Luxury Car Brands: Ferrari

For several car lovers out there, the peak of pleasure when it comes to riding cars is to get behind the wheel of a bright red, highly sporty, and super-fast Ferrari. While most people dream about owning a Ferrari, some may actually wonder how did Ferrari attain its status? That’s why we are to talk about the brief history of Ferrari and how their cars came about.

Important Events of Ferrari

Enzo Ferrari founded Ferrari in 1929, and the company’s original name was “Scuderia Ferrari.” At first, they used to sponsor race car drivers of Alfa Romeo cars, and they would prepare their vehicles before the race. After being loyal to Alfa Romeo for more than 10 years, Enzo Ferrari was finally hired in Alfa Romeo’s racing department. After two years, Enzo Ferrari discovered that Alfa Romeo had plans to absorb his company. This resulted in Enzo instantly leaving his job. But he had a contract with Alfa Romeo, which states that he was restricted from joining any racing activities for several years. That’s why Enzo Ferrari decided to change his company’s name to “Auto AvioConstruzioni Ferrari,” and they started producing aircraft supplies.

In 1940, Ferrari produced his first racing car, which he called the Tipo 815. It debuted at the Mille Miglia race, but it did not encounter any real competition because of the war. After three years, Enzo Ferrari decided to move his factory to Maranello. In 1944, the said factory was bombed. At the end of the second world war, Enzo Ferrari decided to rebuilt his factory and started to produce road cars as well.

In 1947, Ferrari launched its first road car, which is the 125 Sport. The car was powered by a 1.5L V12 engine, and it was the most beautifulluxury car at that time. That’s why in the 1950s, the Ferrari marque was finally created, and they were able to win their first Grand Prix race.

1950-1970

In 1952, Ferrari took home its first world title because of the exceptional efforts of a race car driver, Alberto Ascari. That same year, Ferrari launched the famous 212 inter, which had a 166 MM Chassis and several modifications that aimed to produce higher power output while on the road. Two years later, Ferrari introduced the 250 GT Coupe, and it became one of the best-selling cars in the ‘50s.

In 1956, Ferrari launched one of their most exceptional collections, the GT Berlinetta, which is still in production until today. Ferrari introduced a new model of the GT Berlinetta towards the end of the ‘50s, and they called it the PassoCorto. The car was said to one of the first muscle cars ever. At the beginning of the ‘60s, Ferrari hires Sergio Scaglietti and MdauroForghierri to be in charge of body designs and engineering of Ferrari cars.

In 1962, Ferrari debuted one of their most renowned sports cars ever, the 250 GTO. The engineering and design of this car made the ‘60s Ferrari’s most successful period. After two years, they released the 330 GT 2+2, which had great styling cues and gave Ferrari it is new branding.

In 1966, Ferrari released another one of their most famous cars, the 365 California, and it is still in production up until today. But of course, it has new styling cues, powerful engines, and as well as a sleek design. Towards the end of the ‘60s, Ferrari decided to turn things up a notch and took a turn towards convertibles. They released the famous 65 GTS4, which is hailed to be one of the most excellent convertible cars of all time.

1970-1990

When the ‘70s came, Ferrari had to face stiff competition with Alfa Romeo an Porsche. Their racing department won and lost several races in the World Sportscar Championship. However, in 1973, Ferrari decided to retire from sports car racing and focused more on the F1. They enjoyed a successful spell in F1 racing, and Niki Lauda was able to win the championships in 1975 and 1977.

Niki Lauda became Ferrari’s most famous racers. However, the company got into a crisis after the incident of Niki Lauda, the fatal accident of Didier Pironi, and the death of Gilles Villeneuve in 1982. And a few years later, the founder and owner of Ferrari, Enzo Ferrari died at the age of 90. But his death was not revealed to the public until two years later, upon his request. Days before Enzo Ferrari’s death, he still got to witness the launching of the famous Ferrari F40. It is considered to be one of the world’s most fabulous cars that were ever created. This is why the F40 was dedicated as a symbol for Enzo Ferrari’s achievements.

1990-2000s

In the ‘90s, Ferrari launched several successful models such as the 456 GT, 512 TR, 348 Spider, 347 BTG, F355 Berlinetta, 348 GTS, and the F50 which was produced to celebrate Ferrari’s 50th anniversary in the cat industry. The F50 is considered to be the closest thing to a road-going Formula One car, and it was even nicknamed as the “Ferrari’s Extreme Machine.”

Ferrari also came back in Formula 1 racing with their driver Michael Schumacher taking home the trophy in 1996 and dominated the World Driver’s Championship from 200 to 2004. In 2008, Fiat Group was able to purchase about 85% of Ferrari’s company shares, leaving Enzo Ferrari’s second son, Piero Ferrari, only 10% of company shares.

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