Ferrari
St up in 1945 by Enzo Ferrari at the age
of 47 and started manufacturing machine tools. Enzo was an experienced race car
driver and organized his own racing team. In Nov. 1946 he announced his
intention to give up making machine
tools and concentrate on sports and racing cars. Only three cars were produced
in 1947. The emblem of a prancing
horse came from the cockpit of a WW I fighter ace, Francesco Baracca. The
Countess Paolina Baracca predicted that the black horse on a yellow background
would bring Ferrari good luck. Cortese, driving a type 125 on the
Lamborghini
Ferruccio Lamborghini set up a tractor business in 1949. In 1961 he set
out to produce “The most perfect GT car in the world” He hired some Ferrari
craftsmen including Carlo Chiti and Bizzarini, the creator of the Fererari GTO. In
1964 13 350 GTs. The bodies were designed by Bertone.
In 1972 following the cancellation of a
large tractor order by the Bolivian government, Lamborghini sold 51% to a Swiss,
G.H.Rossetti. Then shaken by the oil crisis and left in the lurch by BMW for the
production of the M-1, he struggled on until the early 80s when a French
industrialist took the company in hand. After the “Jalpa, Countach and the
all-terrain “LM”, the Diablo is the only model produced.
Maserati
Founded in 1914 by four Maserati brothers
and after 1924 Maserati became involved in motor racing. In 1937 Adolfo Orsi
bought out the family. By 1968 financial difficulties forced Adolfo to sell to
“Citroen”. By 1975 Citroen gave
up and backed up by the Italian government, Alessandro De Tomaso took over.