Ferrari Celebrates 60 Years Of Success In 2007

Ferrari Celebrates 60 Years Of Success In 2007

One of the world’s most famous car makers, Ferrari, will celebrate its 60th anniversary on 11 May 2007, commemorating the date on which Enzo Ferrari produced his first car, the Ferrari 125 Sport, and with which two weeks later Ferrari won its first Grand Prix.

In the following 60 years Ferrari has scored more than 5,000 race wins, won more races and championships than any other team in Formula One and produced a run of legendary road cars, from Ferrari 166 MM, unveiled at the 1948 Turin Motor Show, to the 2006 launch of the Ferrari 599 at last year’s Geneva Motor Show.

There is no doubt that during its 60 year history, Ferrari is the unquestioned bench mark against which all other racing and road supercars must be measured.

To mark its 60th birthday, Ferrari is planning global celebrations, starting with a “relay race” across five continents where participants will carry the Ferrari baton embossed with symbols of the 60 greatest moments in the company’s history. The relay represents an extraordinary, collective sign of enthusiasm that will bring together Ferrari clients and their cars representing every model and era.

The “Ferrari 60 Relay” will kick off on 28 January in Abu Dhabi, site of the future Ferrari theme park, visit Australia and New Zealand in March, and conclude in Maranello on 24 June, after traversing more than 50 countries in 148 days.

The central theme of the final events is technological innovation pioneered by Ferrari in the 60 years of its existence. For the occasion, Ferrari is assembling its 60 most important innovations, ranging from aluminum calipers for disc brakes to the electric differential and the F1 gearbox.

Against this backdrop Ferrari has organized its first concours d’élégance: a series of events on the track, at the factory and at the Galleria Ferrari in Maranello celebrating the elegance of the Ferrari. An Opera Omnia book will be published on the company’s history, a collection of pictures and data on all the road cars and race cars built by Ferrari.

The baton for the Ferrari 60 Relay was specially created to symbolize the history of the company, from its first success at the Rome Grand Prix of 1947 to the Ferrari FXX of 2006. Ferrari owners will carry the baton around the world in their cars. Each country along the way will dedicate to Ferrari an object representative of their local culture and traditions. The local Italian Embassies will then forward the objects to the Farnesina Palace in Rome for an exhibition of the whole collection. Once the exhibit is over, the objects will be auctioned off in Maranello, with the proceeds going to a charity organization.

From Abu Dhabi the long relay will proceed to Dubai, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. From the Emirates it will head east, to Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Taiwan, Australia, and New Zealand. From Oceania it will fly to South Africa and then on to Latin America, reach Mexico, and from there continue on to United States and Canada.

Then to Europe, where it will cross Portugal, Spain, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Holland, the United Kingdom, Greece, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia and Turkey. It will then touch Egypt and Lebanon, and finally to Italy, where it will touch all the main cities finally arriving, after a special ceremony in Rome, in Maranello.

Of particular interest are the 60 symbols created for the 60 events. Enamel reproductions of them by Editalia (Gruppo Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato) will be applied to the baton, and 60 posters of the symbols will also be made. What makes these symbols unique is the fact that they were produced by six different creative teams, guaranteeing a vision of the whole of great graphic and symbolic interest. The following advertising agencies were the creators: Intesta e D’Adda, Lorenzini, Vigorelli, BBDO, Alessandro Migliorini of Area Creativa, Marco Morosini, Enzo Naso of the eponymous firm, and Wolfgang Seidl of Seidldesign.

Ferrari: The History

The early part of the company’s history is inextricably linked to its founder, Enzo Ferrari, who remained a huge influence until his death in 1988. The following part of the company’s history, however, bears the stamp of Luca di Montezemolo who arrived at the end of 1991. Taking Enzo Ferrari‘s principles of innovation and courage as his starting point, Montezemolo proved himself the man to take Ferrari to previously undreamed of and apparently unattainable heights of success.

Enzo Ferrari was born in Modena on February 18, 1898, and he died on August 14, 1988, at the age of ninety. In 1929 he founded the Scuderia Ferrari, in viale Trento Trieste in Modena, to help his partners compete in motor racing. The Scudreria raced Alfa Romeos until 1938, the year in which

Enzo Ferrari became racing manager of Alfa Corse. In September 1939, however, he split from Alfa Romeo and founded Auto Avio Costruzioni Ferrari, in the old Scuderia Ferrari headquarters. While the new did some work for the Compagnia Nazionale Aeronautica di Roma, Piaggio and Riv, it mostly manufactured machine tools, specifically oleo dynamic grinding machines.

In spite of agreeing to a non-competition clause which prevented him from building cars under his name for a period of four years after the split from Alfa, Ferrari soon became work on two examples of a racing car, an 8-cylinder 1500 cc spider known as the 815 which went on to take part in the 1940 Mille Miglia.

The outbreak of World War II brought all motor racing to a halt and in 1943 the workshops moved from Modena to Maranello, where it continued manufacturing oleo dynamic grinding machines despite the fact that premises were bombed in both November 1944 and February 1945.

At the end of the war, however, work began on designing and building the very first Ferrari for, the 125 Sport, a 1500 cc 12-cylinder car which Franco Cortese debuted on the Piacenza Circuit on May 11, 1947 and two weeks later drove to victory in the Rome Grand Prix.

