History of Ferrari

Ferrari is an Italian company which has produced sports cars since 1947, but traces its roots back to 1929 when Enzo Ferrari formed the Scuderia Ferrari racing team.

In January 2016, Ferrari officially split off from its former parent company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

Early history

1929–1937: Scuderia Ferrari
Further information: Grand Prix racing history of Scuderia Ferrari

Enzo Ferrari decided to pursue racing in 1908, at the age of ten: to this end, he eventually began a career as a racing driver in 1919.[1] During the 1920s he worked for Alfa Romeo, both as a driver in various local races and as an employee in its Milan sales depot.[2][3] In 1929, though, he broke from this line of work to found and manage his own racing team: Scuderia Ferrari. Conceived as an outfit for gentleman drivers and other amateurs, the team was founded through a million-lira loan from a local bank, with additional backing from the wealthy amateur racer Mario Tadini, Augusto and Alfredo Caniato — two brothers in the textile industry — and the tyre company Pirelli. It would be based out of Modena, Enzo's hometown.[3][4]

Ferrari quickly set about negotiating with Giorgio Rimini, Alfa Romeo's commercial director, and managed to secure a partnership between their respective companies. The intended arrangement was simple: Alfa Romeo would outfit their factory team, Alfa Corse, with its latest, most sophisticated cars, while Ferrari's scuderia ("stable")[3] of amateurs would use lower-end cars and hand-me-downs from past seasons. Additionally, Ferrari would operate independently from Alfa Romeo, such that the automaker would be insulated from negative press whenever the team placed poorly. Enzo presented this as beneficial to everyone involved, as it allowed Alfa Romeo to stay active in racing with minimal effects on their other ventures.[3] The team's first race was the 1930 Mille Miglia, using cars supplied by Alfa Romeo.[5]

The Alfa Romeo Bimotore photographed during a land speed record attempt, alongside its engineer Luigi Bazzi (right) and driver Tazio Nuvolari (left).

This arrangement did not last. After Alfa Romeo came under the control of the Italian state in 1933, their racing division was downsized, and Scuderia Ferrari functioned as the unofficial company team throughout the mid-1930s.[3] Leading up to the 1934 Grand Prix season, Ferrari began conducting their own research and development while Alfa Romeo continued to supply racing cars,[5] a situation that lead to some of the earliest vehicles engineered within Ferrari themselves. These include a streamlined variant of the Type B optimized for AVUS, and the Bimotore, also based on the Type B, which was driven by two engines at once: one in front of the driver and another behind, each driving the rear wheels through a special split differential.[3][4] These "first Ferraris" tended to be ad hoc and relatively primitive, as Alfa Romeo was facing rough financial outcomes with negligible support from the Italian government.[5]

1938–1945: Auto Avio Costruzioni

In their early years, Scuderia Ferrari enjoyed considerable independence from Alfa Romeo, owing both to their loose partnership and the physical distance between Modena and Milan. In 1937, though, Alfa Romeo began to reconsider this inefficient state of affairs, and at the end of the year the company purchased 80% of Scuderia Ferrari's shares, rechristening them as a revived Alfa Corse. Enzo Ferrari remained the team's manager until a restructuring in 1939, in which he was laid off. After this, he used his capital — sourced from his savings, a hefty settlement, and the sale of his team two years prior — to start his own automotive company, Auto Avio Costruzioni.[6] Ferrari's new company, the direct predecessor of the contemporary Ferrari S.p.A., could not be branded by his surname for another four years due to an agreement he had reached with Alfa Romeo.[1]

The single remaining Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, the first Ferrari car designed entirely in-house.

The company produced only a single car: the Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, both examples of which failed to complete their inaugural race. Racing opportunities dried up after Italy entered World War II in 1940, and the company was mobilized for wartime production in 1941; they were not down on their luck, though, as they received lucrative contracts to manufacture military hardware. The most valuable of these contracts was for grinding machines under licence from the German company Jung, used to manufacture precision components, particularly ball bearings.[1][6] Enzo Ferrari had a strained relationship with the Germans, who asserted he was never granted permission to manufacture Jung's machines, and an ambivalent one with the Italian resistance movement, which distrusted him even as he offered significant support.[6]

The war had other effects on the company as well: in order to avoid the Allied bombing campaigns occurring throughout Italy at the time, Ferrari moved his factory from Modena to Maranello in 1943, where it remains to this day.[6] The company focused primarily on grinding machines only after moving to Maranello, while in Modena they mostly focused on producing aircraft engines.[1] Though he could not build any cars, Ferrari continued to conceptualize new racing car designs throughout the war.[6]

In 1945, Auto Avio Costruzioni was renamed Auto Costruzioni Ferrari.[6]

1947–1961 – The beginning

The first Ferrari-badged car was the 1947 125 Sport, powered by a 1.5 L V12 engine. On March 12, Enzo Ferrari took the car out for its first test-drive on the open roads. Two examples debuted on 11 May 1947 at the Piacenza racing circuit, driven by Franco Cortese and Nino Farina. This was the first time a Ferrari-badged car was entered in a race.

