Driving The Dream

The Legacy That Is Ferrari

You already know it’s stunningly beautiful.  You may know it has a rich Italian heritage steeped in legend and in lore, and that it has had an unparalleled record of success on the racing circuits of the world.  If you’ve ever driven one, you certainly know it bonds with you in the first turn, and as it competes with the wind it shoots thrills up your spine that defy description.  But there is more to the Ferrari legacy than hormones and horsepower.  Like all great art and high achievement, it began with a man who held a vision close to his heart, and who never once doubted himself or the power of his dream.

            The man responsible for the automobile that has inspired legend began his journey as a mule skinner in Modena, Italy during World War I.  Like many who have changed the world, Enzo Ferrari’s story begins modestly, fraught with childhood illness, a military discharge and the collapse of his family’s business. This led to employment in a young automobile industry, where he redesigned old truck bodies into small passenger vehicles.  From there his career progressed, first to Alfa Romeo, where his burgeoning love of racing found him in the company of royalty, namely Count Enrico and Countess Paolina Barraca of Italy.  Their son, Francesco Bracca, was already a national hero, a pilot who was known as the nation’s ace of aces and had died during the war.  The shield emblem for Francesco’s fighter squadron, which had adorned the fuselage of the aircraft in which he died, was a prancing horse against a yellow background.  The Count and Countess were so impressed with Enzo and his racing skills that they presented him with their son’s badge, which the young driver would adopt as his new company’s logo over twenty years later.

            He continued with Alfa Romeo for many years, racing under their banner and building the occasional race car.  In 1929 he formed the company’s racing team under the name of Scuderia Ferrari, which translates literally as “the Ferrari stable,” but over the years has been more widely interpreted as “team Ferrari.”  And what a team it was, competing in 22 events while winning eight of them before the next turn of fate in Enzo Ferrari’s journey into immortality.

            In 1940 Enzo left Alfa Romeo to found the first company that would bear his name, Auto-Avio Costruzioni Ferrari, but his workshop was decimated by allied bombs in 1944.  Once again Enzo Ferrari was left with only a dream.  After the war, in 1946, he built his first Ferrari motorcar, the 125 Sport, and founded a firm to produce and market it.  The company, the brand and the legend had been born, and since then racing cars bearing his shield have won over 5,000 races around the world, including 14 victories at LeMans, France, the pinnacle of the sport.

            Enzo Ferrari ran the company he founded until his retirement in 1971, taking it through recessions and take-over attempts and an emerging partnership with Fiat that culminated in a 50 percent buyout in 1969.  But his presence and his name endured, a symbol of engineering excellence and innovation, delivered with unprecedented style and class.  Both during and after his career, he received several honorary degrees and prestigious honors, including an honorary doctorate in 1988, just months before his death at the age of 90.

            The spirit of Enzo Ferrari lives on today in the automobiles that bear his name and the emblem that had been with him since the beginning.  We at Dalgleish Lenard invite you to commune with the spirit of Enzo Ferrari by visiting us, or by immersing yourself in the beauty of the cars themselves, which are proudly displayed on our website.

            Or better yet, slip behind the wheel and experience the thrill of a true legend where it counts, all the way to the core of who you are.

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