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Prolific Pride: 

 

The Success and Failures of Enzo Ferrari  

 

Holland Buzzelli

Senior Thesis

Mr. Zontine

15 November 2022

 

How did Enzo Ferrari's ego drive him and others to success?

Persuasive Essay

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          Young Enzo had little going for him as a child; there were no traits, talents, or test results that earned him acknowledgment. But he had two things that others lacked: he had perseverance and a passion for cars. At a young age, his love was ignited and Enzo harnessed the adrenaline to be a victor. For most people, an occupation is something that you do to earn a living. However, Enzo was less concerned with making money off of vehicles. The victory was his primary goal. In order for Enzo to accomplish this goal, however, pride would rear its demonstrative head, leaving him as an outcast to other car companies. Throughout the world, his reputation would be underpinned by his ego first and his victories second. It was Enzo Ferrari's ego, personality, and pride that brought him success but it also drove people to despise him.

          Ferrari was a man of dignity. He had an almost “reverential respect” from his employees, and on the racetrack, he was the main character (Goodfellow 14). It was said that “Staging a race without a Ferrari was like staging a Hamlet without the prince” (Robinson).  Ferrari was born in Italy in 1898, which was where his love for cars was first ignited. At the age of 10, his father brought him to a race in Bologna, and from then on he became upset with racing and winning. He started his first employment working for Alfa Romeo and would later have the opportunity of creating his own race team the Scuderia Ferrari in 1929, which won his first, out of many, success at the Le Mans 24-hour race in 1949 (“Enzo Ferrari”). He was not only admired for his success, but also he was influential in his ability to pursue his job to the fullest. He would portray his passion by showing up to races, conversing with his staff frequently, and creating this dynamic persona. It was his confidence in himself as a powerful businessman and successful owner that made him one of the most popular icons in the entire world. Likewise, Neil Vorana describes him as arrogant and a self-dictator who “rules with the proverbial iron first” (Vorano). In other words, he did not consider the opinions of others. Ferrari was a man who thought for himself in a selfish manner, but that trait at large was what made him so successful (Vorano).  

          From a child, Enzo found his love and devotion to racing, which grew to become not just a passion but an obsession. When creating his company, Enzo lived through his products. Every race, route, and reckless experience that his vehicles underwent, he would, in effect, live through. His popularity was built on 1st Place Medals, ‘most beautiful car’ recognitions, and becoming of his victorious image in the world of cars. Enzo would work “seven days a week, 12 to 16 hours a day, holidays included” (Baime 22). He developed the discipline to invest countless hours of time in his career, which resulted in sacrifice for his family life. His mind was so fixated on winning that he would live in his garage, where fixing, fiddling, and fabricating his automobiles and engines were his pastime. Enzo himself stated, “I have yet to meet anyone quite so stubborn as myself and animated by this overpowering passion that leaves me no time for thought or anything else. I have, in fact, no interest in life outside racing cars” (Wolf-Mann). 

          His fidelity toward racing paid off. The world was exposed to Ferrari through his races in which he excelled past many other companies, “In 1948, Ferrari cars won the 12 hours of Paris, the Mille Miglia, the Targa Florio”. In addition, the first postwar LeMans was won by, among others, a Ferrari 166MM, Barchetta, and Little Boat. This win was the start of demand for Ferrari’s products globally (Baime 28-29). His cars were popular as they were an icon of success and speed. It was not due to the amount of money he possessed, but the time he spent in his vehicles to make them the best. He was, in hypothetical terminology, a car who built himself, raced by himself, and won for himself, which was not only an honorable trait but also the reason his company failed at times.  In other words, Ferrari created the upbringing of his company and brought its fame into existence through his drive to win. He would race and win for himself regardless of what it meant to those around him; his racers demonstrated solely victory and it often showed through their failure of sportsmanship. These traits may have proved to be victorious but they also brought a bad name to Ferrari, causing him to lose business and portray characteristics of a difficult person to deal with.     

