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Until the mid-1980s, Ferrari followed a three-number naming scheme based on ]: Until the mid-1980s, Ferrari followed a three-number naming scheme based on ]:
* *
* V12 models used the displacement (in cubic centimetres) of one cylinder. Therefore, the famed 365 Daytona had a 4380 cc V12. * V12 models used the displacement (in cubic centimetres) of one cylinder. Therefore tim is the best, the famed 365 Daytona had a 4380 cc V12.
* ] models used the displacement in litres. Therefore, the 512BB was five litre flat 12 (a Berlinetta Boxer, in this case). However, the original Berlinetta Boxer was the ], which was named in a similar manner to the V12 models. * ] models used the displacement in litres. Therefore, the 512BB was five litre flat 12 (a Berlinetta Boxer, in this case). However, the original Berlinetta Boxer was the ], which was named in a similar manner to the V12 models.



Revision as of 06:35, 29 May 2007

For other uses, see Ferrari (disambiguation).
Ferrari S.p.A.
File:Ferrari-Logo.svg
Company typeSubsidiary
ISINNL0011585146 Edit this on Wikidata
IndustryAutomotive
GenreCar Manufacturer
Founded1947
HeadquartersItaly Maranello, Italy
Key peopleLuca di Montezemolo, Chairman and President
Jean Todt, CEO
Giancarlo Coppa CFO
ParentFiat S.p.A.
Websitewww.ferrariworld.com

Ferrari is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello and Modena, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929 as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street legal vehicles in 1947 as Ferrari S.p.A.. Ferrari's cars are among the most desirable of vehicles to own and drive, and are one of the ultimate status symbols of wealth in the world. Throughout its history, the company has been noted for its continued participation in racing, especially in Formula One, where it has largely enjoyed great success, especially during the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, late 1990s, and 2000s.

Finally, after years of financial struggles, Enzo Ferrari sold the company's sports car division to the Fiat group in 1969 in order to help ensure continued financial backing for the foreseeable future. Enzo Ferrari himself retained control of the racing division until his death in 1988 at the age of 90.

Ferrari also has an internally managed merchandising line that distributes everything from eyewear, pens, perfume, clothing, high tech bicycles to laptop computers bearing the Ferrari brand. Financial Times named Ferrari number one on its 2007 list of the 100 Best Workplaces in Europe.

Ferrari Enzo (oil,2007) Painted by Tamás Kádár

History

Main article: History of Ferrari

1929–1946

Enzo Ferrari never intended to produce road cars when he formed Scuderia Ferrari in 1929 as a sponsor for amateur drivers headquartered in Modena. Ferrari prepared and successfully raced various drivers in Alfa Romeo cars until 1938, when he was officially hired by Alfa as head of their racing department.

In 1940, Alfa Romeo was absorbed by the government as part of the war effort. Enzo Ferrari's division was small enough to be unaffected by this. Because he was prohibited by contract from racing for four years, the Scuderia briefly became Auto Avio Costruzioni Ferrari, which ostensibly produced machine tools and aircraft accessories. Also known as SEFAC (Scuderia Enzo Ferrari Auto Corse) Ferrari did in fact produce one racecar, the Tipo 815, in the non-competition period; it was thus the first actual Ferrari car (it debuted at the 1940 Mille Miglia), but due to World War II it saw little competition. In 1943 the Ferrari factory moved to Maranello, where it has remained ever since. The factory was bombed in 1944 and rebuilt in 1946 to include a works for road car production. Right up to Il Commendatore's death, this would remain little more than a source of funding for his first love, racing.

"Scuderia Ferrari" literally means "Ferrari Stable"; the name is figuratively translated as "Team Ferrari". (It is correctly pronounced "skoo deh REE ah".)

1945–present

The first Ferrari road car was the 1947 125 S, powered by a 1.5 L V12 engine; Enzo reluctantly built and sold his automobiles to fund the Scuderia. While his beautiful and fast cars quickly gained a reputation for excellence, Enzo maintained a famous distaste for his customers, most of whom he felt were buying his cars for the prestige and not the performance.

Ferrari road cars, noted for magnificent styling by design houses like Pininfarina, have long been one of the ultimate accessories for the rich. Other design houses that have done work for Ferrari over the years include Scaglietti, Bertone, Touring, Ghia, and Vignale.

