The Life of a Car Guy

Enzo Ferrari celebrates his birthday today. Many of you may recognize his name and know that he was involved in the auto industry. It may seem a bit odd to see a post like this on a food blog but this is not just any food blog it is annies home. At Annies Home I love to share all sorts of great post literally anything that sparks my interest. This is not the first car post I have shared here either, if you have enjoyed visiting my blog for a while then you may remember a post last year about Rolls Royce and if not maybe you will want to read it now.

Ferrari was a successful race car driver before entering the auto maker world. In 1919 Ferrari began auto racing. Ferrari devoted his life to building powerful sports cars as well as a championship racing team. The Ferrari marque earned fame after World War II when the drivers on the team continued to rank up major championships. Ferrari found personal life a lot more devastating than racing.

February 18, 1898 in Italy the great car race driver and auto maker was born. His father was a metal worker. Enzo would find himself in love with racing by the age of 10 after his dad took him to watch a car race. He also dreamed of singing opera one day but when his father and brother were stricken and died from flu in 1916 Ferrari would have to grow up fast. He would join the Italian army in 1917 but would be discharged after his own bout with the flu. 

A few years later in 1919 Enzo Ferrari would move to Milan and start a job as a test driver. He would also be allowed the chance to compete with the company's racing team. At his first race he would come in fourth. He would continue to race but move to a new team. In 1923 he would win a big race in Del Savio. It was here that he would meet the parents of a World War I flying ace who would suggest using the emblem from their sons plane for his racing car. The same symbol of a prancing horse would come to stand for Ferrari Marque. In 1929 he would form his own racing team that included Alfa Romeos as well as others. 

March 1947 Ferrari would take the first official Ferrari, the 125 S, out for a test drive. It would win the Rome Grand Prix and later at the British Grand Prix. But while the racing world was awesome his personal world started falling apart. His son would die from muscular dystrophy in 1956 which would nearly make Ferrari a recluse. Between the years of 1955 to 1965 Ferrari would see 6 of the drivers on his team killed. Ferrari was tried and acquitted for manslaughter when one of his cars sped and ran off the track and into a roadside crowd killing nine spectators. 

Ferrari would suffer from kidney disease and pass in 1988.