Since then, the Prancing Horse Cars have racked up over 5,000 successes in track and road races all over the world, creating the legend that is Ferrari today.

In order to cope with growing market demand, Enzo Ferrari sold 50 % of his share capital to the Fiat Group in 1969, an investment that increased in 90% in 1988. In 2006, Fiat raised to 85% its interest in Ferrari S.p.A. Mubadala Development Company, the Abu Dhabi investment fund, maintained a 5% stake, while Piero Ferrari holds 10%. In spite of this, however, Ferrari has always remained resolutely independent, thanks to a highly specialised output.

In 1977, the Carrozzeria Scaglietti, the famous Modena coachworks which had created Ferrari’s GT chassis’- and bodies since the 1950s, joined Ferrari. In 1977 Fiat gave Ferrari a 50% share in Maserati, the legendary Modena marque, which had it acquired in 1993. In 1999, Ferrari took over 100% of Maserati.

The historic Modenese sports car manufacturer, long a symbol of excellence and elegance, and one of the Italian car racing scene, was Ferrari’s oldest rival on the track. Its relaunch was carried out under Prancing Horse management, with both the Trident model range and factory complex undergoing a complete overhaul. With the relaunch complete, Maserati has returned to being under the direct control in April 2005.

By the end of 2006, Ferrari’s count of championship titles reads as follows: 14 F1 Drivers’ World titles, 14 F1 Constructors’ World Championships, 14 Manufacturers’ World titles, nine wins at the Le Mans 24 hours, eight at the Mille Miglia, seven at the Targa Florio, and no fewer than 192 F1 Grand Prix victories.

The legendary Prancing Horse symbol used by Ferrari has heroic origins. A highly decorated Italian World War I pilot, Francesco Baracca first adopted it as a personal emblem, painting it on the fuselage of his aircraft.

At the end of the war, Baracca’s parents entrusted the Prancing Horse symbol to Enzo Ferrari, who put it on a yellow shield (the colour of Modena) and used it as the symbol of his racing team.

The legendary Ferrari red was initially simply the colour assigned to Italian cars competing in Grand Prix races by the International Automobile Federation in the early years of the century

Event Support
Ferrari is being supported in this important endeavor by some of its historic sponsors, partners, and suppliers. In particular:

Shell. Shell was with Ferrari from the company’s founding as an important technical partner. And Shell is still a partner today, providing critical technical support for both of Ferrari’s key development activities – Scuderia Ferrari in Formula One and the company’s exclusive GT road car business. Shell events will support the Ferrari 60 celebrations in key global markets. It is an opportunity for Shell to communicate that key Shell products, like Shell V-Power fuel and Shell Helix lubricants, are “developed with Ferrari”. Today, 60 years after Enzo Ferrari created his famous line of sporting cars, the name Ferrari is famous for its uncompromising approach to performance engineering. Ferrari has chosen Shell products to go into every new Ferrari, for the road and for the track, and Shell recommends that its owners use Shell products in their cars.

Alcoa. Ferrari's strategic partner for the creation of advanced aluminum spaceframe technology. The companies began working together in the 1990's and have collaborated on four successful generations of spaceframes for Ferrari's Gran Turismo vehicles, beginning with the 360 Modena. Alcoa currently builds aluminum spaceframes for the Ferrari 612 Scaglietti, F430 and 599 GTB Fiorano in Modena. Alcoa is the world’s leading producer of primary aluminum, fabricated aluminum and aluminum products. The company supplies all key sectors of the aluminum industry, including aerospace, automobile, packaging, building and construction and commercial transportation. Alcoa is present in 44 countries and employs a workforce of more than 130,000 people.

Damiani. Master craftsman since 1924, the Damiani family has a long tradition in the jewellery business. Third generation Damiani has developed the family owned business into an international company, winning 18 International Diamond awards, an unbeatable record. They continued the development process and interpreted the tradition with the same spirit of innovation that Damiani has at its core. Every jewel Damiani produces continues to be hand-made respecting the highest artesian traditions and elegance of the Made-in-Italy style making it one of the most recognized and sought after brands in the world.

Puma. A global athletic brand that successfully fuses influences from sport, lifestyle and fashion. Puma’s unique industry perspective delivers the unexpected in sport lifestyle footwear, apparel and accessories, through technical innovation and revolutionary design. Established in Herzogenaurach, Germany in 1948, Puma distributes athletic footwear, apparel and accessories in over 80 countries worldwide. It is also Official Supplier for the Scuderia Ferrari.

System 3. A publisher of video games for 25 years and one of the oldest players in the UK, System 3 produced a number of classic nr 1 hits over the years, most notably Putty, International Karate (IK+), Constructor and the unforgettable Last Ninja series. The first European publisher to get a Billboard nr 1 in the US and the only independent UK publisher. System 3 has an enviable back catalogue of Intellectual Property rights. System 3 is a brand recognised as producing innovative entertainment software and this year will release the remake of the Epyx classics Impossible Mission and California Games as well as The Last Ninja.

Post-it®. An international brand from 3M, leader in several market segments. Post-it® supplies Ferrari with special and innovative products. 3M technologies, based on stickers, advanced materials and those related to light and microreplication systems, create a constant flow of innovative products aiming to satisfy the ever changing needs of a global market.

ENDS

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