In 2005, four universities were granted the opportunity to design the next vehicle line-up for Ferrari in a student competition named 'Ferrari Concepts of the Myth'. Twenty winners were allowed to show off their concepts in a ¼ scale model and present their work to the board at Ferrari to allow for three out right winners to have the chance to work in the Ferrari design studio at Maranello.

As of 2007, the Fiat Group owns 85% of Ferrari, Mubadala 5%, and Enzo's son Piero 10%. Fiat has shelved plans for an IPO because Fiat Auto has now returned to profitability, thus removing pressure from the group.

Racing

Main article: Scuderia Ferrari
File:M schumacher2.jpg
Scuderia Ferrari won its most recent Formula One title in 2004, with Michael Schumacher (pictured) and Rubens Barrichello at the wheel.

Enzo Ferrari's true passion, despite his extensive road car business, was always auto racing. His Scuderia started as an independent sponsor for drivers in various cars, but soon became the Alfa Romeo in-house racing team. After Ferrari's departure from Alfa, he began to design and produce cars of his own; the Ferrari team first appeared on the European Grand Prix scene after the end of World War II.

In 1949, Luigi Chinetti drove a Model 166M to Ferrari's first win in motorsports, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Chinetti drove for all except twenty minutes of the Grand Prix race. He soon became the American dealer for Ferraris and established the North American Racing Team, Ferrari's official racing arm. The dealership is reported to have kept the company in business through sales to wealthy Americans, such as Briggs Cunningham, who bought the first one Chinetti sold through the new dealership.

The Scuderia joined the Formula One World Championship in the first year of its existence, 1950. José Froilán González gave the team its first victory at the 1951 British Grand Prix.

Alberto Ascari gave Ferrari its first Drivers Championship a year later. Ferrari is the oldest team left in the championship, not to mention the most successful: the team holds nearly every Formula One record. As of 2005, the team's records include fourteen World Drivers Championship titles (1952, 1953, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1964, 1975, 1977, 1979, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004), fourteen World Constructors Championship titles (1961, 1964, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004), 179 Grand Prix victories, 3,445 and a half points, 544 podium finishes, 174 pole positions, 11,182 laps led, and 180 fastest laps in 1,622 Grands Prix contested.

Notable Ferrari drivers include Tazio Nuvolari, Juan Manuel Fangio, Luigi Chinetti, Alberto Ascari, Wolfgang von Trips, Phil Hill, Olivier Gendebien, Mike Hawthorn, Peter Collins, John Surtees, Jacky Ickx, Mario Andretti, Niki Lauda, Carlos Reutemann, Jody Scheckter, Gilles Villeneuve, Didier Pironi, Michele Alboreto, Gerhard Berger, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Jean Alesi, Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher.

The Scuderia Ferrari drivers for the 2006 F1 season were Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa. At the end of the 2006 season the team courted controversy by continuing to allow Marlboro to sponsor them after they, along with the other F1 teams, made a promise to end sponsorship deals with tobacco manufacturers. A five year deal worth a reported $500 million was agreed.

The drivers for 2007 are Felipe Massa and Kimi Räikkönen.

The "Cavallino Rampante"

File:Scuderia Ferrari Logo.png
The Scuderia Ferrari Logo

The famous symbol of the Ferrari race team is a black prancing stallion on a yellow shield, usually with the letters S F (for Scuderia Ferrari), and with three stripes of green, white and red (the Italian national colors) at the top. The road cars have a rectangular badge on the hood (see picture above) and this race logo on the side.

On June 17, 1923, Enzo Ferrari won a race at the Savio track in Ravenna where he met the Countess Paolina, mother of Count Francesco Baracca, an ace of the Italian air force and national hero of World War I, who used to paint a horse on the side of his planes. The Countess asked Enzo to use this horse on his cars, suggesting that it would grant him good luck. Ferrari left the horse black as it had been on Baracca's plane; however, he added a canary yellow background as this is the color of the city of Modena, his birthplace.

Count Francesco Baracca

Ferrari has used the cavallino rampante on official company stationery since 1929. Since the Spa 24 Hours race of July 9, 1932, the cavallino rampante has been used on Alfa Romeos raced by Scuderia Ferrari.

