Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari was founded on 16 November 1929 in Modena, after a celebratory dinner at which Enzo Ferrari solicited financial support from textile heirs Augusto and Alfredo Caniato and wealthy amateur racer Mario Tadini. Its stated legal purpose: “purchasing race cars of the Alfa Romeo brand and participating with these cars in the races listed in the national racing calendar.” Share capital was 200,000 lire; Ferrari held 50 of the 200 shares and served as executive director. He was at this time employed at Alfa Romeo’s Milan sales depot under Giorgio Rimini, holding the Emilia-Romagna distributorship.
In practice, Scuderia Ferrari rapidly became Alfa Romeo’s de facto works team — the official team that ran and prepared Alfa’s racing cars for the great European road races. At its peak, Ferrari gathered over forty drivers across the various Alfa Romeo 8C cars (and before that the 6C and P2/P3). Tazio Nuvolari, Giuseppe Campari, Achille Varzi, Giuseppe Farina, Louis Chiron, and Luigi Fagioli all drove under the Scuderia Ferrari banner. Ferrari himself raced with moderate success until the birth of his son Dino in 1932, after which he focused on team management. It was Scuderia Ferrari’s Alfa Romeos that swept the Mille Miglia in 1936 — Brivio first, Farina second, Pintacuda third, all in the 8C 2900A — and repeated the 1-2 in 1937 with Pintacuda winning and Farina second. The team also prepared the 8C 2900B Touring roadsters that won the 1938 Mille Miglia under Alfa Corse direction, by which point Scuderia Ferrari had already ceased to exist as a separate entity.
One story from Scuderia Ferrari’s Alfa Romeo years attaches to the emblem that would eventually mark Ferrari’s own cars. During a race at the Savio circuit near Ravenna in 1923, the Baracca family — parents of the fallen WWI flying ace Francesco Baracca, who had painted a prancing horse on his fighter aircraft — attended the race and met Enzo Ferrari. They presented him with the prancing horse as a talisman, inviting him to use it on his own cars for luck. Ferrari kept it for two decades; when he began building his own racing cars in 1947, the Cavallino Rampante — originally the emblem of a Scuderia Ferrari Alfa Romeo — became the badge of the Ferrari marque. The prancing horse left Alfa Romeo’s service and founded a dynasty of its own.
From 1936 onwards, the Silver Arrows of Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union — financed by the Nazi government — overwhelmed the Italian teams in major Grands Prix. The Scuderia’s best result in 1936 against this opposition was Nuvolari’s fourth at the German GP. The fascist regime, keen on motorsport as propaganda, pushed Alfa Romeo to tighten its grip. On 30 December 1937, Ugo Gobbato announced the purchase of 80% of Scuderia Ferrari’s shares. From 1 January 1938, official racing activity transferred entirely to Alfa Corse at Portello, Milan. The Modena facility at Via Trento e Trieste remained active only to assist racing customers.
Ferrari’s loss of decision-making independence — compounded by his bitter relationship with Wilfredo Ricart, Gobbato’s newly appointed Spanish engineering chief — made his position untenable. He was dismissed by Alfa Romeo on 6 September 1939. As part of the separation agreement, Ferrari agreed not to use his own name on racing cars for four years. He founded Auto Avio Costruzioni shortly after; in 1947 he began building Ferrari cars, transforming from Alfa Romeo’s loyal contractor into his former patron’s greatest competitor.
Connections
- Enzo Ferrari — founded_by / director, 1929–1939; received Baracca prancing horse at Savio circuit 1923, source: wikipedia.org
- Alfa Romeo — contracted_to, 1929–1937; acquired 80% stake 1937, source: museoalfaromeo.com
- Alfa Corse — succeeded_by, 1 January 1938, source: wikipedia.org
- Tazio Nuvolari — drove_for, 1930s, source: forza-mag.com
- Giuseppe Farina — drove_for (1936 Mille Miglia 2nd, 1937 Mille Miglia 2nd), source: wikipedia.org
- Achille Varzi — drove_for, 1930s, source: wikipedia.org
- Ugo Gobbato — ordered_absorption, December 1937, source: museoalfaromeo.com
- Mille Miglia — swept 1936 and 1937 editions with 8C 2900A (1-2-3 in 1936, 1-2 in 1937), source: wikipedia.org
- Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 — entered three 8C 2900As in 1936 and 1937 Mille Miglia, source: wikipedia.org