Enzo Ferrari

In 1932, Ferrari married Laura Dominica Garello Ferrari. They had a son together called Alfredo ‘Dino’ Ferarri. He died from muscular dystrophy in 1956.

In 1945, Ferrari had a second son named Piero with his mistress Lina Lardi but it was in 1975 that he recognized Piero as his legal son, after Lina’s death.

In 1988, he died at the age of 90. His death was made public two days later

Enzo Ferrari was born in on 18 February 1898 in the small town of Modena, Italy. He was born to a manufacturer called Alfredo Ferrari and grew up in Modena without any formal education.

He had a passion for race cars and race car driving since a very early age in his life and decided that he wanted to be a racing driver at the tender age of 10, when his father took him to see the 1908 Circuit di Bologna. He went to many other race car competitions after this and these competitions left a very strong impression on his mind.

In 1914, Ferrari started working as a teacher at the Lathe Operator School in the Modena fire brigade’s workshop.

During the WWI, in 1916, both his father and brother died due to the outbreak of the Italian flu. Around the same time he was called to join the war and was assigned to the Third Alpine Regiment, Val Seriana. He contracted the 1918 flu pandemic, which led to his discharge during the end of the war.

Upon getting a letter of recommendation from the military authorities, Ferrari applied for a job with Fiat in 1918. Unfortunately there were no vacancies there at the time. But, he got a job as a test driver, in Turin, in a motor company that changed light trucks into chassis, collaborating with an Italo-Argentinian body shop in Milan.

In 1919, Enzo started working with a company called Costruzioni Meccaniche Nazionali, in Milan, as a test driver. But soon he was promoted to the post of a racing driver.

In the same year, he drove his first race in the Parma-Poggio di Berceto uphill race. He stood at the 4th position in the race. He participated in another race in the same year, the Targa Florio race but could not really achieve any great success in that too because of a problem with the fuel tank.

In 1920, he participated in the Targa Florio car race yet again, drove an Alfa Romeo, and stood at the second position. This win was the beginning of his 20-year experience with Alfa Romeo where he first worked as a test driver, then racing driver, then sales staff member and ultimately the head of Alfa-Corse team.

In 1921, Ferrari took part in many races as an exclusive Alfa driver. He also met with his first accident in the same year during the Brescia Grand Prix when he staggered off the road in order to save a herd of cows crossing the route.

In 1929, in Bologna, Ferrari proposed an idea to launch Scuderia Ferrari in Modena, at a dinner party. It was decided that its mission would be to give its shareholders a chance to race. The first share holders of this company were the Caniato brothers from Ferrara, Mario Tadini and Count Trossi. Soon this company replaced Alfa Romeo in the matters of sporting activities.

In 1945, he started designing the first ever ‘Ferrari’ car. He built the kind of engine for the car which later on became the hallmark of the brand.