Reid & Robie

The best Ferrari ever built is the next one.

– Enzo Ferrari

Hello, Robie here. I am filling in once again for Reid as she finishes her 500-mile journey along the path of St. James in northern Spain. She will arrive in Santiago de Compostela today and I am extremely excited to see my wife again after the longest separation in our thirty years of marriage.

During my weeklong stay in Parma I had the pleasure of taking the train half an hour east and visiting Modena, the town where Enzo Ferrari and a legend were born. The Enzo Ferrari Museum is a short walk from the train station and on the grounds of the house he grew up in, in fact, the house is actually part of the museum. The larger part of the museum is in a beautifully designed space that one would come to expect from Ferrari. Half an hour south of Modena in the town of Maranello is the Ferrari factory, test track and the Ferrari Factory Museum. Visiting both of these special places is a pilgrimage for any sports car enthusiast.

Enzo was born in 1898 and quickly became a fan of auto racing. After World War I he was a test driver for a small auto company in Milan and in 1920 he began as a race car driver for Alfa Romeo. By 1929 he founded Scuderia Ferrari, a racing team that prepared cars for Alfa Romeo. Not long after, his cars were winning races for Alpha but Enzo, who married in 1923, gave up driving in 1929 to run his business. He and his wife, Laura, had their only child in 1932, Alfredo was his given name, but he was known as Dino.

In spite of the cars he prepared for Alpha Romeo winning races, the relationship soured and in 1937 Alpha bought out Scuderia while keeping Enzo on as an advisor, but by 1939 they split for good. Using the money he got when Alpha bought him out Enzo started building cars using mostly other manufactures components, and in 1940 he entered two of his Tipo 815’s in the Mille Miglia, a one-thousand-mile race from Brescia, Italy to Rome and back. Due to mechanical failures neither car finished the race.

In 1942 Ferrari moved his factory from Modena south to Maranello where it is still to this day. By 1947 he was building cars completely of his own design and parts. The S 125 had a 12-cylinder engine which would become a hallmark of Ferrari cars, and in May of that year he won his first Grand Prix in Rome.

Enzo’s cars became known for their quality and speed and in 1950 he began racing them in Formula One, the highest level of auto racing. During the 1950s Ferrari won many championships but also suffered many tragedies. Five Ferrari drivers were killed in racing accidents and his son Dino died in 1956 at 24 from Muscular Dystrophy.

In the 1960s Ferrari oversaw his company’s further expansion into road racing including winning the prestigious 24 Hour of Le Mans six years in a row, from 1960 to 1965. Ferrari’s achievements also continued in Formula One with Constructor’s Championships in 1961 and 1964. But once again tragedy struck with two of its drivers being killed while racing, including one accident that in addition to the driver, killed 14 spectators.

Enzo’s passion was racing and the automobiles he produced for the public were just a means to fund his Scuderia Ferrari racing teams. Searching for capital for much needed expansion and production of his consumer division Ferrari considered a sale to the Ford Motor Company in 1963. The deal fell apart because of a clause in the contract that would have given Ford control over the racing team’s budget and decision making. This rejection offended Henry Ford II to the point that he declared “war” on Ferrari and led to the development of the Ford GT40 race car that eventually beat Ferrari and everyone else at the 24 Hours of Le Mans four years running, from 1966 to 1969. Eventually in 1969 Ferrari sold a fifty percent stake to Fiat to provide the funding he was looking for while remaining president of the company until 1977. Enzo retained control over the Scuderia Ferrari racing team until his death at the age of 90, in 1988.

Scuderia Ferrari racing is the undisputed champion of Formula One, having won 16 Constructor’s Championships and 15 Driver’s Championships. And its road racing program has won the prestigious 24-Hour endurances races at Le Mans 12 times and Daytona 5 times.

Today, Ferrari is synonymous with unparalleled performance, exquisite design, luxury and wealth. According to the Robb Report, thirteen of the twenty-five most expensive cars ever sold at auction are Ferraris, the next closest manufacturer is Mercedes with five.

Presented here is a gallery of some of the beautiful and historic automobiles you can see at the two Ferrari Museums.