38 Facts About Enzo Ferrari

Enzo Anselmo Giuseppe Maria Ferrari was an Italian motor racing driver and entrepreneur, the founder of the Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team, and subsequently of the Ferrari automobile marque.

Enzo Ferrari was widely known as "il Commendatore" or "il Drake".

Enzo Ferrari was said to have been born on 18 February 1898 in Modena, Italy and that his birth was recorded on 20 February because a heavy snowstorm had prevented his father from reporting the birth at the local registry office; in reality, his birth certificate states he was born on 20 February 1898, while the birth's registration took place on 24 February 1898 and was reported by the midwife.

Enzo Ferrari was the younger of two children to Alfredo Ferrari and Adalgisa Bisbini, after his elder sibling Alfredo Junior.

In 1920, Enzo Ferrari joined the racing department of Alfa Romeo as a driver.

Enzo Ferrari won his first Grand Prix in 1923 in Ravenna on the Savio Circuit.

Enzo Ferrari retired from competitive driving having participated in 41 Grands Prix with a record of 11 wins.

In memory of his death, Enzo Ferrari used the prancing horse to create the emblem that would become the world-famous Enzo Ferrari shield.

In 1937 Scuderia Enzo Ferrari was dissolved and Enzo Ferrari returned to Alfa's racing team, named "Alfa Corse".

Alfa Romeo decided to regain full control of its racing division, retaining Enzo Ferrari as Sporting Director.

Enzo Ferrari decided to battle the dominating Alfa Romeos and race with his own team.

In 1950 Enzo Ferrari enrolled in the newly born Drivers World Championship and is the only team to remain continuously present since its introduction.

Enzo Ferrari won his first world championship Grand Prix with Jose Froilan Gonzalez at Silverstone in 1951.

Apocryphally, Enzo Ferrari cried like a baby when his team finally defeated the mighty Alfetta 159.

In 1953 Enzo Ferrari made his only attempt at the Indianapolis 500.

Deeply unsatisfied with the way motorsports were covered in the Italian press, in 1961 Enzo Ferrari supported Bologna-based publisher Luciano Conti's decision to start a new publication, Autosprint.

Enzo Ferrari had previously offered Ford the opportunity to buy the firm in 1963 for US$18 million but, late in negotiations, Enzo Ferrari withdrew once he realized that Ford would not agree to grant him independent control of the company racing department.

Enzo Ferrari became a joint-stock company, and Fiat took a small share in 1965.

In 1977, Enzo Ferrari was criticized in the press for replacing World Champion Lauda with newcomer Gilles Villeneuve.

Enzo Ferrari claimed that Villeneuve's aggressive driving style reminded him of Tazio Nuvolari.

In 1981 Enzo Ferrari attempted to revive his team's fortunes by switching to turbo engines.

Some critics believe that Enzo Ferrari deliberately increased psychological pressure on his drivers, encouraging intra-team rivalries and fostering an atmosphere of intense competition for the position of number one driver.

Enzo Ferrari was one that could always appreciate the effort that a driver made, when you were just busting your butt, flat out, flinging the car, and all that.

Between 1955 and 1971 eight Ferrari drivers were killed driving Ferrari racing cars: Alberto Ascari, Eugenio Castellotti, Alfonso de Portago, Luigi Musso, Peter Collins, Wolfgang von Trips, Lorenzo Bandini and Ignazio Giunti.

In public Enzo Ferrari was careful to acknowledge the drivers who risked their life for his team, insisting that praise should be shared equally between car and driver for any race won.

Enzo Ferrari spent a reserved life, and rarely granted interviews.

Enzo Ferrari seldom left Modena and Maranello and never went to any Grands Prix outside of Italy after the 1950s.

Enzo Ferrari's last known trip abroad was in 1982 when he went to Paris to broker a compromise between the warring FISA and FOCA parties.

Enzo Ferrari never flew in an aeroplane and never set foot in a lift.

Enzo Ferrari had a second son, Piero, with his mistress Lina Lardi in 1945.

Enzo Ferrari was made a Cavaliere del Lavoro in 1952, to add to his honours of Cavaliere and Commendatore in the 1920s.

Enzo Ferrari received a number of honorary degrees, including the Hammarskjold Prize in 1962, the Columbus Prize in 1965, and the De Gasperi Award in 1987.

Enzo Ferrari was posthumously inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame and the Automotive Hall of Fame.

Enzo Ferrari died on 14 August 1988 in Maranello at the age of 90.

Enzo Ferrari's death was not made public until two days later, as by Enzo's request, to compensate for the late registration of his birth.

Enzo Ferrari witnessed the launch of the Ferrari F40 shortly before his death, which was dedicated as a symbol of his achievements.

In 2002 Ferrari began production of the Ferrari Enzo, named after its founder.

Ozil bears a striking resemblance to Enzo Ferrari, and was born two months after Enzo Ferrari's death.