends,
though; he raced full-speed at the Cannonball, an underground championship of amateur drivers. The tractor man had noticed that the GT’s
clutch would give way too often, and so he frequently went to Maranello to have it fixed
or replaced straight at the source. On one occasion, he met Enzo himself and he
dared to give him some advice on how to improve his clutches. Ferrari’s reply was predictable:
“What do you know about cars? Go back to your tractors!” The Cannonball driver took it as a challenge. He went back to his workshop and gathered
a team of leading engineers and designers, some of them Ferrari veterans. Along the way, they realised that Ferrari
used the same basic clutch components as their tractors – only they charged them 10 times
as much to existing clients! It was a revelation, which only steeled their
determination: sports cars had a higher profit margin than tractors, and one single sale
would generate way more continuous income through sales of over-priced parts. In November, their first model was presented
at a car event in Turin: the 350 GT. The tractor guy was called Ferruccio Lamborghini,
and Ferrari had just created a fierce and worthy competitor, chipping away at the niche
market of luxury sports cars. Ferrari
Vs Ford
One of the sporting events the Scuderia Ferrari had been dominating was the 24 Hours of Le
Mans, a test of endurance and car reliability, more than speed. After Ferrari won the 1962 Le Mans, worldwide
press celebrated the event – more and more free advertising coverage for the team at
Maranello. Apparently, this angered Henry Ford II. He, alongside many other American car giants,
was prevented from racing by a self-imposed ‘motorsport ban’. In an interview, Ford blurted out that he
spent billions in ads for his cars, but ‘that mechanic’ ended up on newspapers all across
the world, for free! The ‘mechanic’ retorted:
“If Mr. Ford wants to be on the papers for free, all he has to do is buy a Ferrari”. This was the initial salvo to an epic rivalry. Ford was intrigued by the chance to use motor
racing as a means to promote car sales. So, to circumvent the motorsport ban on American
cars, he extended an offer to buy Ferrari. The Maranello company had been struggling
lately, due to the high costs involved in maintaining the racing team, and the increasing
number of competitors. So, Enzo considered Henry’s offer to acquire
Ferrari. He had one condition: he would remain at the
helm of the racing team, with no intervention whatsoever from Ford’s executives. When Enzo realised he may not obtain that,
he abruptly put an end to all negotiations. Ford was bent on revenge, now: his mission
became to defeat Ferrari on the track. Tossing the motorsport ban aside, Ford invested
a sum that was 10 times what he had offered to Enzo, just to build his own racing team. He hired driving royalty like Carrol Shelby,
Bruce McLaren, Chris Amon and Ken Miles. Next, he had his engineers develop from scratch
a car to beat the Ferraris at Le Mans, the GT40. The first duel took place at Le Mans 1964,
and it was a defeat for the Americans. The following year, the Italians came on top
again. Henry Ford wanted that victory at any cost. He bankrolled an unlimited budget to his racing
director Carrol Shelby, who went for quantity as well as quality, fielding thirteen GT40s
at the race. Four of them had to withdraw, but eventually,
the strategy worked out: three of the GT40s cut the finishing line, one after the other. Ferrari found a revenge of sorts the following
year, when three of his cars achieved a similar feat at the Daytona race … but it was Le
Mans that counted! In 1967, the two car giants faced each other
again, and again Ford won. Since that defeat, a Ferrari has never managed
to win again at Le Mans. Enzo surely did not despair too much, as his
cars kept on racking up trophies at Formula 1 Grand Prix’s. But he still had to sort out some new alliance
that could keep his company afloat. Enter the Italian car giant, FIAT. The Turin corporation put forward a Godfather
offer that Enzo could not refuse. FIAT pumped 2 Billion Liras in cash into Ferrari,
demanding in exchange 50% of all shares, as well as the designs for Ferrari’s engines. FIAT would also use their extensive plants
to mass produce the road cars, on which they could earn a revenue. But the most important clause was the one
that recognised Enzo’s full autonomy in managing the racing team. Racing - that’s what always counted to him,
everything else was collateral. Ferrari gradually relinquished control over
his company, leaving to FIAT up to 90% of the overall shares. This allowed him to concentrate on scoring
victory after victory in Formula 1. All in all, it has been estimated that the
Scuderia Ferrari – in both its pre- and post-war incarnations – collected 5,000
victories worldwide. Ferrari
Vs The Bodysnatchers
As Enzo entered his eighth decade on Earth, he was forced to reduce his overall activity,
but he also enjoyed some well-deserved rewards. In 1970, he received the Gold Medal for Culture
and the Arts by the President of the Republic, in recognition for his contribution to Italian
sports and economy. This was followed by another Presidential
honorific, that of ‘Knight of Grand Cross of the Italian Republic’. On February 27, 1978, his wife Laura died
of natural causes. It was only at this point that he could formally
recognise his illegitimate son, Piero. Piero could take on the Ferrari surname and
was given a seat on the Ferrari board of directors, progressively replacing his father in company
work and social engagements. In 1987, Ferrari unveiled the last car to
be produced under Enzo’s supervision, the iconic F40. This is probably the one you had as a Hot
Wheels or Burago model … Ferrari was now 89 years of age and had been
suffering from kidney disease for a long time. It was a very ill Enzo who walked into Modena’s
University to collect an honorary degree in physics. A few months later, on the August 14, 1988,
Enzo Ferrari quietly passed away. By his own wish, his funeral was a very small
ceremony that was opened only to a small number of family members and old friends. Do I need to talk about Enzo Ferrari’s legacy? Given the impact of his company, the incredibly
high standards of his cars, and the victories of the Scuderia Ferrari, the Italian Titan
obviously led a successful, influential life. Ferrari has been celebrated in books, films,
and television; either through encouragement or outright rivalry, Enzo has inspired a generation
of engineers and manufacturers to push the boundaries on what a car should look and drive
like. We’ll end with an anecdote that reveals
Enzo Ferrari’s enduring appeal. In March 2017, Italian military police busted
a big drug-trafficking gang in a massive operation that spanned five regions. One of the 34 arrested felons confessed to
one of their master plans to raise cash for the gang:
The kidnapping of Enzo Ferrari’s body from Modena’s cemetery. The gang had already figured out an escape
route and where to hide the body. Their plan was to demand a ransom of millions
of Euros from a relative, presumably Piero. Luckily, they were stopped on time, but this
crazy plan shows how large he loomed during his lifetime -- so big that his corporeal
body may never find peace.
