Ferrari history
In 2015, the company Ferrari entered the IPO and then it was valued at almost $ 10 billion. Two years later, the brand value has almost doubled - now it is $ 21 billion. Ferrari is now considered one of the most expensive and recognizable brands in the world, and its prancing horse logo has become a symbol of sexuality, money and luxury living. We recall the 70-year history of the company - from the creation of racing cars to the sale of licenses for the production of branded clothing and jewelry.
In 1908, the 10-year-old Enzo Ferrari first saw a racing car and immediately fell in love with it. The First World War began, and the young Enzo went to serve in the Italian army. After the war, Enzo was hard to find work in the automotive industry. He submitted a resume to Fiat, but was denied employment because of an excess of unemployed war veterans. As a result, Enzo began working in a small car manufacturing company.
In the early 1920s, Enzo got a race car driver at Alfa Romeo. His colleague became the legendary professional racer Tazio Nuvolari. In 1929, Enzo opened the Scuderia Ferrari, or “Ferrari Team”. In fact, it was not a full-fledged company, but simply a community of drivers who drove their race cars. Alfa Romeo cars were mainly used in the community. By 1933, Scuderia Ferrari became the Alfa racing division. In 1937, Enzo closed the Scuderia Ferrari and became director of the Alfa Corse racing division at the Alfa Romeo plant. But he was not pleased with this position, and he later left it. In 1939, a week after he left, Enzo opened the startup Auto Avio Costruzioni. AAC 815 was the first car that his company assembled on its own.
In 1940, a start-up Ferrari assembled two AAC 815 cars. Enzo could not release them under his own name due to an agreement on refusal to compete with his previous employers. This agreement forbade Ferrari to use its name in the field of racing and racing cars for at least four years. The start of World War II forced Ferrari to wind down the business, but after it ended, the startup quickly returned to service. In 1945, the company introduced the new V12 engine, which became one of the iconic products of Ferrari. In 1947, Ferrari released the Model 125. By that time, the agreement with Alfa had expired, and this car became the first car under the name Ferrari. At the end of 40 American rider of Italian descent Luigi Cinetti turned to Ferrari with a request to produce sports cars for the consumer market. Ferrari hesitated because, basically, his company created cars for racing. Only sometimes a startup sold sports cars for private owners. Chinetti began to participate and win in Ferrari racing. By the early 1950s, Luigi Chinetti had received the consent to mass production of sports cars. He became the first Ferrari dealer in the United States. In Manhattan, the first showroom of the company opened, then it moved to Connecticut. Ferrari cars successfully showed themselves in the American market - and it remains for them the most attractive to this day. Soon, such legendary cars as the California Spider appeared .... By 1960, Ferrari cars showed their superiority both on and off the racetrack. In 1963, Ford CEO Henry Ford II decided to buy the Ferrari business. The deal fell through when Enzo found out that in order to participate in Ferrari races, he would have to ask for money from the Americans from Ford. Annoyed by the failure, Ford decided to teach Enzo a lesson on the track - in the 24-hour Le Mans race.
Prior to that, the Ferrari team constantly won the race. In the period from 1960-1965, she won six times in a row.