Ferrari, Enzo Anselmo [key], 1898–1988, Italian designer, manufacturer, and driver of racing and sports cars, b. Modena. Following service in the Italian army in World War I, he worked as a race car driver for Alfa Romeo in the 1920s. Backed by Alfa Romeo, he started the racing team Scuderia Ferrari; he became head of Alfa Romeo's in-house team in 1938. In 1939 he founded Auto Avio Costruzioni (now Ferrari N.V.), but the firm did not manufacture automobiles until after World War II; the first Ferrari racing cars was produced in 1947. Ferrari won the first of nine Le Mans 24 Hours endurance races in 1949, and the first of many Formula One World Championships in 1951. His company also produced some of the world's most expensive sports cars to support his racing teams. Fiat bought a half interest in Ferrari in 1969, but he remained as president until 1977 and controlled the racing teams. The Ferrari Museum in Modena displays many of his cars.
See his memoir (tr. 1963); biographies by B. Yates (1991), R. Williams (2003), and L. Dal Monte (2018).
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