History of the Ferrari Brand

This blog usually deals with Medieval or ancient history, but I’m also interested in more recent history. While researching an article, I recently came across some facts about Ferrari, the legendary sports car brand created by Enzo Ferrari. I hope you’ll enjoy them!

Ferraris are prime examples of automotive art, aimed at lovers of luxury cars since 1946. Over the decades, the company has produced many cars that have acquired cult status. Ferrari cars are loved by celebrities, Hollywood actors, and famous politicians. From a brand point of view, owning a Ferrari is a status indicator, since not everyone has the opportunity to purchase such a car. For the rest of us, high-end car rental services are provided by hiring companies like Evolve, a company renting Ferraris in Dubai, that let Ferrari aficionados touch history or get an adrenaline rush from high speed.

Facts about Ferrari

The Ferrari company, which once came out from under the wing of Alfa Romeo, has a long and rich history. Its creator, Enzo Ferrari, is rightly considered a legend of the automotive industry. Here are some interesting facts about the company.

Scuderia Ferrari

The Ferarri logo, a prancing black horse on a yellow shield, was created by designer Francesco Baracca in 1929. At the bottom of the emblem are the two capital Latin letters “S” and “F”, denoting “Scuderia Ferrari”. On top of the shield, there are three stripes of different colors: green, white, and red. Francesco was a pilot during WWI and there is a legend that a similar logo was depicted on his plane.

This conflicts with other stories as to why a horse was chosen for the Ferrari emblem. One of them says that the horse was part of the Ferrari family coat of arms. Another claims that the horse on the logo appeared after Baracca shot down a German plane, the pilot of which was born in the city of Stuttgart. The coat of arms of this city depicts a horse rearing up.

Whatever the truth behind the logo, another distinguishing brand feature is the red color. One reason for this may be the nationality of the racing teams: the red color is part of the Italian flag. So associated is the company with red that the Ferrari team still performed under the red color even when the company briefly joined Alfa Romeo during times of financial hardship.

Prickly Enzo

Enzo Ferrari wasn’t exactly one of the most polite and diplomatic people. An example of this is Ferruccio Lamborghini’s visit to Enzo which led to a bitter rivalry. According to Motor Web Museum, Ferruccio Lamborghini had a passion for sports cars and owned two Ferrari cars. However, his experience with the Prancing Horse brand did not satisfy him as he expected. Hence, in 1962, he headed to Maranello to speak to Enzo Ferrari directly. Once there, he complained to Enzo about the clutch: in his view, it was way too small for supercars. Ferruccio suggested that Ferrari should seek a solution.

Enzo didn’t take kindly to the criticism and immediately retorted, “The clutch is not the problem. The problem is you don’t know how to drive a Ferrari and you break the clutch.”

Ferruccio’s reply was equally spontaneous and off the cuff. “Dear engineer, I’ll never buy your cars again. From now on I’ll make my own cars, then I can be sure they work the way I want them to.” This was no idle threat, either: one year later, Ferruccio founded the Lamborghini company in Sant’Agata Bolognese, with the goal of building “the perfect car.”

The ungraciousness and brusqueness of Enzo Ferrari helped not only the Lamborghini line, but also such a brand as Ford. When Ford tried to buy the Ferrari racing division, Enzo walked out of the deal at the last moment. As a result, Ford had to release its own line of sports cars, including the legendary Ford GT40 racing car.

An Elitist Approach

Ferrari was the first company to stop the mass production of its cars. This is due to the fact that Enzo wanted to create the best, strove for excellence, and focus on quality and uniqueness. While all this has played in favor of the company, around which there is constant excitement, not everyone can become the owner of such a car. After all, it gives prestige and status to the owner.

Indeed, one of the most expensive sports cars is considered to be the Ferrari 250 GTO 1963 Goa production. Only 39 such cars were produced, and the cost of one was 8 million dollars at the time. The price is partly explained by the unique device and equipment of the car (for comparison purposes, you can read about the latest innovative technologies in the automotive industry).

As a result of this elitist approach, Ferrari has always had the best drivers in the world. Many famous personalities performed under the manufacturer’s coat of arms, including Michael Schumacher, who performed under the Ferrari flag from 2000 to 2004.

Ferrari’s clients are just as famous: Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and Floyd Mayweather are some of the celebrities who drive a Ferrari. Ferrari is a symbol of speed and success and a benchmark for engineering. It is also a perfect example of excellent branding that has secured a company’s position among the world’s top in the highly competitive world of car making.