60 Fun Facts About Enzo Ferrari

In which Italian city was Enzo Ferrari born in 1898?

His birth certificate says 20 February, though the family said 18 February.

What race did the 10-year-old Enzo watch in 1908 that inspired him to become a driver?

Felice Nazzaro won it; Enzo had also dreamed of being an operetta tenor or a sports journalist.

What killed Enzo's father and older brother in 1916?

Enzo himself nearly died in the 1918 pandemic and was discharged from the army.

Which carmaker turned Enzo down when he volunteered his services after World War I?

He settled for a test-driver's job at CMN in Milan, which rebuilt truck bodies into small cars.

In what kind of event did Enzo make his racing debut in 1919?

He finished fourth in class in the Parma-Poggio di Berceto hillclimb driving a CMN 15/20.

Which manufacturer's racing department did Enzo join as a driver in 1920?

He stayed with the company for nearly two decades, eventually running its racing as Scuderia Ferrari.

Where did Enzo win his first Grand Prix, in 1923?

It was on the Savio Circuit; 1924 was his best season with three wins.

The prancing horse emblem was originally painted on the plane of which Italian World War I fighter ace?

Baracca's mother suggested Enzo adopt it as a good luck charm after they met at the 1923 Savio race.

Why is Ferrari's prancing horse set against a canary-coloured shield?

The team also added the Italian tricolour and changed the horse's legs and tail.

What is anatomically wrong with Ferrari's version of the prancing horse?

A horse on its hind legs cannot raise its tail; Baracca's original had a downturned tail.

Which German city's coat of arms, also on Porsche's badge, may be linked to the prancing horse?

One version says Baracca painted the horse as a kill mark after shooting down a pilot from that city.

In which year did Enzo found Scuderia Ferrari?

It began as a racing division for Alfa Romeo, running cars like the P3 for stars such as Tazio Nuvolari.

What event in 1932 prompted Enzo to retire from driving?

He instead built a team of superstar drivers including Giuseppe Campari and Nuvolari.

What did Enzo call the company he founded after leaving Alfa in 1939?

A contract clause barred him from racing or designing cars under his own name for four years.

The first car Enzo built, the 815 of 1940, was made for which race?

Only two were made, for Lotario Rangoni and Alberto Ascari; the name came from its 8 cylinders and 1.5 litres.

What does the '815' in the name of Enzo's first car, the 815 of 1940, stand for?

The engine borrowed heavily from a Fiat 508 Balilla.

Why did Ferrari move its factory to Maranello?

Maranello has been Ferrari's home ever since.

Which was the first car to carry the Ferrari name, in 1947?

It debuted at Piacenza on 11 May 1947 and won two weeks later at the Rome Grand Prix.

What kind of engine did the Ferrari 125 S have, setting a pattern for decades?

The 1.5-litre Colombo V12 was designed and built by Ferrari itself.

Who drove the 125 S to Ferrari's first victory, at the Rome Grand Prix on the Caracalla circuit?

The car won six of its fourteen races in 1947.

Ferrari's first major international win came at Le Mans in 1949 in which car?

Luigi Chinetti shared the drive with Baron Selsdon.

How many Formula One drivers' championships did Ferrari win in Enzo's lifetime?

There were also eight constructors' titles before his death in 1988.

Who won Ferrari's first Formula One world championship, in 1952?

He repeated the feat in 1953.

Scuderia Ferrari is the only team to have competed in every Formula One season since which year?

It is the sport's oldest surviving and most successful team.

How many Le Mans wins in a row did Ferrari take from 1960 to 1965?

The streak ended when Ford's GT40s swept the podium in 1966.

What killed Enzo's son Dino in 1956, aged 24?

Dino, an engineer, had been groomed as heir and helped develop the V6 engine that later bore his name.

Which Ferrari driver's crash in Italy's 1957 1,000-mile road race killed him, his co-driver and nine spectators?

A tyre blew at 250 km/h near Guidizzolo; Enzo was charged with manslaughter and only cleared in 1961.

What was Enzo charged with after the 1957 Guidizzolo disaster?

The tyre maker Englebert faced the same charge; the case was dismissed in 1961.

What was the 'Great Walkout' of 1961-62 at Ferrari?

Sales manager Girolamo Gardini, engineer Carlo Chiti and Giotto Bizzarrini were among those who left.

For how much did Enzo offer to sell Ferrari to Ford in 1963 before pulling out?

He withdrew when he realised Ford would not give him full control of the racing department.

Why did Enzo walk away from the 1963 sale to the Americans?

The snub spurred Ford to build the GT40 and beat Ferrari at Le Mans in 1966.

Which motorcycle-champion-turned-driver won Ferrari's 1964 F1 title?

