YEARS

DENNIS ADLER
Updated by Matt Stone
Foreword by Luigi Chinetti, Jr.
© 2021 Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc.

Text © 2016, 2021 Dennis Adler

Photography © Dennis Adler and Ferrari S.p.A, except where noted

First published in 2006 by Random House. Second edition published in 2016 by Motorbooks,
an imprint of The Quarto Group, 100 Cummings Center, Suite 265-D, Beverly, MA 01915, USA.
T (978) 282-9590 F (978) 283-2742 QuartoKnows.com

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the
copyright owners. All images in this book have been reproduced with the knowledge and prior consent of the
artists concerned, and no responsibility is accepted by producer, publisher, or printer for any infringement of
copyright or otherwise, arising from the contents of this publication. Every effort has been made to ensure that
credits accurately comply with information supplied. We apologize for any inaccuracies that may have occurred
and will resolve inaccurate or missing information in a subsequent reprinting of the book.

Motorbooks titles are also available at discount for retail, wholesale, promotional, and bulk purchase. For
details, contact the Special Sales Manager by email at specialsales@quarto.com or by mail at The Quarto Group,
Attn: Special Sales Manager, 100 Cummings Center, Suite 265-D, Beverly, MA 01915, USA.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Originally found under the following Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Adler, Dennis, 1948- author.

Title: Ferrari 70 years / Dennis Adler ; foreword by Luigi Chinetti, Jr.
Other titles: Ferrari | Ferrari seventy years
Description: Minneapolis, MN : Motorbooks, an imprint of Quarto Publishing
Group USA Inc., 2016. | Revised edition of Ferrari / Dennis Adler ;
foreword by Luigi Chinetti, Jr. New York : Random House, c2006. | Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016022300 | ISBN 9780760351895 (hc w/jacket)
Subjects: LCSH: Ferrari automobile—History.
Classification: LCC TL215.F47 A35 2016 | DDC 338.7/6292220945—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016022300

ISBN: 978-0-7603-7209-8

Acquiring Editor: Zack Miller

Project Manager: Madeleine Vasaly
Art Direction and Cover Design: Cindy Samargia Laun
Book Design: Keith Betterley
Additional Layout: Rebecca Pagel, Cindy Samargia Laun
Frontis: Klemantaski Collection/Getty Images

Printed in China
 For Jeanne, whose love and encouragement over the years has inspired
my writing; my friend Luigi “Coco” Chinetti, first of our “four musketeers”
who shared the great tales of his late father, Luigi Chinetti, Sr., and his
tempestuous relationship with Enzo Ferrari as the two men created an
automotive legend; and in memory of our two dear friends, fellow authors
Steve Fjestad and R. L. Wilson, who were there with us in Italy when
I began writing the original Ferrari—The Road From Maranello so many
years ago. They may be gone but they will never be forgotten.

Dennis Adler
January 2021
Contents

Foreword by Luigi Chinetti, Jr. ..........................................................................................................................................................................................vi

Introduction: Cisitalia—Realization of the Modern Sports Car ................................................................................................ xv

Chapter 1
Zero to Seventy-Five Years—The Evolution of Ferrari ...........................................................................................................................................................3

Chapter 2
Enzo Ferrari’s Venture—An Independent Decision .............................................................................................................................................................23

Chapter 3
Early Road and Race Cars—Building an Image on Road and Track ..........................................................................................................................45

Chapter 4
Road Cars of the 1950s ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................69

Chapter 5
The Dino—A Tribute to Enzo’s Son .............................................................................................................................................................................................117
Chapter 6
Coming of Age in America—Ferraris of the 1960s and 1970s ...............................................................................................................................133

Chapter 7
The North American Connection .........................................................................................................................................................................................159

Chapter 8
The 1970s and a New Look ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 203

Chapter 9
Ferrari Road Cars—1980s and 1990s ...............................................................................................................................................................................199

Chapter 10
The Twenty-First-Century Ferrari ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 264

Acknowledgments............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 308

Index ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................310
 Foreword

By Luigi Chinetti, Jr.

There have been many examples of iconic figures in the automobile

and automobile racing world. One can think of the great Ettore Bugatti,
whose blue racers and sports cars evoke images of carefree days in the

1920s, and whose personal mystique evoked class and aristocracy.

