Creators Podcast
Episode #8
09.13.2024
I must admit, I had no idea how Enzo created Scuderia Ferrari. The amazing book has been sitting on my shelf for years, and the time finally arrived for me to crack it open.
It’s not that I didn’t want to read the book, I’ve been looking forward to this for some time now. It’s the definitive book on Ferrari, titled, “Enzo Ferrari: The Man, The Cars, The Races,” by author Brock Yates.
Published in 1991, the incredible book by Yates covers the entire life of Enzo Ferrari from start to finish. From his earliest days, right up to the last days before Enzo passed away in 1988.
But there was one section of the book that jumped right off the page.
It was when Enzo created Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari
I thought I knew the entire Ferrari story. But I was wrong. As I looked at my unread Ferrari book on the shelf I began to assume I knew everything inside the book. “Who doesn’t know the story of Enzo Ferrari by now?” I thought.
Of course, I was wrong. There’s so much detail in the book, and nobody’s going to have the insight into Ferrari’s life unless they read the entire book by Brock Yates.
But the part of Enzo’s life that stuck out, far more than any other, was when he created his racing team, “Scuderia Ferrari.” The racing team that would go on to compete in every single world championship since 1950.
So how did he do it?
Enzo’s Humble Beginnings
Young Enzo had a fairly typical childhood. Brock Yates even mentions in his book, that looking at Enzo as a kid, nobody would have guessed he would go on to do anything out of the ordinary.
But here’s what I’m noticing as I learn about these great creators. Karl Benz, Horacio Pagani, and now Enzo Ferrari. It doesn’t happen overnight. Looking back, we might assume there was a day when young Enzo woke up, then suddenly turned into ‘Enzo Ferrari.’
But it just doesn’t happen like that. I’ve said it on my podcast numerous times now. “It took years…”
That’s the phrase I’ve been saying in many of these amazing stories.
Years, decades, entire lifetimes. That’s how long it takes to become one of the world’s greatest creators.
Enzo and Alfa Romeo
So Enzo develops a fascination with cars and racing, and eventually lands a job selling cars for Alfa Romeo. Of course, he attacks his profession with passion, and grows his network of business associates in the industry.
He also drives race cars. Enzo finds himself at the wheel, but notices his skill for managing men, not just piloting cars on the track.
Somehow, someway, he begins to envision himself managing his own racing team.
The Dinner That Started the Scuderia
It all started with one meeting. And it wasn’t even a meeting, but a dinner celebration. The Maserati brothers had just developed a 16-cylinder Formula 1 car that broke a speed record, and it was time to celebrate.
September 28, 1929, Baconin Borzacchini drove the Maserati 16-cylinder car to a mind-blowing average speed of 154 miles per hour.
Bologna Automobile Club Dinner
So to celebrate the feat, the Bologna Automobile Club held a huge banquet to honor the Maserati brothers, Borzacchini, and the record-breaking car.
Just exactly how Brock Yates describes it in his book, “Enzo Ferrari, a fixture on the local motorsports scene, was in conspicuous attendance, and whether by coincidence or by plan, the seating arrangements were pivotal to his future.”
Now we don’t know this for a fact, but what Brock Yates is suggesting might have happened here, is that Enzo planned where he was going to sit at this celebration dinner. And not just where he was sitting, but who would be sitting next to him.
Caniato and Tadini
It’s “pivotal,” like Brock Yates said, because sitting next to Enzo at the dinner would be two wealthy businessmen who were very motivated and captivated by racing. And Enzo knew it.
Alfredo Caniato, a textile and hemp merchant from Ferrara, sat on one side of Enzo. Mario Tadini, another wealthy racing enthusiast, sat on the other side.
Both of these men had recently completed the Circuito delle Tre Province race, where they both did fairly well. They were energized by their mild success on the track. And just a few weeks prior, Alfredo purchased a new Alfa Romeo sports car from Ezno’s dealership – with cash.
So Enzo knew these men were primed for a discussion on the business of racing cars. And how they might get more involved.
They decided that night to create their own racing team, the Scuderia Ferrari.
The Start of Scuderia Ferrari
There’s one way you have to remember this first dinner meeting between Enzo and his eventual partners. And Brock Yates says it best. He simply says, “Ferrari was a force to be reckoned with in situations like this. He had serious credentials, not only in the racing world but also in Alfa Romeo’s engineering and sales departments.”
