Enzo Ferrari: The prancing horse motif of Ferrari is one of the best known icons in motor sport. Enzo Ferrari took the emblem from the First World War Italian fighter ace Francesco Baracca - click here to find out more about this Italian air ace.
Ferrari |
Enzo Ferrari was born in 1898 and in his early years he enjoyed some success as a racing driver. He joined Alfa Romeo in 1920 as a driver but he soon moved to the technical and design side. In 1929, Alfa Romeo withdrew from motor racing and Ferrari took over their workshops under the name Scuderia Ferrari, and continued to build what were essentially Alfa Romeo cars. It was after World War 2, in 1947 that the first 'true' Ferrari single seater design was produced and Ferrari soon gained a reputation for reliability. The FIA Formula 1 Championship was launched in 1950 and was initially dominated by Alfa Romeo but in 1951 at the British GP, Ferrari achieved their first win – the first of many Grand Prix victories. The driver was Froilan Gonzalez. Ferrari took the Drivers World Championship in 1952 and 1953 with Alberto Ascari driving one of the all-time classic single seater racing cars – the Ferrari 500. In two seasons – 1952 and 1953 the Ferrari 500 won every Grand Prix except just one race. The mid-1950s saw Mercedes-Benz return to and dominate Grand Prix racing but the 'silver arrows' team withdrew from motor sport after one of their sports cars crashed into the crowd at the 1955 Le Mans 24 hour race. The great Argentinean driver Juan-Manuel Fangio who won the 1955 Drivers World Championship driving for Mercedes moved to Ferrari. Ferrari took over Lancia's formula 1 car design (Lancia was having financial problems) and this raced as the Lancia-Ferrari and Fangio took the Drivers World Championship for Ferrari in 1956. Fangio however had a strained relationship with Enzo Ferrari and moved to the rival Maserati team the following season. In 1958, Mike Hawthorn driving for Ferrari became the first British World Drivers Champion. But Grand Prix racing was changing – a new formula with a 1.5 litre normally aspirated engine was introduced and rear engined cars became the ‘standard’. Ferrari produced the famous ‘shark nosed’ GP car and Phil Hill of the United States took the 1961 Drivers World Championship with this car, after his team mate Wolfgang von Trips was killed in racing accident at the Italian Grand Prix. John Surtees who had transferred to F1 racing, after a very successful motorcycle-racing career, became the Drivers World Champion driving for Ferrari in 1964. Surtees like Hawthorn before him, established a good working relationship with Enzo Ferrari, but left the team early in 1965 season after a disagreement with the team. Ferrari now had to wait eleven years for their next Drivers World Champion – Niki Lauda became World Champion in 1975 driving for Ferrari. The following year Lauda had a horrific crash in his Ferrari and suffered major burns, but Lauda recovered from his injuries and in 1977 he took the World Drivers Championship for Ferrari. The South African Jody Schekter took the Drivers World Championship for Ferrari in 1979. But Ferrari would have to wait 21 years for its next Drivers Championship! Highly professional organised teams such as McLaren and Williams dominated Grand Prix racing in the 1980s and 1990s. Ferrari in comparison always seemed to race in a politically charged passionate atmosphere, which many of their drivers found difficult to cope with. Enzo Ferrari died in 1989 at the age of 90, but almost up to his death he still exercised influence and had his own autocratic style of management. The Ferrari team had the services of some of the finest drivers of the day - for example: Alain Prost who did not seem to enjoy his time with the team and Nigel Mansell who was idolised by the fanatical fans as 'il Leone' (the lion). But neither driver was able to deliver the Drivers World Championship to Ferrari. Ferrari is now part of the Fiat motor group, so financial support and resources have been available. It is believed that Ferrari have the largest operating budget in F1 - thought to be about £80M (US$120M) per season. What is unique about Ferrari F1 cars - they have always raced in the bright racing red of Italy but these days they are sponsored by Marlboro cigarettes, and Ferrari pride themselves on building the whole car - chassis and engine. The desire by Ferrari to once again have a World Champion Driver never diminished, and Ferrari has remained in the top echelon of teams. Michael Schumacher – twice World Drivers Champion – moved to Ferrari in 1996 and a new international management team was assembled including Jean Todt and the British master strategist - Ross Brawn (who had worked with Schumacher at Benetton). Schumacher was runner up in the World championship in 1997 and 