Enzo Ferrari (May 24, 1898 – October 26, 1988) was an Italian automobile designer and constructor. He is considered the father of the modern sportscar, being the first to conceive of mid-engine placement. Ferrari's reputation as a racing team owner, engineer, designer, and distributor only added to his legacy. He is most famous for his racing cars engineered in the Scuderia Ferrari tradition of balance and aerodynamics.
The creation of the F1 was an attempt to win the world championship that had been dominated by French cars for many years
Read more
The first road car that Enzo Ferrari produced was the 125 S, which he built in 1939 with assistance from his son Alfredo. The 125 S used 2 L 2-cylinder engine, which was also used in voiturette races before World War II.
Enzo Ferrari's son Alfredo chose to race at the Grand Prix circuit instead of entering his father's cars in races on public roads.
It proved to be a wise decision as the car never raced on public roads but won several races instead. The following year Enzo founded Scuderia Ferrari with Tazio Nuvolari who chose to race by Enzo's side with his own racing cars instead of using Scuderia Ferrari racing cars.
Enzo decided to produce road cars with conventional engines by using Alfa Romeo as a base model since he believed it would be easier to sell than the Alfa Romeo models due to its established name.
Enzo's first road car was named Tipo 815 which used an aluminum body made by Carrozzeria Castagna and had an aluminum engine block made by Alfa Romeo. The car was released on June 3rd 1942 at Paris Motor Show and quickly became one of Italy's most popular vehicles ever made since it was available at nearly half price of other cars available at that time.
The Tipo 815 was later replaced by another more streamlined creation named 158 S which used Alfa Romeo 158 engine rated at 20 horsepower (the same engine used in Alfa Romeo 159 Grand Prix car).
Even though this car sold well it still wasn't fast enough for Enzo so he planned an even more powerful version named 159 S which had an Alfa Romeo 159 engine rated at 30 horsepower (the same engine used in Alfa Romeo 158). This new creation sold very well but it also cost too much for average Italians so production halted on October 31st 1945 after only 390 examples were
