History of Ferrari

Ferrari is an Italian company which has produced sports cars since 1947, but traces its roots back to 1929 when Enzo Ferrari formed the Scuderia Ferrari racing team. In January 2016, Ferrari officially split off from its former parent company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Enzo Ferrari decided to pursue racing in 1908, at the age of ten: to this end, he eventually began a career as a racing driver in 1919. During the 1920s he worked for Alfa Romeo, both as a driver in various local races and as an employee in its Milan sales depot. In 1929, though, he broke from this line of work to found and manage his own racing team: Scuderia Ferrari. Conceived as an outfit for gentleman drivers and other amateurs, the team was founded through a million-lira loan from a local bank, with additional backing from the wealthy amateur racer Mario Tadini, Augusto and Alfredo Caniato — two brothers in the textile industry — and the tyre company Pirelli. It would be based out of Modena, Enzo's hometown. Enzo quickly set about negotiating with Giorgio Rimini, Alfa Romeo's commercial director, and managed to secure a partnership between their respective companies. The intended arrangement was simple: Alfa Romeo would outfit their factory team, Alfa Corse, with its latest, most sophisticated cars, while Ferrari's scuderia () of amateurs would use lower-end cars and hand-me-downs from past seasons. Additionally, Ferrari would operate independently from Alfa Romeo, such that the automaker would be insulated from negative press whenever the team placed poorly. Enzo presented this as beneficial to everyone involved, as it allowed Alfa Romeo to stay active in racing with minimal effects on their other ventures. The team's first race was the 1930 Mille Miglia, using cars supplied by Alfa Romeo, and the first use of the Prancing Horse logo was at the 1932 Spa 24 Hours. This initial arrangement did not last. After Alfa Romeo came under the control of the Italian state in 1933, their racing division was downsized, and Scuderia Ferrari functioned as the unofficial company team throughout the mid-1930s.