          Enzo’s pride was a barrier, however, that kept him from pulsing discernment for what was really in the best interest of his company. He did not often think about the situation his company was in when making decisions. He thought more about his name and took offense to minuscule situations that ultimately would influence him to protect his pride rather than choose a humble position. Does the name Ferrucio Lamborghini ring a bell? This is one of many men Ferrari aggravated. Ferricio was a young tractor-driving man who had purchased a Ferrari but found dissatisfaction with it. After going through many employees of Ferrari, he finally got the opportunity to talk with Enzo personally. Instead of Enzo listening to his disappointment and attempting to alleviate Lamborghini's temper, he insulted him by stating that it is a shame for a tractor driver to insult his car and that he should not be driving the vehicle in the first place if he does not know how it works (Vorano). In any business, the way to make a market and be successful is by usually giving one's attention to the customer, understanding their issue with their product, and fixing it to ensure the customer remains loyal to the company. Enzo did not go by this standard. He did not care about losing a customer, or losing the money from that customer; he cared that someone had the audacity to declare his product faulty. In doing so, he did in fact lose this customer and many more. 

          Not only did he lose a customer, but he also gained an enemy. Out of pure spite, Lamborghini decided then and there that if Ferrari would not help him and even go as far as to insult him, he would prove him wrong by creating his own car. In as short as four months, Lamborghini “debuted the Lamborghini 350 GTV at the 1963 Turin Motor Show, with an engine designed by Giotto Bizzarrini (Vorano). Bizzarrini previously worked for Ferrari as the “legendary development manager” (Ternström). Owing to his disapproval of Ferrari’s wife’s decisions in the factory, Bizzarrini, along with four others including Carlo Chiti, former “chief engineer,” were fired from working in the company. Consequently, The men were determined to beat Ferrari at his own game. Lamborghini happened to join them at just the right time (Ternström). In effect of his selfish words, Enzo created a new competition among many. 

          Enzo’s pompous existence gave many people a reason to become successful. He allowed his pride to get the best of him again through his relationship with Henry Ford II. The Ferrari Company was on the brink of bankruptcy when the multi-millionaire American Ford Motor Company proposed to buy out his company. When Enzo heard that the deal included his race team, Scuderia Ferrari, he was outraged by their impudence. Instead of making the best financial decision, he proceeded to insult Ford which was a bold move as you do not make enemies with such a financially stable company. Henry Ford II was extremely embarrassed and would proceed to make many people turn away from Ferrari (Vorano). Ferrari thought of himself in such high ranks that he was willing to not only put his company at risk of a downfall but also risk his clientele and build yet another enemy. 

Owing to his drive for self-image, his morals were inherently credited to his failures, and his possible successes were lost in his own pride. Pride not only showed itself through his faulty decisions but led Ford to want to exceed him. Ford made it a point to create and develop a car with a racer that would beat Ferrari. The American company was not known for its racing nor had much experience with it, which furthered the point that Ford II had to be extremely determined by his will to beat Ferrari. Not to anyone's surprise, Ford would not do this in a sly way either, he would beat Ferrari in the race that Enzo had been winning for the past couple of years, in his own territory, the 24 Hours Le Mans Race in Paris (Baime). Ford would become victorious in his quest in which he ended Ferrari’s reign of influence over the Le Mans race (Baime). Enzo created his own defeat through his egoistic personality. Not only did he sacrifice his image, but he turned many people away from Ferrari and towards Ford. Unfortunately, he lost both honor and popularity through his own self-seeking actions to declare his race team for himself (Baime).

          Enzo desired to produce an exceptional product that would be fueled by his passion to dominate the car industry. He retained relentless competitive pursuit but it soon compromised him in the end. Enzo brought people against him through his heartless actions and words; he effectively lost clients and businesses that would have made him more successful. He would go as far as to make his employees race against each other and create an unfair game for other competitors. He was accused of unethical behavior in his success at the Australian Grand Prix of 2002, when his second driver who had defeated all other competitors in the race, “moved over on the last corner to allow Michael Schumacher to win, thereby maximizing Schumacher’s World Championship points” (Pasternak et al. 107). He had to jeopardize his time, profit, image, and clientele. He sacrificed all of it. It was easy for him because he simply did not care about anything but the speed and the ring of excellence his name held. His ego created a platform for success as his work ethic resulted in his ruthlessness and in many cases, was the reason he was ironically seen as prominent. However, it also prevented his ultimate success and inhibited his decisions to conform to his emotions rather than logic. Sadly, this affected his responses on the track and with his employees. Enzo Ferrari perfectly captures his life’s purpose, ambition, and accomplishment with just one sentiment, “I want to build a car that’s faster than all of them, and then I want to die” (Wolf-Mann).