What is the History of Ferrari?

Informative Speech

Holland Buzzelli

 

          Ferrari. What is the first thing that comes into your head when I say that name? What did the image in your head look like? Was it a sports car? Maybe red? Was it a two-seater with a black interior? There could be rather a sophisticated, crisp-looking guy driving with slick-back hair and sunglasses that block out his eyes. That's my image. But now, if you haven't already, picture the front of this vehicle. Usually clean, shiny, smooth, flatter, and wide, and right in the center, there sits the icon that so perfectly portrays the Ferrari’s speed and agility: the Prancing Horse.

           Enzo Ferrari was born in 1898 with a burning desire to race and win. Winston Goodfellow quotes young Enzo as he talks about a crucial memory, “Being close up to those cars and those heroes, being part of the yelling crowd, that whole environment that arose my first flicker of interest in motorcars” (17). He used the word ‘heroes’ to describe the men who raced endlessly lap after lap in those vehicles. He looked up to them just as you might look up to Superman when you were a kid. He found a passion for something and not only did he charge after it, but he did it the right way. No cheating. No superpowers.  

          He first developed his love for the hobby by working for a famous car manufacturing company in Italy, by the name of Alfa Romeo. Preston Lerner explains in a book on Ferrari that within Alfa Romeo, he was able to make himself, “indispensable,” by selling and poaching engineers. As an effect of his race history within Alfa Romeo, he was able to gain experience which helped him to benefit from the multitude of wealthy enthusiasts who funded the creation of Ferrari’s own private race team in 1929, known in full as Societá Anonima Scuderia Ferrari (6).

          Though under a lot of pressure from the ongoing fame of speed racing and cars in general, Ferrari was never known as an irrational boss. He never failed to invest in every one of his employees. Goodfellow includes remarks from a former employee of Ferrari, by the name of Casarini, who stated that everyone one of his employees, “had an almost reverential respect for him” (14). Anthony Pritchard, who wrote Grand Prix Ferrari, mentions how Enzo would even go as far to reject extremely well-known racers if they did not desire his same vision, or were “chasing money” (117). He was that man. He had the money, the people, and the respect all in one. The only thing he was missing was the speed. Yet, in due time, he would eventually steal that from other teams as well. 

           Out of many classic European car companies such as BMW, Mercedes Benz, Audi, Volkswagen, and even Lotus, Ferrari stood out like a beacon. It was the building blocks and respect that created this track star company. BMW and Mercedes were competitors of Ferrari that helped to create the most successful models, as Enzo learned from their manufacturing mistakes and weaknesses. The Ferrari company gained not only popularity but also population within it, as in almost miraculous time he was able to acquire a broad group of engineers, racers, manufacturers, designers, all of it. By racing in contests such as Le Mans, a 24-hour race held in France, or the Daytona 500, a classic race in Florida, Ferrari was able to build fame through the mass of rivalries that would be thrown on billboards and broadcasted on the news for everyone to see. The prancing horse was allegedly galloping throughout all of the world with its incredible victories and beauty.

 

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