Ferrari Anniversary 1947-2007 Sixty Years

Recent years have seen the centenaries of many motor industry marques which, from small beginnings, grew to become major companies famous throughout the world. The celebration of these anniversaries serves to remind us of the economic significance of the birth of the motor car and gives occasion for the retelling of the remarkable stories of the pioneering figures whose imagination inspired technological development. Their expanding factories went on to become major contributors to general economic growth and to the improvement of popular lifestyle throughout the world. By the end of the Second World War most of these veteran companies had a firm hold on automobile manufacture and marketing, yet at this time a new constructor emerged in Italy with a mission to promote the prestige of Italian motor sport and technology. That constructor was Enzo Ferrari. A former racing driver and, from 1930 to 1937, manager of Alfa Romeo's race team, he was a man of strong personality and iron will, with incomparable experience acquired over many years in the workshop and on the racing circuits. He was driven by an unshakable passion to demonstrate that the cars that count were those that raced. In 1947 he was able to prove that his little Maranello workshop had all that was necessary to aspire to the greatest glories on the track and to become the birthplace of fantastic Grand Touring cars. It only took a few years for this newest member of a great international elite to establish himself and excel beyond all others in generating extraordinary sporting success and image. In celebrating the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Ferrari marque, the success in competition should also be acknowledged: 26 world titles the Scuderia has won, 14 of them in Formula 1, seven in the World Championship of Makes and five in other disciplines - as well as a myriad of victories achieved throughout the world of which it is practically impossible to keep a precise count. In the course of sixty years, unforgettable men and machines have come together to experience bitter disappointments and clamorous triumphs in a unique and unrepeatable past, which are commemorated in these pages in a year by year account, focused on the most important event of that year such as a motorsport achievement, the launch of a landmark road car or a significant human interest story.