He goes on to say, surely it was Enzo who choreographed the dinner conversation. And the proposition is now obvious looking back.
“With their money and Ferrari’s connections and racing expertise, why not pool their talents and form a Scuderia – a racing stable – to jointly advance their objectives in the sport.” – Brock Yates
The Racing Stable
Not only would the partners decide to create a racing team that night, but they would soon decide the name that would perfectly describe their future – Scuderia Ferrari.
Scuderia translates to “stable,” as in a stable of horses, or a horse-keeping establishment. And that couldn’t have been a more perfect name for the team that would attach the “Prancing Horse” logo onto the side of their cars in the coming years.
It’s the same Prancing Horse logo still in use to this day.
The Ferrari Name
Now one question that might have come up while founding the new racing team is, “why use Ferrari’s name and nobody else’s?”
There’s an easy answer to the question, which we’ll get into soon. But what you need to understand is the enormity of naming the team with just a single last name of one partner.
It was the first time a racing team had used just one member’s name in the title of a racing team. And it wasn’t the wealthiest member’s name, it wasn’t even the member who contributed the most funds upfront. But it was far and away the most important member of the team. Enzo Ferrari.
Here’s the breakdown of how Scuderia Ferrari was capitalized to begin. Notice that Enzo did not contribute the most in terms of upfront money, but it was his name and no other, that would be attached to the team.
This was Scuderia Ferrari’s initial contributions, for a total initial investment of 200,000 lire.
- Tadini and Canioto Brothers, 130,000 lire
- Enzo Ferrari, 50,000 lire
- Alfa Romeo, 10,000 lire
- Ferruccio Testi, 5,000 lire
- Pirelli Tires, 5,000 lire
Even though Enzo had his last name on the team, there were several other partners involved in the initial Scuderia setup. But we’re going to find out why it was the Scuderia “Ferrari,” and not the Scuderia “Tadini,” soon enough.
“…by having his name on the door, as it were, Ferrari was assured that he would be first among equals, no matter what future rifts or splits might sunder the partnership.” -Brock Yates
Let’s take a look at how this racing team would not just remain a very, very expensive hobby, but grow into the greatest and most well-known Formula 1 Team in the world.
The Business of Scuderia Ferrari
The Scuderia Ferrari racing “stable” set out initially to focus on three sources of revenue for the partnership.
- Sponsors
- Wealthy Amateur Racing Enthusiasts
- Up-Front Racing Cash Payments
Let’s take a quick look at how a few rich guys from Italy didn’t just create a racing “club,” but a legitimate racing business with revenues that could grow over time.
Scuderia Ferrari Sponsorships
The first source of revenue for Scuderia Ferrari was sponsorships. The team made agreements with Alfa Romeo, Bosch, Memini Carburetors, Shell Oil, Champion spark plugs, and Pirelli Tires.
The significance of these partnerships were not lost to anyone involved in the Scuderia. These were vital to the creation of the team, and they were all sourced by Enzo from his personal relationships over the previous twenty-year career in racing and auto sales.
So now you understand why the team name began as, “Scuderia Ferrari.” It was Enzo who secured these first partnerships that were pivotal to the team. It was Enzo and only Enzo who could have made these arrangements.
Rich Racing Enthusiasts
Another source of income for the Scuderia would be from maintaining, transporting, and prepping rich racing enthusiast’s race cars for amateur races.
The insane popularity of racing in Italy inspired wealthy drivers to participate in races around the country. With the experience of how to approach a race, Scuderia Ferrari would do all the dirty work, and have the drivers ready to hop in their cars on race day.
And this is where the other partners in the Scuderia could really contribute. By rounding up their wealthy business associates, Scuderia collected important revenue to perform the technical know how to best prepare drivers for their racing experience.
Cash Appearance Payments
The third main source of revenue for Scuderia Ferrari when they began was to collect cash appearance payments for major races around Europe.
Back in those days, races would lure the best race teams by paying them to enter certain races. The bigger the race, the bigger the cash payment could potentially become.
To attract fans, and create lots of interest, each race needed to feature the very best drivers. So cash payments just to enter the race went to the top drivers. Of course, this created huge demand for the very best drivers to be sought out by the racing teams so they could secure cash appearance payments.