In 1950, Ferrari fielded racing cars in the Monaco Grand Prix, the first World Championship event held there. José Froilán González won the first Grand Prix for Ferrari in 1951, and Alberto Ascari secured Ferrari's first World Drivers' Champions title in 1952, a task he would repeat the following season. In 1957 the company changed its name to Auto Costruzioni Ferrari. The same year, the Dino marque was introduced.

1961 – The great walkout
Before the "great walkout" in spring of 1961

Enzo Ferrari's strong personality had served his company and racing team, Scuderia Ferrari, well for decades. Internal tensions reached boiling point in November 1961. Long-time sales manager Girolamo Gardini had long chafed at the involvement of Enzo's wife, Laura, in the company. The two frequently argued, and their dispute became a crisis for the company when Gardini, together with manager Romolo Tavoni, chief engineer Carlo Chiti, experimental sports car development chief Giotto Bizzarrini, made an ultimatum to Ferrari, demanding the removal of his wife from the company in a letter.

As a result, Ferrari called a meeting where Gardini, Tavoni, Chiti, Bizzarrini and a number of others who stood by them were ousted. All were tremendous losses to the company, and many thought this might be the end of Ferrari. Indeed, the defectors immediately formed a new company, ATS, to directly compete with Ferrari on the street and the track, and took with them Scuderia Serenissima, one of Ferrari's best racing customers.

This "great walkout" came at an especially difficult time for Ferrari. At the urging of Chiti, the company was developing a new 250-based model to defend its honor against the Jaguar E-Type. Development of this car, the 250 GTO, was at a critical point, with the chassis development and styling left incomplete. Even if the car could be finished, it was unclear if it could be raced successfully without Tavoni and his lieutenants.

Into this void stepped young engineer Mauro Forghieri and long-time racing bodyman Sergio Scaglietti, founder of Carrozzeria Scaglietti.[7] Forghieri successfully honed the GTO's handling and Scaglietti designed an all-new body for the car. The GTO went to the 1962 12 Hours of Sebring with drivers Phil Hill and Olivier Gendebien.[8] They placed first in class and were second overall behind the Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa.[9] It continued winning through 1962, brushing aside the challenge from Jaguar and becoming one of the most famous sports cars in history.

This shakeup, and Forghieri's engineering talent, made the 1960s even more successful for Ferrari than the previous decade. The mid-engined Dino racers laid the foundation for Forghieri's dominant 250-powered 250 P. On the street, the Dino road cars sold strongly, and legendary models like the 275 and Daytona were on the way.

1963–1967 – The United States rivals

The big V8-powered AC Cobra (Shelby Cobra) challenged the Ferraris in the early 1960s. By 1963, Ford tried to buy Ferrari but no agreement was reached. Instead, the Ford GT40 ended the dominance of Ferrari P (the P standing for prototype) at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966 when GT-40 Mark IIs finished 1-2-3. Ford dominated Le Mans again in 1967 in the Mark IV.

1968 – Ferrari boycott

After the performance of the big V8-powered Ford at the 1967 Le Mans, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) banned prototypes over 3000cc, which also affected the 330Ps. The change was announced in late 1967 and came in effect for 1968; for that season, the Scuderia did not take part in sports car racing in protest.

1969–1971 – The challenge with Porsche

These years saw a new challenger. Formerly competing with smaller cars only, the Germans entered the new 3-litre sports car prototype class in 1968 with the Porsche 908, while Ferrari raced the Ferrari 312 P in only few events in 1969. In March, the presentation of the 5 litre Porsche 917, built in advance in 25 exemplars, had surprised also Ferrari, which answered later that year with the production of 25 Ferrari 512S, funded from the money gained by the Fiat deal. At that time, Porsche had almost a full season of experience with their new car, and took the World Sportscar Championship where Ferrari was only 4th.

