Enzo Ferrari was born 125 years ago and between the 18th and 20th of February, his birthday was remembered by many.
He was reported to have been born on the 18th of February 1898 but the birth was actually recorded on the 20th of February.
He grew up with little formal education. At a young age, he witnessed Felice Nazzaro's win at the 1908 Circuito di Bologna, an event that inspired him to become a racing driver. During World War I he served in the 3rd Mountain Artillery Regiment of the Italian Army.
In his early years, he became a racing driver, joining Alfa Romeo in 1920. He won his first race in 1923 and the following year had his best season with three wins.
After his own son Alfredo (Dino) was born in 1932, Enzo decided to retire from racing and focus on managing and developing the factory Alfa race cars, called the Scuderia Ferrari team.
The team was very successful, thanks to excellent cars like the Alfa Romeo P3 and to talented drivers, like Tazio Nuvolari. Ferrari himself retired from competitive driving having participated in 41 Grands Prix with a record of 11 wins.
The prancing horse emblem began to show up on his team's cars. The emblem had been created and used by Italian fighter plane pilot Francesco Baracca. During World War I, Baracca's mother gave Ferrari a necklace with the prancing horse on it prior to takeoff. Baracca was shot down and killed in 1918.
In memory of his death, Ferrari used the prancing horse to create the emblem that would become the world-famous Ferrari shield. It was first seen on a Ferrari in 1947.
Enzo would go on to become the founder of Ferrari and develop their first car, the Ferrari 125S. The rest, of course, is history.