A similar black horse on a yellow shield is the Coat of Arms of the German city of Stuttgart. This horse motif comes from the origins of the city's name: it comes from Stutengarten, an ancient form of the modern German word Gestüt, which translates into English as stud farm and into Italian as scuderia. Stuttgart is the home of Porsche, which also uses the Stuttgart sign in its corporate logo, centred in the emblem of the state of Württemberg.

Coat of arms of Stuttgart, Germany

Fabio Taglioni used the cavallino rampante on his Ducati motorbikes. Taglioni's father was a companion of Baracca's and fought with him in the 91st Air Squad. As Ferrari's fame grew, Ducati abandoned the horse- perhaps the result of a private agreement between the two companies.

File:Logo avanti.gif
Austrian Fuel Stations

The cavallino rampante is now a trademark of Ferrari. However, other companies use similar logos: Avanti, an Austrian company operating over 100 filling stations, uses a prancing horse logo which is nearly identical to Ferrari's.

Many aspects of the cover design of the third Jamiroquai album, Travelling Without Moving, as well as the single Virtual Insanity and some single promos pay homage to the Ferrari logo.

Rosso Corsa

Main article: Rosso corsa

Since the 1920s, Italian race cars of Alfa Romeo, Maserati and later Ferrari and Abarth were (and often still are) painted in "race red" (Rosso Corsa). This was the customary national racing color of Italy, as recommended between the World Wars by the organizations that later would become the FIA. In that scheme, French cars like Bugatti were blue, German like BMW and Porsche white (since 1934 also Silver Arrows), British racing green etc.

Curiously, Ferrari won the 1964 World championship with John Surtees by competing the last two races in cars painted white and blue, as these were not entered by the Italian factory themselves, but the US-based NART team. This was done as a protest concerning arguments between Ferrari and the Italian Racing Authorities regarding the homologation of a new mid-engined Ferrari race car.

List of models

Until the mid-1980s, Ferrari followed a three-number naming scheme based on engine displacement:

  • V12 models used the displacement (in cubic centimetres) of one cylinder. Therefore tim is the best, the famed 365 Daytona had a 4380 cc V12.
  • Flat 12 (boxer) models used the displacement in litres. Therefore, the 512BB was five litre flat 12 (a Berlinetta Boxer, in this case). However, the original Berlinetta Boxer was the 365 GT4 BB, which was named in a similar manner to the V12 models.

Most Ferraris were also given designations referring to their body style. In general, the following conventions were used:

  • M standing for "Modificata," this suffix is placed to the end of a model's number designation to denote that it is a modified version of its predecessor and not a complete evolution (see F512M and 575M Maranello).
  • GTB models are closed Berlinettas, or coupes.
  • GTS models, in older models, are convertibles (see 365 GTS4); however, in late models, this suffix is used for targa top models (see 348 GTS, and F355 GTS; exception being the 348 TS, which is the only targa named differently). The convertible models now use the suffix "Spider" (see F355 Spider, and Ferrari 360 Spider).

This naming system can be confusing, as some entirely different vehicles used the same engine type and body style. Many Ferraris also had other names affixed (like Daytona) to identify them further. Many such names are actually not official factory names. The Daytona name commemorates Ferrari's triple success in the February 1967 24 Hours of Daytona with the 330P4. Only in the 1973 Daytona 24h, a 365 GTB4 model run by N.A.R.T. (North American Racing Team, who raced Ferrari's in America) scored 2nd—behind a Porsche 911.

As well, the 250 GTO's famous acronym, which means Gran Turismo Omologato, was simply a name the Italian press gave the car which referred to the way Ferrari had, in a sense, avoided the rules and successfully homologated the car for racing purposes (somehow Ferrari had convinced the FIA that the 250 GTO was the same car as previous 250's). This was probably to avoid confusion with the multiple 250 models produced before the GTO.

The various Dino models were named for Enzo's son, Dino Ferrari, and are not formally Ferraris, though are to all intents and purposes considered so.

In the mid 1990s, Ferrari added the letter "F" to the beginning of all models (a practice quickly abandoned after the F512M and F355, but recently picked up again with the F430).