The 1970 season saw epic battles between the two teams and the many cars they entered, yet Porsche won every event except Sebring, where the victorious car and its drivers Ignazio Giunti / Nino Vaccarella / Mario Andretti had their origins in Italy. Ferrari decided to give up the 512 in 1971 in order to prepare the new 312 PB for the 1972 season, when only 3 litre class would be allowed. In addition to Porsche, the old national rival with its Alfa Romeo T33/3 also had won two races in 1971, and thus was ranked second in the World Championship, above Ferrari.

1969 – Fiat

Early in 1969, Fiat S.p.A. took a 50% stake in Ferrari. An immediate result was an increase in available investment funds, and work started at once on a factory extension intended to transfer production from Fiat's Turin plant of the Ferrari engined Fiat Dino.[10] New model investment further up in the Ferrari range also received a boost.[10]

Less positive was the effect on industrial relations at Ferrari's Maranello plant.[10] In June a visiting journalist witnessed a group of workers suddenly running out of a workshop in response to the blast of a whistle: this was part of an industrial stoppage originating at the main Fiat plant in Turin, and contrasted with the relatively smooth state of production that the writer had witnessed at nearby competitor plants run by Maserati, De Tomaso, and Lamborghini.[10]

While increased Fiat influence was quickly felt in the development, production and marketing of road cars, the racing department remained initially little touched by Fiat's new status within the company as chief investor.[10]

1972–1973 – dominance, defeats and fare-well

The 312 PB dominated the World Sportscar Championship in 1972 against a rival Alfa Romeo, as the Porsche factory did not compete after the rule changes, and Matra, as Equipe Matra Sports, focused on Le Mans only. In their home race, the French won, as Ferrari did not enter in 1972 due insufficient reliability over 24 hours, in order not to blemish their otherwise perfect record in that season.

In 1973, though, the Matra team also challenged for the championship which Ferrari eventually lost with two wins, compared to Matra's five, while Alfa Romeo had not entered that year. In addition, Ferrari was now forced to race also at Le Mans, despite concerns that even the modified engine would not last. Yet, one car survived and scored an unexpected and honourable 2nd place.

Ferrari then retired from sports car racing to focus on the ailing Formula One effort.

1974–1987 – Niki Lauda and the 1980s

Ferrari enjoyed a successful spell in Formula One in the 1970s, with Niki Lauda winning the World Championship in 1975 and 1977, and Jody Scheckter in 1979. In the 1980s, however, the team entered a period of crisis, culminating with the death of Gilles Villeneuve in Belgium in 1982 and a nearly-fatal accident for Didier Pironi in Germany the very same year.

1988 – The death of Enzo

Enzo Ferrari died in 1988, at the age of 90. The last new model he commissioned was the specialist F40. Fiat increased its stake in Ferrari to 90% after buying the shares of its founder.[11] Former Sporting Director Luca Cordero di Montezemolo was appointed President in 1991.

1996 – champion Schumacher to Scuderia Ferrari

The hiring of Jean Todt as sporting director in 1993 and Michael Schumacher in 1996 triggered a comeback of the F1 team, with three wins in 1996, and close yet eventually losing challenges to the driver's championship in the years 1997 to 1999.

2000–2004 – Schumacher dominates Formula One

In an unprecedented and record-setting fashion, Schumacher and Ferrari dominated Formula One, winning the World Driver's championship from 2000 through 2004 and the Constructors' Championship from 1999 through 2004.

2002–2010 – new shareholders

In June 2002, Fiat sold 34% of Ferrari to a Mediobanca-led consortium of banks for €775.2 million.[12] The consortium comprised Commerzbank (who got a 10% stake for €228 million),[13] Banca Popolare dell'Emilia Romagna (BPER Banca) (1.5%) and Compagnie Monégasque de Banque (CMB Monaco) (1%). Mediobanca retained a 21.5% stake.

