Enzo Ferrari was an Alfa Romeo salesman and racing driver when he founded Scuderia Ferrari in 1929, using wealthy gentlemen drivers to fund a stable that hired professionals such as Antonio Ascari, Giuseppe Campari and Tazio Nuvolari. When Alfa Romeo withdrew its works team in 1933, Scuderia Ferrari raced its cars as an unofficial proxy, winning 144 of 225 races between 1929 and 1937. Alfa absorbed the team back into Milan in 1937, and Ferrari left in 1939 with a settlement and a four-year non-compete barring his name from racing or cars. Under Auto Avio Costruzioni he built one car, the 815, then made hydraulic grinding machines and aircraft parts during the war, moving to Maranello, where the factory was bombed in 1944 and 1945.

In 1947 the first car bearing his name, the V12-powered 125 S, left Maranello. The prancing horse came from Paolina Baracca, mother of World War I ace Francesco Baracca, whom Ferrari met after winning at Ravenna in 1923; he placed it on Modena’s canary yellow, while red was Italy’s mandated racing color. In 1963 Ford came close to buying the company, but Ferrari walked out over a clause requiring Detroit approval for racing spending, and Henry Ford II answered with the GT40, which ended Ferrari’s six-year Le Mans streak in 1966. In 1969 Fiat bought 50 percent and took over road cars while Ferrari kept full control of racing. He resisted mid-engine cars before the 1967 Dino 206 GT, and the 1987 F40 was the last car he approved before his death in 1988.

• Ferrari was known for pitting his own drivers against each other.
• He argued the engine belonged in front because the horse pulls the cart.
• The company reorganized as a public entity in 1960.
• His son Piero still holds the 10 percent personal stake Ferrari retained.
• Brand Finance later named Ferrari the world’s strongest brand.