Road models

Ferrari road car timeline, 1947–1969 — next »
Type 1940s 1950s 1960s
7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Sports 340 MM 375 Plus 410 S
275 S 340 Mexico 375 MM 290 S
125 S 166 S/166 MM 195 S 212 Export 225 S 250 MM 250 Monza 315 S 250 Testa Rossa 250 LM
159 S 250 S 290 MM 335 S 250  GTO
Berlinetta 250 GT "Tour de France" 250 GT "SWB" 250 GT Lusso 275 GTB 275 GTB/4 365 GTB/4
Coupé 166 Inter 195 Inter 212 Inter 250 Europa 250 Europa GT 250 GT
Boano
250 GT
Ellena
250 GT Coupé Pinin Farina 330 GTC 365 GTC
2+2 250 GT/E 330 America 330 GT 2+2 365 GT 2+2
Spider 250 GT Cabriolet 275 GTS 330 GTS 365 GTS
250 GT California Spyder
America 340 America 342 America 375 America 410 Superamerica 400 Superamerica 500 Superfast 365 California


« previousFerrari road car timeline, 1970s–1990s — next »
Type 1970s 1980s 1990s
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
8 cylinder Mid-engine berlinetta 308 308 i 308 QV 328 348 360
208 208 Turbo GTB/GTS Turbo F355
Mid-engine 2+2 308 GT4 Mondial 8 Mondial QV Mondial 3.2 Mondial t
208 GT4
12 cylinder Boxer berlinetta 365 GT4 BB 512 BB 512 BBi Testarossa (F110) 512TR F512 M
Grand tourer 365 GTB/4 "Daytona" 550 Maranello
2+2 grand tourer 365 2+2 365 GTC/4 365 GT4 2+2 400 400 i 412 456 456M
Flagship sports car 288 GTO F40 F50
Legend      Sold under the Dino marque until 1976; see also Dino car timeline


The Ferrari Club of America's parking lot at the 2005 United States Grand Prix

Sports cars

Ferrari's first models were sports/racing cars quite different from the grand touring models that followed. See below for a complete list.

2-seat Gran Turismo

Ferrari quickly moved into the Gran Turismo market, and the bulk of the company's sales remain in this area.

Mid-engine V6/V8

Ferrari 328 GTS Targa

The Dino was the first mid-engined Ferrari. This layout would go on to be used in most Ferraris of the 1980s and 1990s. V6 and V8 Ferrari models make up well over half of the marque's total production.

Mid-engine 2+2

Bertone-bodied Dino 308 GT4

For a time, Ferrari built 2+2 versions of its mid-engined V8 cars. Although they looked quite different from their 2-seat counterparts, both the GT4 and Mondial were very closely-related to the 308 GTB.

Front-engine 2+2

Ferrari 612 Scaglietti

The company has also produced front-engined 2+2 cars, culminating in the current 612 Scaglietti.

Mid-engine 12-cylinder

Ferrari entered the mid-engined 12-cylinder fray with the Berlinetta Boxer in 1971. The later Testarossa remains one of the most famous Ferraris.

Supercars

Enzo Ferrari

The company's loftiest efforts have been in the supercar market.

Competition models

Current

Past

1958 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa from the Ralph Lauren collection

Concept models

File:Ferrari GG50.jpg
Ferrari GG50

See also

References

External links

« previousFerrari road car timeline, 1970s–1990s — next »
Type 1970s 1980s 1990s
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
8 cylinder Mid-engine berlinetta 308 308 i 308 QV 328 348 360
208 208 Turbo GTB/GTS Turbo F355
Mid-engine 2+2 308 GT4 Mondial 8 Mondial QV Mondial 3.2 Mondial t
208 GT4
12 cylinder Boxer berlinetta 365 GT4 BB 512 BB 512 BBi Testarossa (F110) 512TR F512 M
Grand tourer 365 GTB/4 "Daytona" 550 Maranello
2+2 grand tourer 365 2+2 365 GTC/4 365 GT4 2+2 400 400 i 412 456 456M
Flagship sports car 288 GTO F40 F50
Legend      Sold under the Dino marque until 1976; see also Dino car timeline
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