Bugatti’s natural successor was Enzo Ferrari, who created his own

mystique from relatively humble beginnings immediately after World

War I, to the point where today, thirty-three years after his passing on

August 14, 1988, he is still revered as a man who pursued a dream of

his own and created a legend in his lifetime.

For me it is a particular pleasure to be asked to write this Foreword

to Dennis Adler’s book because my father, Luigi Chinetti, shared

almost every step of Mr. Ferrari’s often turbulent career and helped to

create here, in the United States, the legend that is Ferrari today.

Right: Luigi Chinetti, Jr., photographed by the author outside one

of the Maranello factories during a tour of Ferrari facilities in 1998.

ix
 Picture, if you will, the early 1920s: A war had rav-

aged Europe, leaving it in financial and political turmoil.

The enthusiasm for automobile racing was still strong,

and these times saw a young Enzo Ferrari competing

with Alfa Romeo, alongside greats such as Giuseppe

Campari and Antonio Ascari. Ferrari was quick and

justified his place on the team with a win in the Coppa

Acerbo in 1924.

My father began working with Alfa Romeo at exactly

the same time, and fate was to bring him and Mr. Ferrari

together and create a bond that existed for more than sixty

years. How well my father knew Mr. Ferrari back in those

days I do not know, but for sure the lives of both men

were to become intertwined through their joint passion

for automobile racing.

Around 1931, Alfa Romeo sent my father to Paris,

where he was known as a specialist in the marque and was

to open his own garage. It was there that he developed his

Chinetti, Jr., driving the 365 GTB/4 Daytona

to class victory at Le Mans in 1971.
 Foreword

skill in persuading wealthy young Frenchmen to buy Alfa Romeos and ing on a cold winter day in 1946 when my father and Enzo Ferrari

then helping them to race. One was Raymond Sommer, one of France’s sat down and created the seeds that were to develop into the Ferrari

finest drivers. My father sold Sommer a 2300 Alfa Romeo, and with it concern we know today. One must remember that Italy had been

the two of them won the 1932 Le Mans 24 Hour race. devastated by the war, and everything was in short supply; yet the

It was to be the first of my father’s three Le Mans wins. He won two of them shared a dream that saw beyond those privations, to a

his second Le Mans in 1934, with another French driver, Philippe time when people would indulge themselves once more in automo-

Etancelin, again in an Alfa Romeo, and he went on to compete in every biles and racing. The agreement they came to that day was simple.

Le Mans race until the beginning of World War II. It was a good life, Mr. Ferrari would build the cars, and Dad would commit to sell-

but the political climate in Europe, with the rise of fascism in both ing them. These were not just race cars but Ferraris for the street as

Germany under Adolf Hitler and Italy under Benito Mussolini, was to well. The two men could see that selling the road cars would pro-

bring an end to this special era. vide money for the racing exploits. It was a marriage made in heaven.

The historians have amply stated that, during the 1930s, Enzo Ferrari Despite the aforementioned problems, immediately after the war,

had moved from actually racing cars to organizing and running many Ferrari had the charm and charisma to motivate a workforce that

of Alfa Romeo’s racing efforts under his own name, Scuderia Ferrari. was being heavily influenced by the Communist Party. Most compa-

He operated from his premises at 31 Viale Trento Trieste in the center nies in Italy were beleaguered by lightning strikes, but his was spared

of his hometown of Modena. much of this disruption.

It was only when I was in my teens that I fully realized the impor- As I understand it, my father returned to Paris as well during this

tance of my having been present, as a little boy, at the famous meet- period and, thanks to the network of influential friends he had built

xi
 up before the war, was able to persuade two of the most successful I think it was Ferrari’s victories in long-distance sports car racing

French businessmen of the time, Michelle Paul Cavallier and Pierre in late 1940s and 1950s that truly established the name. From then

Louis Dreyfus, to put much-needed capital into Ferrari, to help with onward the Ferrari legend simply grew and grew. Ask enthusiasts

production, and to create a company that it was hoped would become today about the truly great cars of the postwar period, and the majority

a success on both the circuits of the world and the public roads. Money of those mentioned will carry the name Ferrari; the 250 GT Short

was not wasted, and these investments enabled my father to participate Wheelbase, the Spyder California, the 250 GTO, all of them powered

in and win events such as the Spa 24 Hour race, the 12 Hours of Paris by the indestructible Ferrari V12 engine.

at Montlhéry, and, of course, the 1949 Le Mans 24 Hours. In 1956, Dad created the North American Racing Team (NART) in

