Enzo Ferrari, Designer-Builder of Sports, Race Cars, Dies at 90
Enzo Ferrari, the dour, haughty builder of flame-red cars that won more than 4,000 races and nine world championships, believed more than any in the history of the sport, has died at the age of 90, his company announced Monday.
“Enzo Ferrari serenely concluded his earthly existence Sunday,” the announcement said. He died at his home in Modena with his son, Piero, whom he named a vice president last June, at his side.
He thus died as he had lived, shunning publicity. One of his last orders was to withhold news of his death until after a private funeral service.
Ferrari was an irreligious recluse who worshiped speed; a devotee of engines who once was tried (and acquitted) on manslaughter charges after a driver and several spectators were killed in a race; a hawk-nosed, taciturn engineer who fashioned himself more an artist than a race car executive.
Until recently he had worked a full day every day at his office. But in June, when Pope John Paul II visited the company’s test track, Ferrari physically was unable to see him. Instead they chatted briefly by phone.
On hearing of his death, Prime Minister Ciriaco De Mita said: “The great Italian symbol of youthfulness, daring, tenacity and technical progress dies with Enzo Ferrari.”
“The country which loved him for all that he represented will continue to love him in the red cars that still run under his name,” he added.
Ferrari, known as “The Drake” or “engineer,” was the son of a metal shop owner. He fell in love with racing when he was 10. Drafted into the Italian army in 1917, he spent the rest of World War I shoeing mules.
After the war he earned a living assembling spare parts into whole cars. With the contacts he made he was able to land a job in 1920 as a driver for the prestigious Alfa Romeo racing team. He won 13 of 47 races before deciding to concentrate on engineering.
It was said that the reason he was not more successful behind the wheel was that he feared abusing his engines.
He established Scuderia Ferrari (Ferrari Racing Stables) in 1929 in the town of Maranello, near Modena, attracted top drivers and mechanics and began a close collaboration with Alfa Romeo. Ferrari’s firm eventually became Alfa Romeo’s sports subsidiary.
The first Ferrari-designed racing car was produced in 1937. From then on, his cars--with their famous prancing black stallion marque, a symbol he borrowed from the plane of an Italian World War I hero--became synonymous with speed and flair.
After World War II, in which the Ferrari factory built airplane engines, his Alfa/Alfetta line returned to the world’s race courses. In the late 1940s, his affiliation with Alfa Romeo ended because of disagreements. And when a Ferrari beat an Alfa Romeo, Ferrari was heard to exclaim: “I have killed my mother.”
By then he had become internationally known for his sleek, red cars with their powerful handcrafted engines. His cars went on to win thousands of victories, including 93 Formula 1 races and nine Formula 1 championships.
Such world-class drivers as Alberto Ascari, Juan Manuel Fangio, Phill Hill, John Surtees, Niki Lauda and Jody Scheckter drove Ferraris.
In addition to the race cars, Scuderia Ferrari also turns out about 1,300 luxury sports cars each year for the titled and the rich. They cost upwards of $150,000, travel at speeds of 200 m.p.h. and must be ordered years in advance.
Ferrari’s son, Dino, worked with him until his death of muscular dystrophy in 1956 at the age of 24.
When Ferrari’s wife died in 1978, he gave his name to Piero Lardi, who was born out of wedlock in 1945. Piero then went to work for Ferrari.
Fiat’s Role
In 1969, Fiat acquired 50% of Ferrari shares and a binding option to buy Ferrari’s 40% on his death. The remaining 10% are held by Piero Ferrari.
In his autobiography, Ferrari conceded the one-dimensional nature of his life:
“It’s true that I have never met any man whom I thought altogether resembled me--but only because my faults are so enormous.
“I have yet to meet anyone quite so stubborn as myself and animated by this overpowering passion that leaves me no time for thought or anything else. I have in fact no interest in life outside racing cars,” he wrote. “I have never gone on a real trip, never taken a holiday. The best holiday for me is spent in my workshops when nearly everybody else is on vacation.”
He remained steadfast to that and, on his 90th birthday last February, was host of a lunch for his 1,700 workers and turned down dozens of requests for interviews and a television special. He said he preferred to spend the day with his workers whom he considered his family.
