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See Scuderia Ferrari for further history of the Ferrari racing team.
Ferrari founder 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, upon learning of the company's plan to absorb his beloved Scuderia and take control of his racing efforts, he quit Alfa. Because he was prohibited by contract from racing for several years, the Scuderia briefly became Auto Avio Costruzioni Ferrari , which ostensibly produced machine tools and aircraft accessories. Ferrari did in fact produce one racecar, the Tipo 815 , in the non-competition period; it was thus the first actual Ferrari car, 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.
"Scuderia Ferrari" literally means "Ferrari Stable" in keeping with the prancing horse emblem; the name is figuratively translated as "Team Ferrari."
The first Ferrari road car was the 1947 125 S, powered by a 1.5-litre V12 engine; Enzo reluctantly built and sold his automobiles to fund the Scuderia. While his beautiful and blazingly 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 value.
Ferrari road cars, noted for their exquisite styling by design houses such as PininfarinaGiuseppe Farina better known as Pininfarina was an Italian car stylist. He founded the famous styling house Pininfarina, synonymous with some of the best-known classic Italian sports cars. His nickname Pinin was so common that a law was appositely issued, have long been one of the ultimate accessories for the rich and young (or young-at-heart). Other design houses that have done work for Ferrari over the years include ScagliettiScaglietti was an Italian automobile design and coachbuilding firm in the 1950s. The company is commemorated in the nickname of Ferrari's new 612 Scaglietti. The most famous Ferrari by Scaglietti was the 1957 250 California Spider. Automobiles., BertoneBertone is an Italian car styling house, which also manufactures cars. Bertone styling is very distinctive, with most cars having a strong "family resemblance" even if badged by different manufacturers. Bertone has styled cars for Ferrari, Fiat, Lancia, L, TouringTouring was an Italian automobile design and coachbuilding firm in the 1950s. Touring-bodied Ferraris: 1948 166 Inter Coupe 1951 195 Inter Coupe 1951 212 Inter Coupe 1952 340 MM Spider Automobiles., GhiaGhia Carrozzeria Ghia SpA is one of the most famous Italian automobile design firms, founded in 1921 in Turin by Giacinto Ghia (lived 1887 1944). Between wars, he designed special bodies for Alfa Romeo, Fiat, and Lancia. After World War II, foreign firms, and Vignale.
Ferrari cars feature highly-tuned small V8 and V12 engines, often in a mid-engined configuration; until the introduction of fuel injection in the 1980s, they were quite temperamental. Until the mid-1980s they carried a reputation for unreliability and bad engineering, though these were written off by enthusiasts as "character." Ferrari owners have famously and religiously defended the merits of their cars while virulently criticizing other brands.
As of 2004, FIAT owns 56% of Ferrari, Mediobanca owns 15%, Commerzbank AG owns 10%, Lehman Brothers owns 7%, and Enzo's son Piero Ferrari owns 10%.