During this period, Dad set out to make Ferrari known in the United order to provide an umbrella under which our clients and promising

States, and to this end he sold Briggs Cunningham the first Ferrari car new drivers could compete in various events both in the United States

imported to these shores. With that car Cunningham was to win at and around the world. In this way we were able to bring these drivers,

Watkins Glen in 1949, thus starting the Ferrari legend in America. who perhaps did not have the financial backing to race at their potential

However, while introducing the Ferrari into the United States, level, together with other drivers who did. Both could profit from these

Dad was also very instrumental in developing the marque in Europe, partnerships, which gave one the chance to prove his mettle and the

by presenting these early models, the 166 and the 212, in shows other the chance to improve himself through the garnered experience.

like Paris and Geneva. He arranged for Vignale to build, based on The team could be called a family of clients, drivers, mechanics,

Giovanni Michelotti’s designs, some of the most stunning, in my and volunteers, all out to strive for the best results possible. This

opinion, road cars of the era. relationship became fact when our car won Le Mans in 1965, giving

xii
 Foreword

Dad his first Le Mans victory as a team owner and Ferrari his last matched with an engineering prowess of extraordinary capabilities.

victory at Le Mans. I was lucky to catch the tail end of this period, To be fair, there are other cars that can be as fast today, that can be

before the circuits were somewhat emasculated by chicanes and as striking, that can have a certain cachet and even have a history

Armco. To be able to race the fabulous Ferrari 312P cars at Sebring of significance. To have it all together in one wonderful automobile,

and Daytona was for me a privilege and a high point in my life. I you must be sitting in one that has a little black horse in the center

state this even considering the fact that I was fortunate in winning, of the steering wheel.

with Bob Grossman, my category at Le Mans in 1971 and, in doing Over the same years since 2006, Ferrari has changed substantially,

so, bringing the 365 GTB/4 Daytona into the history books. melding with Maserati and Alfa Romeo in a variety of models

Having penned the preceding commentary some fifteen years ago under the Fiat umbrella, and still the Ferraris of today are known

and now, having read it once again, I realize just how fortunate I have and revered for their advanced engineering, individuality, and

been to have known a number of the people whose passions, dreams, extraordinary designs.

and skills built the foundations upon which Ferrari of today relies as Dennis Adler’s latest book continues a portrayal of the fascinating

it builds its own structure . . . and it does so with extraordinary speed story of Enzo Ferrari and his cars over the last seventy-five years

and frequency. With Ferrari 75 Years, Dennis Adler demonstrates with photography that brings back many memories, not only for me

this by introducing you, dear reader, to the Ferraris that the current but, I am sure, for every enthusiast of the Cavallino Rampante. The

talent in Maranello has brought to market in just the last few years; the name Enzo Ferrari will live forever in the history of the sporting

F12 Berlinetta, F8 Tributo, 812 Superfast, Portifino, and F90 Stradale, automobile, and I feel privileged that our family played a part in a

among others. They represent a style quite particular to themselves true-life automotive fairy tale.

xiii
 Introduction
Cisitalia—Realization of the Modern Sports Car

There is a beginning to every story, and often the

beginning has little to do with how the story ends.
Such is the tale of the Cisitalia, a design in search of a car.

Throughout the first five decades of the twentieth century, the

automobile had captivated the French, the Germans, and the British,
but it had somehow consumed the Italians. Driving and racing be-

came such a national obsession that during the Great Depression, the

Italian government purchased shares of Alfa Romeo stock to ensure

the company’s solvency through the 1930s! You see, it was a matter

of national pride. Alfa Romeo was Italy’s Motorsports champion. The

four-time winner of France’s Vingt-quatre Heures du Mans and

the victor in ten consecutive Mille Miglias. Such unparalleled

success could warrant no lesser fate than surviving the worst of

economic times. In 1981 the Art Center College of Design cosponsored an exhibition with Fiat Motors of
North America. Among the cars shown was Pininfarina’s dazzling Cisitalia 202. It’s not a
This national passion for motor racing drew a wealthy Italian Ferrari, but its clean, elegant shape set the tone for several Ferraris to come in the 1950s.
As a product of the immediate post-WWII era, this coupe is lauded for its advanced design
industrialist named Piero Dusio into the sport after World War II. language, which did away with many pre-war cues such as running boards, clamshell-style
fenders not integrated into the car’s body, and independent headlight structures not built
Like Enzo Ferrari, he had made his fortune selling war materials to and fared into the front fenders. INTERFOTO/Alamy Stock Photo

