Among others, following cars will be on show at Autoworld :
The Classics
166MM, 206GT Dino, 250 Pininfarina, 275 GTB, 275GTS once the car of Rachel Welsh, 275 LM, 365GTB
Daytona, 500 Superfast, 512BB…
The Youngtimers
Testarossa, F40, 288 GTO, 550 Maranello WSR (World Speed Record), Enzo (once property of Jean Todt, …
The Moderns
La Ferrari Aperta, 599GTO, F430 Scuderia
The Competition
156 F1, F1/87 (ex-Gerard Berger) and 275GTB Competition
… and many more to discover at the exhibition!
70 years ago…
It was in 1947, at Modena, in Italy that the story took off when the first 125 S left the works of the Via Abetone
Inferiore. This sports model promptly won a race in Piacenza. It was to be the first of a long series.
Very soon other sporting models see the light of day: the 159 S and the 166 S, Corsa, MM and Sport. The
166 MM Barchetta marks a turning point in the history of the marque, as it is the first road-going Ferrari.
Some of the most prestigious Italian coachbuilders and designers are called upon to create near-on unique
models: Vignale, Ghia, Touring but especially Pininfarina whose collaboration, which came about in 1952
(with the creation of a cabriolet for the Scuderia Georges Filipinetti), continues to this day. The Ferrari 250 GT
California Spyder (Pininfarina – Scaglietti) is reputed to be “one of the most beautiful of the Ferrari cars and
one of the most gorgeous convertibles in the history of the automobile”.
The ‘60s are crucial years for the marque. In 1960, not only is the Ferrari 250 GTE the first Ferrari to be
produced in series to 900 models, but more especially Ferrari becomes a public limited company (SEFAC).
Taken on by Ford, the American giant gives him a hard time in races over more than five years.
Notwithstanding its successes, Ferrari contends with financial difficulties. In 1969, Enzo Ferrari sells 50% of
the PLC’s shares to Gianni Agnelli, CEO of the Fiat group. Some 1,395 models of the Ferrari Daytona models
then roll off the line, but it does not enjoy the hoped for success due to a rather unstable political environment.
Several months after the death of the “Commendatore” in August 1988, the Fiat group becomes the majority
shareholder but, five years later, the company manages to sell no more than 2,289 cars and is given up for
dead.
In 2004, Agnelli appoints Luca di Montezemolo (a former assistant of Enzo Ferrari) to head up Ferrari. The
latter swiftly increases the turnover. Even so the company’s policy is to remain closer to handcraft than to
industrial production, in accordance with the “Formula Uomo” (“Human Formula”) placing the human
well-being at the heart of the constructor’s considerations.
Since the beginning of 2016, Ferrari is no longer a part of the Fiat group.
The Prancing Horse
The story remained controversial for a long time. One even suspected that Enzo Ferrari had invented it out of
whole cloth to nourish his own legend, however documents indisputably prove that it concerns the cavalry
regiment’s emblem of Francesco Baracca, a First Word War Italian fighter pilot ace, which was offered to
Enzo Ferrari by Francesco Baracca’s mother.
The “Scudetto” became Ferrari’s emblem with the letters S F (for Scuderia Ferrari).
Practical details
Autoworld - Esplanade du Cinquantenaire – 1000 Brussels
Open daily – even on Monday – from 10.00 through to 18.00hrs
Museum entrance fee
10€/adults - 8€/seniors – 7€/students - 4€/children 6-12 years – free for under
6 years.
Information
www.autoworld.be
Images … Peter Singhof
www.ClassicCarPhotography.de
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