Enzo Ferrari

[Paul Gulliver]

Interesting post on Alfa BB today

Enzo Ferrari; 20 years on from his passing.

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Tomorrow, August the 18th 2008 will mark the 20th anniversary of Enzo Ferrari's passing.

A man who ruffled many feathers and rubbed more than a few people up the wrong way.

Ferrari was neither a stylist nor an engineer (though he received the honorary title), he had a reluctance to break with tradition and was never an innovator, preferring to see others take chances on new ideas.

He had only a fleeting and arguably average and short career as a driver, but despite these deficiencies in the field within which he spent nearly his entire working career, he is remembered as perhaps one of the most important men in the history of performance cars. Enzo Ferrari described himself as 'an agitator of men', and that is perhaps the most significant description of him as a team manager, and as the director of a company renowned for beautiful and potent road cars. Ferrari manipulated some of the most talented individuals to collaborate and create some of the most brilliant and emotive cars ever built.

Though his relationship with Alfa Romeo was turbulent, he did a lot for the image of the company, a great deal for Italy's image as a builder of a certain type of car and a great deal for Grand Prix racing.

Take five minutes to remember the man, and think about what the world would be like without fast red cars!