Introduction: Cisitalia—Realization of the Modern Sports Car xv

Right and Below: The Cisitalia 202
was a landmark design. Said Pininfarina
of his father’s most important automotive
design, “It was the best car he ever did. The
Cisitalia was exhibited in the Museum of
Modern Art in New York, and I think it set
the pace for the design of sports cars.” Karl
Ludvigsen Photograph Collection/REVS
Institute

the Italian government. But unlike Ferrari, Dusio had found it profitable, even being

on the losing side, and in 1946 he financed the development of an entire class of single-

seat race cars, known by the graceful contraction of Consorzio Industriale Sportivo

Italia, Cisitalia (eloquently pronounced “cheez-e-tahl-ya”).

Dusio engaged the services of a talented Fiat engineer named Dante Giacosa, who

designed a simple, Fiat-based race car that could be produced profitably in reasonable

numbers. He also hired the former Fiat experimental engineer Dr. Giovanni Savonuzzi

to put the car into production and none other than the great Piero Taruffi to test the first

example. By August 1946, Cisitalia had produced seven of the new Tipo D46 Monopostos.

In their debut race, the Cisitalias took the first three places, and in 1947 the legendary race

driver Tazio Nuvolari steered his sports version of the Cisitalia to a second-place finish

xvi Ferrari
 Left:
The rake of the back-
light as it fit into the
sweeping rear of
the body was another
styling theme that
would be perpetuated
through the 1950s
and ’60s.

Below:
The author met with
Sergio Pininfarina in
1981 for the first of their
many interviews over
the years. Pininfarina
was fifty-five years old
at the time and recalled
with great humor his
early days working for
Mr. Ferrari.

in the Mille Miglia. Orders for the D46 began to roll in. Now Dusio wanted to do the same for sports cars and

underwrote the development of another Cisitalia model, the 202.

In the late 1940s, England, France, and Germany were still reeling from the destruction wrought by six years of

war. Italy, however, being a country motivated by its love of wine, automobiles, and racing, was among the first to

resume production. In 1946, Dusio paid the equivalent of one million francs to secure the freedom of Ferdinand

Porsche from a French prison. The Porsche family repaid the favor by designing the scintillating four-wheel-drive

Cisitalia twelve-cylinder Formula One Grand Prix car for Dusio and his friend Nuvolari. Dusio then spent the last

of his fortune for the design and development of the 1947 and 1948 Cisitalia 202 sports cars.

Introduction: Cisitalia—Realization of the Modern Sports Car xvii

 Left:
The smoothly crowned
fenders and oval grille
were portents of things
to come from Pinin
Farina in 1947.

Right:
The ovoid ports were
among many Cisitalia styl-
ing cues that would be
seen for years to come
on both European and
American automobiles.

For the Tipo 202, Savonuzzi had completed a preliminary layout including the magnificent 1952–54 Nash-Healey, the first American

at Dusio’s request, but it was Battista Pinin Farina who finalized the sporting car to have a chassis and suspension engineered in England

architecture of the body and built the first two Cisitalia 202 coupes. When (by Donald Healey) and a body designed and built in Italy.

the first 202 appeared at the 1947 Villa d’Este Concours d’Elegance, the The Cisitalia 202 was the finest expression of Pinin Farina’s highly

automotive world was astounded by both the simplicity of its design personal style, one that was both simple and functional, in contrast to

and its fresh approach to sports car styling. Not only did the Cisitalia the then current French design idiom, which was to overstate every

send every automobile designer in the world back to the drawing line of a vehicle with coachwork, something Pinin Farina regarded as

board but it catapulted Pinin Farina into the postwar spotlight as the both complex and irrational.

most renowned stylist on both sides of the Atlantic. In the 1950s he The Cisitalia ignited within Italy the granturismo movements in

would become the first Italian to design cars for American automakers, which a body was conceived as a single profile rather than as a

xviii Ferrari
 A swept-back roofline
and crowned rear
fenders brought
the enveloped body
into harmony as it
wrapped around the
back of the car.

construct of separate panels, as in the traditional prewar blueprint surrounded by the swept-back, handcrafted Cisitalia body. Although

of hood, fenders, body, and trunk being individual components. the little Fiat engine developed a mere 50 horsepower, the aerodynamic

The sleek envelope styling exemplified by the Cisitalia gained lines of the Cisitalia allowed the car to cheat the wind and reach a top

momentum through the 1950s, particularly in the realm of high- speed of 100 miles per hour! Thus the Cisitalia became the symbol

performance sports car design, with smoothly flowing bodies that of the enveloping body, a school of design that would be emulated

satisfied both the eye of the customer and the ideals of the engineer. throughout Europe for the next two decades.