1998. Schumacher has signed a very lucrative contract to stay at Ferrari and his efforts were rewarded by taking the F1 Drivers Championship in year 2000 (21 years since Jody Schekter took the title for Ferrari). Schumacher has taken the Driver World Championship four more times for Ferrari – including record breaking 6th World Championship in 2003. The credentials of the Ferrari team are impressive – they are the only F1 team to be continuously active in the current World Championship since its inception over 50 years ago. The team continue to enjoy world wide support and particularly fanatical support in Italy and it has scored the largest number of Grand prix wins of any team, but competition in F1 racing remains fierce. The damaged 0808 was sent back to Ferrari for repairs where it was rebodied, first as a spider and later with a unique coupé body by Fantuzzi. Shipped back to the United States, in 1965 it was sold by Chinetti to Hisashi Okada, a businessman based in New York City. Okada drove this one-off body, 4-liter Le Mans-winning 330 TRI/LM for nine years on the streets of New York and its environs before succumbing in 1974 to the entreaties of Stanley Nowak on behalf of Pierre Bardinon and selling it for, among other things, the Ferrari 250LM (s/n 5845) which he similarly drove in and out of New York City until 1993. A familiar sight at Northeastern events, Okada must be the only Ferrari owner with the constitution and persistence to use Le Mans cars for some twenty-seven years as a daily driver in New York traffic, also a testament to the ruggedness and durability of Ferrari’s race car construction. Upon acquiring 0808 Pierre Bardinon immediately commenced a complete restoration to its 1962 Le Mans configuration including commissioning the original coachbuilder, Fantuzzi, to re-create its work of 1962. Despite the engine failure at Le Mans in 1963, the 330 TRI/LM still has its original engine. Stamped 0808 with numero interno 46SA, this has recently been confirmed as the original engine by Ferrari. Completed to a very high standard under the supervision of the experienced staff at Pierre Bardinon’s Mas du Clos collection, it took its place among a peerless collection of some of the world’s finest Ferraris. Since restoration it has been in many subsequent events where it always is a star. A recent test by a recognized expert in classic Ferrari racing cars reported 0808’s "motor, suspension, gearbox and gearbox selection were excellent." Cavallino magazine in issue No. 50 from April May of '89 captions a photo with this observation: "… at left is the most famous "one off" in Ferrari history, the 1962 330 TRI LM, No. 0808, which won Le Mans in 1962, driven by Phil Hill and Olivier Gendebien." But perhaps the best demonstration of the continuing allure and potency of this unique, final Testa Rossa came only a few years ago when 0808 and Phil Hill were reunited at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Nearly forty years after setting the lap record and winning Le Mans by five laps, Hill and the 330 TRI/LM teamed up again on the Goodwood hillclimb course, trouncing such later and competently driven opposition as David Piper’s 330 P4 and the Chaparrals. Ferrari 330 TRI/LM s/n 0808 is the last front-engined Ferrari sports-racer, the highest development of the most famous series of racing cars in history and by far the fastest. With a history of two separate chassis, 0808 was driven by virtually all the great Scuderia Ferrari drivers of the early Sixties: Cliff Allison, Willy Mairesse, Richie Ginther, Giancarlo Baghetti, Wolfgang von Trips, the Rodriguez brothers, Mike Parkes, Giorgio Scarlatti, Lorenzo Bandini and the incomparable endurance racers, Phil Hill and Olivier Gendebien. It is also exceptional for having been driven by two consecutive World Driving Champions in the year after their championships: Phil Hill, the 1961 Champion for Ferrari driving 0808 at Le Mans in 1962 and Graham Hill, the 1962 Champion for BRM driving 0808 for N.A.R.T. at Sebring in 1963. By Phil Hill’s own evaluation the 330 TRI/LM is a well-balanced and predictable race car under the most demanding conditions. It is absolutely unique, historic, and the last front-engined car to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the final expression of the golden age of front-engined sports-racers, the ultimate Ferrari Testa Rossa. Carefully and sympathetically restored to its 1962 Le Mans-winning configuration, bodied by Fantuzzi who created its original coachwork, powered by its original engine and capable of showing its heels to the best mid-engined sports-racers of the late Sixties, it is quite simply the most important Ferrari ever offered for public sale. Drivers who have won the Drivers World Championship for Ferrari
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