Like many great stories, it starts in a little garage. In 1928, Enzo Ferrari formed Scuderia Ferrari, literally “Ferrari Stable”, and usually used to mean “Team Ferrari”, as a sponsor for amateur race drivers headquartered in Modena. Enzo Ferrari initially wasn’t interested in the idea of producing road cars; his work was about training race drivers on the Alfa Romeo. He was so successful at it that Alfa Romeo hired him to head their motor racing department. That was in 1938.
A few years later, in 1941, Mussolini’s fascist government confiscated Alfa Romeo as part of the Axis Powers’ war effort, but luckily Enzo Ferrari’s division was too small to be affected by this. Because he was prohibited by contract from racing for four years, the Scuderia briefly became Auto Avio Costruzioni Ferrari (Ferrari’s Car and Aircraft Constructions), which ostensibly produced machine tools and aircraft accessories.
During this period the company, also known as SEFAC (Scuderia Enzo Ferrari Auto Corse, Enzo Ferrari’s Racing Cars Stable), did produce one race car, the Tipo 815. It was the first actual Ferrari car, and debuted in 1940 at the Mille Miglia. Due to the war, race cars saw few competitions and the company had to wait until the return of peace to actually start producing racing cars. To make matters tougher, the factory was bombed by the Allies in 1944 and had to be rebuilt. After going through these ups and downs, the company began to include road cars in its production.
Fiat took a 50% stake in Ferrari in 1969, which expanded to 85% in 2008. Fiat currently owns 90% of Ferrari. Throughout its history, the company has been noted for its continued participation in racing, especially in Formula Uno (Formula One), where it has enjoyed great success.
One of the main personalities responsible for Ferrari’s success is Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, who has just come under scrutiny for his unexpected announcement to leave the company after 23 years of hard work .
Montezemolo was called upon by FIAT Chairman Gianni Agnelli in 1991 to become president of Ferrari and shake up the company, which had been struggling since Enzo Ferrari’s death in 1988, and was deep in debt and without recent successes on the race track.
Montezemolo quickly made changes at the Italian team, signing up Niki Lauda as consultant. During the 1990s he resurrected the Ferrari road car business from heavy debt into solid profit. He also laid the groundwork for unprecedented Formula One success by bringing in the perfectionist team boss Jean Todt, Brawn star designer Rory Byrne and, to cap it all, Michael Schumacher.
Today the reasons why the 67-year-old president is leaving Ferrari are not completely clear. He will receive a £23million pay-off on October 13 and be replaced by Fiat chief executive Sergio Marchionne, who seems to have forced Montezemolo’s exit primarily because they disagreed over the direction of the business.
What is sure is that Montezemolo’s resignation represents the biggest event in Ferrari since Enzo Ferrari’s death.
“This is the end of an era after almost 23 marvelous and unforgettable years,” said Montezemolo, “It has been a great privilege. I devoted all of my enthusiasm and commitment to it over the years. Together with my family, it was, and continues to be, the most important thing in my life.”
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