The Cisitalia Granturismo Berlinettas produced in 1947 and 1948 However, by 1949 Consorzio Industriale Sportivo Italia was broke.

were built atop simple Fiat 1100S mechanicals, but one could overlook Dusio sold the remains and departed for Buenos Aires, along with the

the languid four-cylinder in-line monoblock engine beneath the hood Grand Prix race car designed by Porsche. All that was left of his short-

and the Italian automaker’s ordinary underpinnings when they were lived enterprise was a handful of stunning Cisitalia 202 Berlinettas.

Introduction: Cisitalia—Realization of the Modern Sports Car xix

 Right:
The interior of the
Cisitalia was also of
Pininfarina’s design
and gave new
brilliance to the
otherwise pedestrian
Fiat 1100S.

Bottom left:
Split windshields were
still being used in 1947,
but Pininfarina gave
the Cisitalia a stylish
curve at the top and
bottom. The advent
of one-piece, curved-
glass windshields would
be one of the very few
improvements in 1950s
sports car design not
derived from the Cisitalia.

Bottom right:
The Cisitalia Granturismo
Berlinettas produced
in 1947 and 1948 were
built atop a simple Fiat
1100S platform, with
a four-cylinder inline
monoblock engine and
ordinary underpinnings,
all soon forgiven
when surrounded by
handcrafted Cisitalia
bodies. Michael Ward/
Magic Car Pics

xx Ferrari
 Left:
One can see the Cisitalia’s
influence on the 1953
Nash-Healey, the first
American sports car
designed by Battista Pinin
Farina. Nash president
George Mason insisted
that the hybrid American-
British-Italian car have
a distinguishable Nash
Ambassador grille, which
Pininfarina worked into
the design. The massive
chromed grille with
integrated headlights
was a little heavy-handed
compared with the sweet
lines of the Cisitalia.

Below right:
The sweeping fender-
line of the Nash-Healey is
almost identical to that of
the 1947 Cisitalia 202.

Piero Dusio had bet the bank on a sports car and lost, but

his money bought the most important design of the postwar era.
The significance of the Cisitalia is exemplified by its selection for

the 1951 New York Museum of Modern Art exhibition Eight

Automobiles. It came to be regarded as the perfect example of

sports car design. In 1972, Carrozzeria Pininfarina donated a 202

to MOMA’s permanent collection, where the legendary Cisitalia

now serves as an example of machine art.

Introduction: Cisitalia—Realization of the Modern Sports Car xxi

Ferrari
Luigi Chinetti had defied Ferrari’s wishes. Enzo had said he would not build a spyder (convertible) version of the 275 GTB/4 Berlinetta

(coupe). Chinetti thought otherwise. He ordered ten of the new Berlinetta models and sent them just down the road from Maranello to

Sergio Scaglietti, the master coachbuilder who had produced so many stunning Ferrari bodies. There, the ten fixed-head cars were rebuilt

and, with Scaglietti’s mastery, reborn as 275 GTS/4 convertibles. The cars were all shipped to Chinetti’s Greenwich, Connecticut, dealership

and sold under the NART (North American Racing Team) name. In what could be deemed the final insult, Scaglietti had painted the

very first car received by Chinetti a pale shade of sun yellow, or giallo solare in Italian. When the non-factory-authorized Ferrari was

scheduled to be raced at Sebring in 1967, Il Commendatore’s ire could no longer be contained. Enzo did not believe yellow was a proper

color for a competition car bearing his name—they had always been red, and he told Chinetti so in no uncertain terms. Shrugging it off,

Chinetti replied in his Italian-laced English dialect, “Probably, the scorers do not miss yellow so easily.” Ferrari peered over his sunglasses,

shook his head, and with a dismissive gesture replied indignantly, “Tu hai fatto un taxi” (You have made a taxicab!).
 Chapter 1
Zero to Seventy-Five Years—The Evolution of Ferrari

