With Fathers Day (Sunday 19th June) just around the corner, we thought we’d give some of the supercar-loving dads out there 5 fun and informative facts about the classic supercar, Ferrari. Happy Father’s Day to all you fathers!
If your dad (or you) enjoys reading the article, we’d love it if you share it, to let others enjoy a few facts about Ferrari. And if you’re looking for a service or any other work on your car, contact Quality Car Service today.
Not all Ferraris are red
Think of a Ferrari and most of us see the classic red supercar. But, you may (or may not) be surprised to know that not all Ferraris are red, and are actually available in a range of colours, including black, green, white and silver.
And there is a reason most Ferraris are red.
It’s because ‘racing red’ was the official colour the International Automobile Federation (FIA) assigned to all Italian Grand Prix race cars in its early days, and so it became the colour the Ferrari racing team chose for their cars.
When racing with Ferrari, Michael Schumacher was the highest-paid sportsman in the world
According to Forbes, Michael Schumacher’s overall career earnings reached an astonishing $1 billion, making him one of only six athletes to make the Forbes list of the world’s highest-paid athletes.
But, it was whilst driving for Ferrari that Michael’s earnings really took off, after he won five straight titles in the early 2000s, pushing his earnings (at the time) up to an absolutely fabulous $80 million! Not bad for a driving job.
Enzo Ferrari didn’t like to travel
Despite designing and building what is arguably one of the greatest supercar brands of all time, Enzo Ferrari hated travelling. And this ‘travel-phobia’, meant he rarely left his home and office in Modena and Maranello, Italy.
But travel wasn’t Enzo Ferrari’s only fear…
He was also extremely claustrophobic, to the point he would very rarely use elevators, and would only travel on an aeroplane if there was no other option.
The Ferrari F40 was the last Ferrari model approved by Enzo Ferrari
Produced in the late 1980s to the early 1990s, the stunning, V8 engine (top speed 324 km/h), rear-wheel-drive, Ferrari F40, was the last Ferrari model to be personally approved by the late great, Enzo Ferrari.
With its Pininfarina-designed body giving this road-legal car the look and feel of a racing model, the F40 was the car to mark the fortieth anniversary of Ferrari production, hence the model name F (Ferrari) 40.
The Ferrari badge was a war veterans coat of arms
The famous image of the stallion on its hind legs that we all recognise as the Ferrari badge, is actually taken from a 1692 coat of arms whose insignia was also a stallion rearing up on its hind legs.
But the story of how it became the Ferrari logo is even more intriguing… The story goes, in World War 1, Cavalry Officer, Francesco Baracca had the stallion painted on the fuselage of his bi-plane, but sadly, Baracca died in combat on Mount Montello, near Treviso.
A few years later in 1923, Baracca’s parents entrusted the stallion symbol to the winner of the Circuito automobilistico del Savio race in Ravenna. As it turns out, the winner was no other than Enzo Ferrari.
Contact us
If you’re looking for local car servicing garages in Milton Keynes, look no further than Quality Car Service. We offer all the services your car needs, including MOTs, a range of car servicing packages to suit all budgets, car diagnostics, and plenty more.
