36 years since the death of Enzo Ferrari

Perhaps one of the last interviews that the legendary Enzo Anselmo Ferrari (20/02/1898 – 14/08/1988) gave shortly before his death was to Murray Walker, a man who is today considered a legend of motor racing journalism.

“Mr. Ferrari, you don’t know me, but you knew my father…”

“Yes? How is this?” – he answered in Italian.

“In the 1930s you ran the Scuderia Ferrari motorcycle racing team, which raced Rudge-Whitworth motorcycles, you bought them from my father: he then sold sporting goods…”

That’s how my conversation with the greatest man in the history of motor racing began…

In 1988, I went to Maranello on assignment for the BBC to interview the legendary man who was known all over the world as Commendatore Ferrari, although he did not want to be called that. He preferred Ingenière.

I was trembling with a wave of emotions, especially because I had to arrange an interview through Franco Gozzi, a former famous racing manager, who said to me at the door of the Commendatore’s office: “Only three questions on historical subjects. Signor Ferrari likes historical questions.”

‘Here we go,’ I thought. ‘I didn’t come here to ask him three questions about historical subjects!’

The maestro sat at a table on which stood a large, black, rearing glass stallion – a gift from Paul Newman. On the wall opposite the table hangs a picturesque portrait of his beloved son Dino, who died tragically at a young age.

Ferrari looked at me through the thick dark glasses he always wore and waited for me to start. There was nothing scary about his appearance, though. To be honest, this was not the best interview I have had in my life, although of course I dared to ask him not three questions, but many more. I will never forget this meeting with Enzo Ferrari.

“Tazio Nuvolari was the best, although I held both Peter Collins and Stirling Moss in high regard”, said Signor Ferrari, who had to deal with so many drivers during his long life – he died at the age of 90. They worked for the Commendator and he inspired them to sporting achievements; they loved him and hated him, and many gave their lives on the racetracks in his cars. Incidentally, everyone knows that Stirling Moss never drove a Ferrari in Formula 1, although he almost signed a contract with the Scuderia, but that is another story…

But how did the Ferrari legend begin, what kind of person was he? It’s amazing what you can achieve in life if you find yourself in the right environment at the right time and don’t lack ambition. His father was an engineer who worked for a company that manufactured equipment for the Italian railways. As a young man, Enzo planned to become an opera singer, or a sports journalist, or a racing driver. But World War I began and he had to find some kind of work that would allow him to avoid being drafted.

Ferrari became a test driver at CMN. But his passion for motorsport got the better of him and he moved to Alfa Romeo to try his luck behind the wheel of a racing car. He may not have been the Michael Schumacher of his time, but he certainly could not be called a failure…

By the way, if anyone doesn’t know, he got the right to use the image of a rearing stallion as the team’s emblem from the parents of the Italian top pilot Francesco Baracca. They granted this right as a sign of admiration for the young Enzo, who won the race at the Ravenna circuit in 1923.

But the real Ferrari legend began when Enzo realized he was better at managing other people than he was at racing. And he quickly became one of the most respected managers, working first at Alfa Romeo and then founding Scuderia Ferrari.

If you try to characterize the extraordinary personality of this person, you will have to use something like this set of words: arrogant, domineering, treacherous, divisive among people, loved to command them and weave intrigues. And that’s not all. However, he was also a real leader, who inspired his subordinates, could communicate with them with real paternal warmth, and he was passionately fond of car racing. They were afraid of him, obeyed him without question and idolized him.

Ferrari himself loved his cars more than his drivers. And what he liked most were the powerful V12 engines. He attributed the reasons for any failures to the mistakes of the drivers, and not to the shortcomings of the machines. The easiest way to say that Enzo Ferrari was a genius, whose greatness you begin to understand when you see how many talented engineers and excellent drivers worked under him, and what heights they reached.

Ferrari has more victories than any other car brand, and it’s not just in formulae: they’ve won Le Mans nine times, the Mille Miglia eight, the Targa Florio seven times.

Moreover, among the people who played for Ferrari we see a whole gallery of superstars, it is simply impossible to list them all. Let’s not forget Tazio Nuvolari, Alberto Ascari, Juan Manuel Fangio, John Surtiss, Niki Lauda, ​​​​Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell – he was the last driver with whom Signor Ferrari himself signed a contract.

Ferrari started a beautiful tradition; it continues today: Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa increase the brand’s reputation. And yet, when Enzo was in charge of the team, he encouraged rivalry between the drivers. It would be unacceptable for him to give someone privileges similar to those of Schumacher.

In the history of our sport, there was no figure who equaled him in magnitude: suffice it to say that even the Pope himself came to visit him, and not the other way around. A few weeks after his death in 1988, I was in Monza to commentate on the Italian Grand Prix. And it was one of the most emotional races I have ever seen.

McLaren drivers Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna dominated the entire season, winning everything, and at Monza Senna was also leading, but a few laps from the finish he collided with the Williams of Jean-Louis Schlesser. When Ferrari’s Gerhard Berger and Michele Alboreto took the top two places, the tifosi gave a wild ovation, and I was also in raptures in my commentary booth. I’d like to think that Enzo Ferrari is doing well now too – somewhere up there in heaven…