So many automobiles, so many names,

but none can stir the imagination like the mention of Ferrari

In December 1946, one of the most important meetings in was in Paris and wanted to visit Ferrari in Modena that night to

automotive history took place. It involved only two men, whose discuss an idea.

futures were to become intertwined and from whose combined efforts Chinetti had worked with Ferrari at Alfa Romeo in the 1930s, and

would emerge a marque that has come to be known the world over the two had become distant friends, Chinetti having moved to the

as the last word and, for many, the only word in sports cars—Ferrari. United States before the war. He was visiting France and Italy that

After retiring as director of the legendary Scuderia Ferrari, Alfa December when he got word of Ferrari’s quandary. Chinetti knew

Romeo’s almost unbeatable factory-supported racing team, Enzo of a market for Ferrari’s race cars, back home in the United States,

Ferrari established Auto Avio Costruzione to build racing cars under where wealthy sportsmen were raring to go motor racing now that

his own name. Unfortunately, no sooner had he started than Hitler’s the war was over. He explained this to Ferrari, and together they

invasion of Poland in September 1939 ignited World War II. made a decision to enter into business; Ferrari would build the cars,
The first Ferrari did
Ferrari managed to earn a living during the war by building ma- and Chinetti would sell them. That was the beginning of a relation- not exactly receive
rave reviews in the
chine tools for the military, but with the end of the conflict and Italy ship that would become legendary.
Italian press. After it
defeated, there was little need for his tools, and even less demand for Within a year Ferrari was producing a small number of appeared at Piacenza
in 1947, one Italian
Italian race cars. Ferrari faced a grim future until he received a phone twelve-cylinder race cars, and Chinetti was building the America newspaper referred to
the Tipo 125 as “small,
call on Christmas Eve 1946. It was an old friend, Luigi Chinetti. He distributorship. red, and ugly.”

Zero to Seventy-Five Years—The Evolution of Ferrari 3

 The most significant of one helped finance the other as
all early Ferrari body
Chinetti continued to bring the
styles, the 166 Mille
Miglia designed by world to Ferrari’s doorstep.
Carrozzeria Touring.
The earliest examples Among the most stylish of
appeared in 1948. After
the debut, the 166 MM early Ferrari road cars were
was called the Touring
Barchetta, barchetta those built by Carrozzeria Vig-
meaning “small boat”
in Italian. The 166 MM nale. The luxurious Vignale 212
established Ferrari’s
Inter was intended as a touring
bold, oval grille design.
car but also managed to acquit

itself quite well when pressed

into competition. A pair of 212

Road Cars and Race Cars Inters finished first and second

The difference between race cars and road cars in the early post- in the 1951 Carrera PanAmericana, with Piero Taruffi and Luigi

war era was strictly a matter of interpretation. The race cars could, Chinetti in the lead car, and Alberto Ascari and Luigi Villoresi close

for the most part, be driven on the road, and the handful of road behind.

cars produced were also suitable for racing. But like the visually Between 1948 and 1952, Ferrari continued to increase the swept

stunning 166 MM Barchetta, most were far from practical. What volume of his twelve-cylinder engines, with each succeeding version

Ferrari needed most for his nonracing clientele was a convert- more fortunate in competition than the last and possessing increas-

ible, and in 1949 the first Ferrari convertible made its debut at the ingly attractive coachwork by Touring, Pininfarina, and Vignale.

Geneva Motor Show. The 225 S or Sport followed the design of the 212 Inter, with a

The next significant turning point in Ferrari road car production Colombo short-block V12, now with a swept volume of 2.7 liters.

came in 1951 with the introduction of the Tipo 212. Whereas racing The 225 S shared the 212’s chassis, with double wishbone, transleaf

had once been Enzo Ferrari’s sole raison d’être, the design and produc- spring front, rigid axle semielliptic spring rear suspension, and the

tion of road cars had now taken on equal importance. The profits from same physical dimensions.

