Ferrari is a cult and cultural asset! The epitome of Italian motorsport culture

From racing car to automotive icon

The name Ferrari stands for over 70 years for pure emotion on four wheels. For futuristic machine aesthetics and as a symbol of an era of groundbreaking technical innovations. As early as 1929, Italian racing driver Enzo Ferrari set up his own racing team under the name Scuderia Ferrari, which, however, still competed with Alfa Romeo racing cars. In subsequent years, racing greats such as Tazio Nuvolari, Antonio Brivio and Giuseppe Campari drove for Scuderia and achieved numerous successes. Shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, Enzo Ferrari, together with automotive designer Alberto Massimino, developed the Type 815, Scuderia's first own racing car. However, the Second World War brought racing to a temporary standstill. Enzo Ferrari produced machines for the military in Modena and later moved to Maranello. However, when the Maserati brothers began producing sports cars again immediately after the end of the war, Ferrari's fighting spirit was awakened: He began building the first car under his name — the 125 model — in 1946 and finally founded his own automotive company in 1947 under the name Ferrari.

In subsequent years, the racing team also built roadworthy models and transformed the individual mobility that cars gave people into new dimensions of luxury and glamor. As early as the 1960s, Ferrari's vehicles were considered essential accessories for celebrities, the rich and the famous. However, increasing demand forced Ferrari to place the design in professional hands. For this reason, a partnership that still exists today was established with the Italian design studio Pininfarina. As competition increased and racing costs exploded, Enzo Ferrari looked for a partner and sold half of his company to the Fiat Group in 1969; in 1988, their share was increased to 90 percent. In 2014, the newly founded Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announced that it would sell its stake in Ferrari in 2015. Ten percent of the shares were listed on the stock exchange and the remaining 80 percent were issued to Fiat Chrysler shareholders. Enzo Ferrari's son Piero Ferrari owns a further ten percent of Ferrari.

Despite its commercial success, Ferrari is and remains an iconic brand whose myth Menadžer Stefano Lai He once said: “It is not difficult to build fast cars. The real challenge is creating emotions. We don't sell cars, we sell dreams!”.

Ferrari models that wrote automotive history

Over the past 70 years or so, the Italian automotive manufacturer has released numerous, iconic models that make collectors' hearts beat faster:

Ferrari 125

The Ferrari 125 was the first automobile manufactured by Ferrari under its own name. It was built in the years 1947 and 1948 to 1950 in various versions. With a Ferrari 125 S that was already Ferrari-red back then, Italian racing driver Franco Cortese won the Grand Prix in Rome. He thus achieved the very first victory for Ferrari — which was later followed by many victories from racing legends such as Niki Lauda and Michael Schumacher.

Ferrari Dino

Strictly speaking The models are not “Ferraris”, because the name Dino refers to the first name of Enzo Ferrari's first son, who died at the age of 24. However, not all dinosaurs are created equal: The 246 GT from the 1960s, whose body was the product of design company Pininfarina, is one of the most popular and expensive classics of all. The edgy 308 GT4 from the 1970s, on the other hand, is significantly less popular with collectors and is therefore cheaper.

Ferrari Testarossa

The model Testarossa — so named because of the red-painted valve covers on the engine — is one of the most famous and most-built Ferrari models of all, with its distinctive radiator slits on the sides and rear. Almost 7,500 examples of the sports car presented in 1984 were manufactured. The power of the first model with a 4.9-liter V12 mid-engine was 390 hp. In 1991, the Testarossa was modified and was then named 512 TR. In 1996, the Testarossa received its last facelift as a limited 512M and was then replaced by the 550 Maranello.

Ferrari F40

From 1997, on the occasion of its 40th anniversary, Ferrari built the F40 whose name was suggested by a journalist, by the way. The fastest Ferrari up to that point, with a top speed of 320 km/h, was sold exclusively to selected enthusiasts. It was the last model that Enzo Ferrari saw — and therefore became an object of speculation with an enormous increase in value after his death.

Ferraris take top positions at auctions

There are numerous enthusiastic “Ferraristi” all over the world, some of whom spend enormous sums of money on rare, well-preserved and coveted models. 60 percent of the most expensive cars sold are Ferraris, although one copy can even claim the title of “most valuable classic car in the world”: The Ferrari 250 GTO Berlinetta, which took fourth place at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1963 and won the Tour de France for automobiles the following year, was sold for 70 million dollars in 2018.

In 2021, the most expensive car that went under the hammer at auction was not a Ferrari, but a McLaren F1 for 20.5 million dollars. But Of the ten most expensive classic cars sold at auction last year, five were Ferraris. Models from the 1950s and 1960s in particular regularly set price records at auctions: Gooding, for example, auctioned off a Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider Competizione from 1959 for 10.8 million dollars.

In addition Gooding and Sotheby's, Monterey Auction Week in the context of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance is the international center for trading high-quality classic cars. The total value of auctioned cars in recent years shows that the auctions are good for record prices: In 2020, the top 10 vehicles were worth a total of 60.7 million dollars. In 2021, the total value of 88.8 million dollars was almost half higher.

Collecting classic cars is probably one of the nicest ways to invest your money profitably. Well-preserved specimens with a corresponding history and brand appeal not only regularly achieve new record prices at auctions — they decorate in shape digitized tangible assets every portfolio and can thus contribute to attractive portfolio diversification.