In July 2005, Mediobanca sold 5% of Ferrari to Mubadala Development Company (now Mubadala Investment Company), an investment company wholly owned by the Government of Abu Dhabi. The deal saw Mubadala pay €114 million to purchase the five percent stake.[14]

In October 2006, Fiat bought back the 29% stake still owned by the consortium, paying €892 million. At the time of the transaction, Mediobanca owned an 11.7% stake, Commerzbank the 8.5%, ABN AMRO the 7.5% and BPER Banca the 1.3%.[15]

In November 2010, Fiat paid €122 million to buy back the last 5% stake owned by Mubadala Development. With this transaction, Fiat's stake in the luxury Italian car maker returned to 90%.[16]

2014–2016 – The spin-off

In October 2014, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) announced its intentions to separate Ferrari from the parent organisation; as of the announcement FCA owned 90% of Ferrari.[17][18]

The separation began in October 2015 with a restructuring that established Ferrari N.V. as the new holding company of the Ferrari group and the subsequent sale by FCA of a 10% of the shares in an initial public offering (IPO) and concurrent listing of common shares on the New York Stock Exchange.[19] Through the remainings steps of the separation, FCA's interest in Ferrari's business was distributed to shareholders of FCA, with a 10% continuing to be owned by Piero Ferrari.[20]

On 3 January 2016, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. and Ferrari N.V. announced the completion of separation of the Ferrari business from the FCA group on the same day, with trading on the Mercato Telematico Azionario set to begin on 4 January 2016, under the RACE ticker symbol and the ISIN code NL0011585146.[21][22]

2017 – Ferrari 70th anniversary
70th anniversary event in Budapest with a Ferrari LaFerrari

Ferrari celebrated the 70th anniversary of its foundation in 2017.[23][24]

2019 – Scuderia Ferrari's 90th anniversary

Ferrari celebrated the 90th anniversary of its Scuderia.[25][26]

2022 – Ferrari 75th anniversary

Ferrari celebrated the 75th anniversary of its foundation in 2022 with the Ferrari Daytona SP3 and a special livery at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix.[27]

See also

References
  1. "History of Enzo Ferrari". Ferrari S.p.A. Archived from the original on 27 January 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  2. Tremayne, David (14 August 2021). "A portrait of a unique colossus – 5 insights into Enzo Ferrari, 33 years on from his death". Formula1.com. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  3. Ludvigsen, Karl (2 December 2021). "The Rise and Fall of Scuderia Ferrari". Forza Magazine. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  4. Ludvigsen, Karl (27 October 2016). "Immorality Clause". Forza Magazine. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  5. "Scuderia Ferrari: 90 Years". Museo Alfa Romeo. 15 November 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  6. Ludvigsen, Karl (19 July 2021). "The Wilderness Years". Forza Magazine. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  7. "Sergio Scaglietti passes away at 91". Oncars India. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  8. Hill, Phil (20 April 2017). "Phil Hill on the Iconic Ferrari 250 GTO". Road & Track. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  9. "All Results of Phil Hill (page 2)". Racing Sports Cars. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  10. "Continental Diary". Motor. 10 July 1969. pp. 30–31.
  11. "Fiat Raises Stake In Ferrari to 90%". The New York Times. 8 September 1988. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  12. "Fiat confirms 34% sale of Ferrari to Mediobanca". Autosport.com. Haymarket Media Group. 27 June 2002. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  13. "Commerzbank joins Mediobanca to buy Ferrari stake". Automotive News. Crain Communications. 1 July 2002. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  14. "New Abu Dhabi shareholder brings new alliance for Ferrari". Mubadala Development Company. 27 July 2005. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  15. "Fiat to buy back Ferrari stake". Autosport.com. Haymarket Media Group. 8 June 2006. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  16. "Fiat buys back Ferrari stake from Mubadala". The National. Abu Dhabi Media. 14 November 2010. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  17. "FCA Announces Board Intention to Spin Off Ferrari S.p.A" (PDF). Fiat S.p.A. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  18. Sylvers, Eric (3 March 2015). "Fiat Chrysler May Sell More of Ferrari in IPO Sale". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  19. "Questions and answers regarding the Ferrari spin-off". Ferrari. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  20. Visnic, Bill (23 July 2015). "Wall Street, Buckle Up! Ferrari Officially Files For IPO". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  21. "Separation of Ferrari from FCA Completed". Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  22. "Separation of Ferrari from FCA Completed". FCA Group. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  23. "Ferrari to celebrate 70th anniversary with UK-wide tour". evo.co.uk. 23 April 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  24. "Iconic Ferraris to go under the hammer at 'Ferrari – Leggenda E Passione'". evo.co.uk. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  25. "Jean Todt celebrates the 90th edition of the Italian GP and the 90th anniversary of Scuderia Ferrari in Milan". fia.com. 5 September 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  26. "AutoClassica celebra i 90 anni della Ferrari". ansa.it. ansa.it. 21 November 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  27. "75 years of ceaseless innovation". ferrari.com/. ferrari.com/. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.