4 Ferrari
 The 356 Cabriolet was
the top of the luxury line
for Porsche. Aimed at
higher-end buyers, the
SC model was intro-
duced in 1963 as the
first of the new C series
Cabriolets. The Cabrio-
let, however, had its be-
ginning in the 1950s as
a 356A model like the
1954 356 1300S Cabri-
olet pictured. The Cabri-
olets reached their final
evolution just as the new
911 was being readied
for introduction as a 1964
model. The 356C and
SC models remained
in production through
March 1966, when the
final 356/1600 SC was
completed, bringing to
an end eighteen years
of 356 series production.
Heritage Images /
Getty Images

Headlong into the 1950s and 1960s dividual carrozziera, and this was to become the defining charac-

By the mid-1950s, Ferrari was producing a substantial number of teristic of Ferrari road cars in the 1950s and 1960s.

road cars, and the separation between them and those built for During the early part of the 1950s, Ferrari’s road cars varied from

competition was becoming more clearly defined. However, to say the 212 series (which remained in production until October 1953)

that there was a “production” Ferrari in the 1950s that could not be through the 340 America (1951–52), 342 America (1952–53), and

raced would be a bit of a stretch, as would the suggestion that there 375 America, introduced in 1953. These were the first road cars to

was such a thing as a “production” Ferrari—underneath, perhaps, carry the Ferrari name successfully beyond Italy, particularly to the

but the design and construction of bodies remained the work of in- United States, where Luigi Chinetti had now established Ferrari as

Zero to Seventy-Five Years—The Evolution of Ferrari 5

 dous horsepower and displacement. It would come to be known as

the 410 Superamerica.

Although Pininfarina had created several significant body de-

signs for Ferrari by 1956, the shape of the 410 Superamerica was per-

haps the most important in cementing the bond between these two

great companies. Only nine examples of the 410 Superamerica were

produced by Pininfarina in the original 1956 style, but the influence

of the car’s groundbreaking design would be felt for years to come.

Beneath the Superamerica’s long hood was another marvel, a

Lampredi-designed V12 increased to almost 5 liters in displacement

At Spa-Francorchamps the most prestigious line of imported sports and racing cars in the (302.7 cubic inches) and delivering a wheel-spinning 340 horse-
in 1949, Luigi Chinetti
drove a 166 MM to country. At this same time in the 1950s, Max Hoffman was also im- power at 6,000 revolutions per minute. Versions produced in 1958
victory in the twenty-
porting and selling the rear-engined Porsche 356 coupes, cabriolets, and 1959 developed a chest-swelling 400 horsepower at 6,500 rpm.
four-hour event. The
Klemantaski Collection— and Speedster models through his New York City dealership, along The Lampredi V12 said ciao to the Cadillac- and Chrysler-powered
www.klemcoll.com
with the Mercedes-Benz 300SL and 190 SL. The United States was race cars as it dusted them off in sports car competition.

witnessing the birth of the imported sports car, but none as exclusive

as Enzo Ferrari’s, the crown jewels of European road and race cars.

Upon entering the American market, Ferrari discovered that,

though American cars were heavy, chrome-laden machines, their

engines were very powerful, with large displacements and tremen-

The 212 Inter and Export
dous horsepower. When big Cadillac and Chrysler engines were
models bodied by
Vignale were the height used to power race cars like the British Allards, those cars were out-
of Italian styling in the
early 1950s. The styling running Ferrari in sports car competitions. To level the playing field,
influence of the Cisitalia
could still be seen. Enzo embarked upon the design of a comparable V12 with tremen-

6 Ferrari
 Ferrari’s 225 S is one of
the most beautiful race
cars ever designed by
Carrozzeria Vignale. A
listing of serial numbers
shows that about
twenty were built during
the model’s single year
of production, 1952,
and that all but one had
coachwork by Vignale.

Below:
With a need to build
road cars as well as
race cars, Ferrari
introduced its first
convertible in 1949.
Bodied by Stabilimenti
Farina, it was shown
at the Geneva Salon
in 1949. Luigi Chinetti,
Sr., was there to debut
the first Ferrari ever
displayed at a motor
show outside Italy.

The Great Road Cars

The lineage of the 250 GT series abounds with one legendary car after another, more so than

any other model in Ferrari history, even to this day. Topping that list are cars with unforgettable

names like Tour de France and GTO. The Tour de France, a name affectionately given the early

250 GT models following their domination of the ten-day race in 1956, remained in production

until 1959, by which time a new benchmark Ferrari model, the 250 GT Short Wheelbase Ber-

linetta, was waiting in the wings, ready to take Ferrari into the next decade.