The Final Pieces to the Scuderia
Now, Enzo had a partnership in place, with three sources of revenue to focus on and grow.
But there were still two major problems. Two missing pieces to the puzzle.
If he could not solve the last two missing pieces of the puzzle, Scuderia Ferrari would most-likely remain a very, very expensive hobby for a few wealthy businessmen.
Simply, Enzo needed a fast car and a great driver.
Scuderia Ferrari’s First Racecar
It’s pretty amazing now to look back, but Scuderia Ferrari began as an Alfa Romeo racing team. Don’t forget, Enzo was working for, and selling cars for Alfa Romeo this entire time. That’s how he built his name up in the industry, and that’s how he made the connections he had up to this point.
And maybe Enzo had this vision all along, but when Scuderia was created, he didn’t have his own race car. And Alfa Romeo already had it’s own official company-branded race team, so why would they give Enzo their cars, and have to compete against their own cars?
So he approached Alfa Romeo and pitched it this way – Scuderia would race in smaller races that Alfa Romeo was not interested in entering. This way, Alfa Romeo could cover more marketing “ground” by appearing in more races than it was previously able to enter.
So all Enzo had to do, initially, was stay out of the races that Alfa Romeo wanted compete in, and he would have access to their race cars for the races they weren’t interested in. And all of this was only possible because of Enzo’s ten-year relationship with Alfa Romeo. There was almost nobody else on earth who could have arranged this deal the way Enzo did.
Looking back it was almost too perfect. It was almost too easy. It seemed that Enzo could see the future, and he just moved step-by-step, making all the right moves. But more challenges lay straight ahead.
Scuderia Ferrari’s First Driver
So now Enzo has his Alfa Romeo race cars, but he still needs a driver. And not just any driver, but a well-known driver who could attract the important cash entry payments for certain races.
He needed a driver who was well-known, and someone who could actually win races. Afterall, the biggest long-term benefit to Scuderia Ferrari would come from winning races. That’s where you create your legacy, and your brand, and attract even more great drivers. Enzo knew all of this, but where to start?
Giuseppe Campari
Somehow, Enzo caught word that Alfa Romeo driver, Giuseppe Campari, was not happy with the way the team was being managed. So Enzo sought out Campari to convivence him to join Scuderia.
It would be a huge win for Enzo to land Campari onto his new racing team, and of course, Enzo closed the deal.
Campari and Enzo had been friends for a few years prior, and Enzo was a big fan of Campari. Often telling stories of the charismatic Campari.
And there are a few great stories of Campari in the book by Brock Yates. He was a cook, he was an opera singer, and known as quite the character, so Campari was a perfect fit for the new Scuderia.
Number one, because he was a seasoned, and talented race car driver. But almost just as importantly, Campari was also already established and well known, so he could collect much-needed entrance cash payments for important races around the country.
Enzo had his team, now the quest to win races would guide him for the next 50-plus years of his life.
Scuderia Ferrari and Modena, the Big Moment
With his new team in place, Enzo could now focus on winning races. But where to base his operations?
There was only one place Scuderia Ferrari would ever be headquartered. That place was the town of Modena.
And so I started off my podcast episode with this quote from the book written by Brock Yates. It felt like a turning point, and where Enzo Ferrari shifted into a different gear.
This is where I could see him shifting into, “Enzo Mode.”
Moving Scuderia Ferrari to Modena had much meaning for Enzo. This is where he started out as a kid. This is where he was thought of as just a kid with not much future.
Now he was bringing his racing team back to his hometown as someone substantial. Brock Yates calls it, “a triumphant homecoming,” in his book. It was even more than that for Enzo.
Here’s another quote from Brock Yates,
“While he had won several races in Modena, the vendetta was a theme that ran through his life, the notion that no slight would go unforgotten, that no insult would go unpaid, and that honor in such situations transcended all practical need.” -Brock Yates
Enzo was back in Modena to prove to everyone that he was a man who commanded respect. And that’s the way he built his brand for the rest of his life.
But the amazing point when he moved Scuderia Ferrari to Modena to begin to build something with his own name on it was when Enzo was completely dialed in.
And there’s one more quote that captures his mindset at the time. He would later describe this period, where he said, “The time had come for me to see how far I could get by my own efforts.”
What a quote by Enzo. He knew what needed to be done. And winning races would be his focus for the rest of his life.