Enzo had promoted young engineers like Mauro Forghieri after the walkout.

What share of Ferrari did Enzo sell to Fiat in 1969?

He kept total control of racing, and Fiat's stake rose to 90% in 1988.

Which Austrian driver won the F1 title for Ferrari in 1975 and 1977?

Enzo was criticised for replacing him with the newcomer Gilles Villeneuve.

Which newcomer did Enzo hire to replace the reigning world champion in 1977, to press criticism?

Enzo adored the Canadian's fearless style; Scheckter won the 1979 title.

Which nickname did British rivals give Enzo, comparing him to an Elizabethan privateer?

He was also il Commendatore and, late in life, l'Ingegnere and il Grande Vecchio.

Complete Enzo's famous saying: 'Second place is...'

In Italian: 'Il secondo è il primo dei perdenti'.

Which Ferrari, launched shortly before Enzo's death for the company's 40th anniversary, was the last he approved?

It was then Ferrari's fastest, most powerful and most expensive road car.

Enzo's last taste of victory was a Ferrari one-two at the final race of 1987, led by which driver?

It was the Australian Grand Prix; Enzo died in August 1988.

Enzo's second son Piero was born in 1945 to which woman, his mistress?

He could not be acknowledged until Enzo's wife Laura died in 1978, divorce being illegal in Italy until 1975.

Roughly what stake in Ferrari did Piero Ferrari hold as vice chairman in 2024?

Enzo gave him a 10% share after Dino's death.

Which tractor maker, annoyed by his Ferraris' clutches and dismissed by Enzo, started his own sports car firm in 1963?

His mechanics kept having to take the cars back to Maranello for rebuilds.

Who played Enzo Ferrari in Michael Mann's 2023 film Ferrari?

Set in the summer of 1957, it co-stars Penélope Cruz as his wife Laura; Bale and Jackman had been considered.

Which Italian actor played Enzo in the 2019 film Ford v Ferrari?

Matt Damon and Christian Bale starred as Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles.

Under what title was Ford v Ferrari released in some European countries?

It won Oscars for film editing and sound editing.

The 2023 film Ferrari is based on a 1991 biography by which motorsport journalist?

Piero Ferrari called the film's portrait of his father's drive accurate.

The Ferrari Enzo supercar of 2002 was initially limited to how many units?

A 400th was built and given to the Vatican for charity, selling for $1.1 million.

Where is Ferrari's home Grand Prix?

Enzo was usually seen there and at Imola, whose circuit is named after his son Dino.

How did Enzo Ferrari's official honours in 1952 add to those of the 1920s?

He was already a Cavaliere and a Commendatore.

Ferrari World, the first Ferrari-branded theme park, opened in 2010 in which city?

It is home to Formula Rossa, the world's fastest roller coaster.

What is the Italian name of Ferrari's prancing horse symbol?

For years rosso corsa, racing red, was the compulsory colour for Italian racing cars.

What opened in 2012 at Enzo's birthplace and his father's workshop on via Paolo Ferrari?

The family lived at via Paolo Ferrari 85, next to the workshop.

Whose win at the 1908 Circuito di Bologna did the 10-year-old Enzo witness, inspiring him to race?

Before settling on racing, the boy had also dreamed of becoming an operetta tenor or a sports journalist.

After Fiat rejected him, Enzo became a test driver for CMN, a Milan firm that did what?

CMN promoted him to race driver, and his debut came at the 1919 Parma-Poggio di Berceto hillclimb in a 2.3-litre CMN 15/20.

How many Grand Prix wins did Enzo record as a driver across his 41 starts?

His best season was 1924 with three wins, but the deaths of Ugo Sivocci and Antonio Ascari left him racing half-heartedly.

Which tyre company's intervention reversed Alfa Romeo's 1933 decision to drop Scuderia Ferrari?

Even so, the team struggled against Auto Union and Mercedes until Nuvolari's famous 1935 upset at the German Grand Prix.

In 1935 Tazio Nuvolari beat Caracciola and Rosemeyer on their home turf for Scuderia Ferrari at which race?

He beat Rudolf Caracciola and Bernd Rosemeyer on their home turf in an ageing Alfa Romeo P3.

Whom did Enzo appoint as Ferrari's sporting director and F1 team manager in 1974?

He would go on to become president of Ferrari in 1992, holding the post until September 2014.

Enzo Ferrari died in Maranello in August 1988, aged 90, of what illness?

He asked that his death be announced only after his private burial, partly fearing protests because McLaren had beaten his team in every 1988 race so far.

In which year was Enzo Ferrari posthumously inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame?

The Automotive Hall of Fame followed in 2000; in life he had collected the Hammarskjöld Prize, the Columbus Prize and the De Gasperi Award.