Automoblog Book Garage: Ferrari Supercar

Recently, Danielle took me to the nearby West Bloomfield Township, Michigan, and visited Cauley Ferrari. When there were not only one Testarossa but two in the showroom, I couldn't believe my eyes. I feel like a kid in a candy store—in fact, as a kid, I fell in love with this car and could never overcome the infamous grooves on the door.

There is still something about the Testarossa today that makes me love Ferrari.

Coming Alive

Author

Illustrated Elegance

Ferrari Hypercars Gallery

Coming Alive

Ferrari Hypercars: The Inside Story of Maranello’s Fastest, Rarest Road Cars by Winston Goodfellow gives me the same elation. Ferrari has a vibrant history, well before my beloved Testarossa of the late 80s and the gorgeous 488 Spider of today. Goodfellow dives deep into this history with rare interviews, stories, and photography.

New light is shed on the automaker’s storied past. The 288 GTO, for example, is sometimes mistaken as the first Ferrari Hypercar, but the title actually goes to the 375 M of the 1950s. The 288 GTO came about after an encounter with a BMW 3 Series, not Group B as commonly thought. Believe it or not, the Porsche 959 played into the making of the F40 and the 365 P was actually ahead of the McLaren F1 in some aspects.

The book follows the figures behind the cars, going so far as to document the sometimes rough relationship between designer Sergio Pininfarina and founder Enzo Ferrari.

Author

Winston Goodfellow is one of the world’s leading experts on Gran Turismo cars, especially those from Italy. His words and photos have appeared in more than 50 magazines in several countries. Since 1989, he has been a Chief Class Judge for the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and member of its advisory board.

Illustrated Elegance

The book is genuine art, both in literary and photographic mediums. The pages have a unique gloss that feels a little different in your hands than a traditional book. It reads how you would expect something with “Ferrari” in the title would. The thrill of the words are accented by images of the cars, factories, and design studios.

Ferrari Hypercars: The Inside Story of Maranello’s Fastest, Rarest Road Cars is available through MotorBooks and Amazon.

Carl Anthony is Managing Editor of Automoblog and resides in Detroit, Michigan.

Ferrari Hypercars Gallery

Ferrari Hypercars: The Inside Story of Maranello’s Fastest, Rarest Road Cars by Winston Goodfellow

Ferrari’s real talent was working behind the scenes. In 1929 he formed the Scuderia Ferrari, and the organization quickly became a force on Europe’s racing scene. The Modena-based works are seen here in the early 1930s, with the team’s support vehicles lining the front of the building. The Spitzley Zagari collection

The first car Ferrari made from scratch was the Auto Avio Costruzioni 815. The “AAC” name came from Enzo’s machine tool business. Two 815s were made in early 1940 before Italy became immersed in World War II. Photo by Winston Goodfellow.

At the time of Chinetti’s Le Mans victory, Ferrari was a small constructor focused primarily on racecar production. This is the competition department in September 1950; in the foreground is a 125 C, while over to the left the first 375 F1 is under construction. The latter’s powerplant would play a major role in Ferrari’s first hypercars. The Mailander collection at the Revs Institute for Automotive Research

Carrozzeria Ghia in Turin made just four 340 Americas. This berlinetta is chassis 0148 A, the second to the last of the series. A (nearly identical car chassis 0150 A) finished fifth overall at the 1952 2,000-mile Mexican road race, the Carrera Panamericana. Photo by Winston Goodfellow

On creating this sensational one-off, “I tried to focus on good proportions, on giving the car a sense of beauty,” Scaglietti remembered. “Covered headlights were my signature, so of course Rossellini’s car had to have them.” Photo by Winston Goodfellow

The most prolific design—if one can use that word for a car of which just five were made, all slightly different—on the 375 MM was this aggressive and superbly proportioned berlinetta by Pinin Farina. This is chassis 0416 MM. Photo by Winston Goodfellow

Superfast I looks sensational next to the River Po in Turin, Italy. The subtle fins were Pinin’s homage to America, while the sparse background shows Turin prior to the labor migration boom that would take place in the following decade. Pininfarina archive

In 1965 Pininfarina attempted to civilize the LM with a spectacular one-off design exercise on chassis 6025 GT. Designer Leonardo Fioravanti said he redid most every panel in an effort to make the car more aerodynamic, the most noticeable difference being the sloped rear glass. Photo by Winston Goodfellow

Ferrari’s on-road performance supremacy was under threat as never before in the late 1960s. The world was caught up in the allure of glamor and speed, and cars such as a properly optioned Maserati Ghibli (pictured) could touch 160 miles per hour, while the Miura was exceeding 170 in road tests. Photo by Winston Goodfellow

Making the 512 S look conventional was the 1970 Modulo that debuted at Geneva. Its designer was Paolo Martin, and fellow stylist Filippo Sapino recalled walking into the Pininfarina studios one weekend, where “it felt like there was a blizzard going on in there” as shavings from Martin’s foam model filled the air as the designer feverishly worked away. Pininfarina archive

In late 1969, Ferrari decided it would take on Porsche’s 917 the following year. Around the time of the endurance racer’s press presentation in Modena, Pininfarina displayed the avant-garde 512 S show car at the Turin Motor Show. Pininfarina archives

With those stunning looks, extremely limited production numbers, and a realistic claim on being the world’s fastest production car, the 288 GTO was the first ever “instant collectible”—a motorcar that has never sold for less than its original price. The 288’s resemblance to the 308 GTB is quite evident in this image. Both were Fioravanti designs, the 288’s longer wheelbase, flared fenders, and upturned tail only accentuating an already beautiful shape. Photo by Winston Goodfellow

When Piero Ferrari began pondering an F40 successor in 1989, Pininfarina was exhibiting the Mythos, one of the most spectacular prototypes since their dream cars of the late 1960s. The Mythos won numerous design awards in 1989–1990, the car’s cab-forward wedge shape giving sense of the silky, fiveliter flat-12 Testarossa engine lurking in the rear. Pininfarina archives

What most everyone overlooks is that not only is Ferrari the benchmark performance car manufacturer, but it’s also a fiercely independent proprietary software firm on par with Apple. “The F150 hybrid integration is the hardest engineering we have ever done,” technical director Roberto Fedeli told the Wall Street Journal’s Dan Neil. LAT

At the Automoblog Book Garage last weekend, we introduced one of Ferrari’s biggest competitors.