Italian luxury cars don’t come any bigger that Ferrari. Since the first 1500cc, 12-cylinder 125 S was built 70 years ago by founder Enzo Ferrari, the brand has been intimately linked with the racing world. In May 1947, Franco Cortese drove the car in its maiden race at the Piacenza Circuit and clocked up its first victory just a few weeks later in the Rome Grand Prix. In 1948, Ferrari won its first Mille Miglia followed by the Le Mans 24-hour race a year later. It took its first Formula 1 World Championship Grand Prix in 1951 and won the world title in 1952 and 1953. In the 1960s the brand won the drivers’ and constructors’ world titles on several occasions and racing success has continued into the new millennium with wins at Sebring, Daytona and a total of 13 world titles between 2000 and 2008 – five of those with legendary Formula 1 driver Michael Schumacher.
Ferrari sales rocketed in 1950s and 60s, tripling the number of cars sold to the public. In the 1970s it produced its first cars with rear-mounted V8 engines. In the 1980s it released the iconic 288 GTO, the Testarossa and the F40 – what would be Enzo Ferrari’s final car. The brand remains a favourite with car collectors in more traditional western markets but is seeing its popularity start to climb in emerging markets such as the Middle East, China and Japan.