Ferrari unveiled the 250 GT SWB at the Paris Motor Show in October 1959. Built on a 94.5-

inch wheelbase, its overall length was only 163.5 inches (13.6-feet). The blunt-looking fastback

Zero to Seventy-Five Years—The Evolution of Ferrari 7

 The 410 Superamerica
redefined the Ferrari image
in the early 1950s with a
high-performance V12
designed to compete with
America’s big V8s. This is a
Series III example, the last
of twelve built between
1958 and 1959. With the
highest output of the
410 Superamerica line, a
rousing 400 horsepower
from its Lampredi-
designed 4.9-liter engine,
this was the most powerful
road car Ferrari had
yet delivered into the
hands of its customers.
Photographs by Don Spiro

carried a classic Colombo-designed, 60-degree, 3-liter V12 beneath its elongated hood. As a result

of the car’s design, shorter overall length, reduced weight and increased output—280 horsepower at

7,000 revolutions per minute versus 260 horsepower at 7,000 rpm for the Tour de France—the Short

Wheelbase Berlinetta was faster and handled better than its famous predecessors. All of the cars were

equipped with four-speed synchromesh gearboxes and later models were offered with electric over-

drive. The 250 GT SWB was also the first GT Ferrari sold with disc brakes.

The now coveted 250 GT SWB Spyder California made its debut at the Geneva Salon in March

1960. These examples were equipped with new heads and larger valves, increasing output by 20 horse-

power to 280 at 7,000 rpm. The track was widened on SWB models, which were also the first to

switch from lever-type shock absorbers to adjustable telescopic units. The 250 GT was also offered

with a longer 102.4-inch wheelbase designated as the 250 GT LWB, which was to become one of the

marque’s most revered models.

8 Ferrari
 The styling influence of the 410
Superamerica can be seen in this
1958 250 GT Tour de France race car.

Below:
The Pininfarina styling established by the 410
Superamerica can still be seen in the 250 GT
Spyder California.

The Spyder California, in either wheelbase, was one of the first Ferrari “driver’s cars,” ca-

pable of exceptional speed and handling yet comfortable and luxurious enough for daily

use. The last example, chassis 4167 GT, was sold in the United States in February 1963.

In October 1962 came the debut of the strikingly sleek 250 GT Berlinetta Lusso through

which Pininfarina established a new level of style and luxury for Ferrari road cars. Here

was an awe-inspiring stretch of automobile that even today rivals Maranello’s latest aero-

dynamic designs, like the 2021 Roma 2+ Coupe. Production of this now highly collect-

ible 1960s GT totaled only 350 from its introduction at the Paris Motor Show in October

of 1962 until the final body left the Scaglietti atelier in 1964. When the last Lusso pulled

away from Maranello, it also marked the conclusion of the 250 GT era. Over a period of

ten years, the 250 GT designation had been applied to nearly 2,500 cars.

Zero to Seventy-Five Years—The Evolution of Ferrari 9

 The 250 GT Short
Wheelbase Berlinetta
was the consummate
dual-purpose race
and road car in the
late 1950s and early
1960s. Unveiled at the
Paris Motor Show in
October 1959, the 250
GT SWB was built on a
94.5-inch wheelbase
with an overall length
of only 163.5 inches.
The purposeful-looking
fastback carried the
classic Colombo
designed sixty-degree,
3-liter V12 beneath its
elongated hood. Here
the Wolfgang Seidel
SWB powers through
Goodwood’s famous
Woodcote corner at
the August 1960 Tourist
The Quintessential Ferrari—275 GTB Trophy race. Klemantaski
Collection/Getty Images
The most charismatic road car to come from Maranello after the The 275 GTB had been powered by a twin-cam engine but that

250 GT Berlinetta Lusso was the all-new 275 GTB. Introduced as was not for long. In 1966 a four-cam model, the 275 GTB/4, was in-

a two-cam model in 1964, it was the first of Ferrari’s now legendary troduced. Sergio Pininfarina’s exotic styling for both the 275 GTB

’60s-era Berlinettas offered to customers in either touring or racing and 275 GTB/4 captured with great success the better elements of

configurations. Equipped with the Colombo-designed, sixty-degree the competition-built 250 GTO as well as, at the rear, the styling

V12 displacing 3,286 cubic centimeters and dispensing 280 horse- of the GTB Lusso. The 275 GTB/4 may be as close to perfection as

power at 7,600 revolutions per minute, the 275 GTB was the ulti- any sports car has come. Late veteran race driver Phil Hill once de-

mate expression of Ferrari’s ideology: a road car suitable for racing scribed the 275 GTB/4 as “like a boulevard version of the GTO.”

that gave up little, if anything, to competition models.

Zero to Seventy-Five Years—The Evolution of Ferrari 11