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When asked to name a supercar who wouldn’t have Ferrari on the tip of their tongue. What young boy didn’t have pictures of shiny red Ferraris on their bedroom wall? But where did the famous brand of Ferrari come from and who is the man behind the legend?

Enzo Ferrari was born in Modena, Italy, on 18th February 1898. His family owned a foundry and Enzo shared a room above the workshop with his brother Alfredo, waking to the sound of hammering.The young Enzo saw his first car race in 1908 with his father.The whole environment of the shouting crowds and the brave drivers aroused his interest.

Enzo was forced to leave school after the death of his father, going on to work in the Modeno Fire Brigade’s workshop. After a spell in the army (which he joined in 1917), Enzo was released from duty because of ill health. Instead of returning to schooling, Enzo found work as a test driver in Turin in 1918, later moving to Milan to work as a racing driver for automaker Construzioni Meccaniche Nazionale. The first proper race that Enzo entered was the Parma-Berceto in 1919. After that there was no looking back.

Enzo founded Scuderia Ferrari in 1929. They trained and sponsored Alfa Romeo staff. He was head of racing at Alfa Romeo until he heard that they planned to take over Scuderia Ferrari – prompting him to leave. After that he was prohibited from competing for a few years so the factory produced machine tools and aircraft accessories, although they did manage to make the Tipo 815 racing car during that time.

The emblem of Ferrari (the prancing horse) was adopted by Ferrari in 1923. At the Savio track in Ravenna after a race win, Enzo met the mother of Baracca, an Italian air force ace and national hero who was shot down at a young age. Baracca had a black horse as an emblem on his planes because his squad was enrolled in a cavalry regiment. The countess invited him to use the emblem for good luck. Enzo kept the black horse as it was on the plane but added a yellow background – a symbolic colour of Modena.

In 1943 Enzo moved to Maranello. The factory was rebuilt in 1946 after bomb damage from World War Two. The first Ferrari road car, the 125 sport, was built in 1947. It was a high performance car with a V12 engine. They entered Formula One racing in 1950.

The last car commissioned by Enzo was the famous F40 which was revealed on the 40th birthday of the company.

Enzo Ferrari died in Modena on 14th August.

Ferrari today can claim 15 F1 drivers’ titles, 203 F1 pole postitions, 16 F1 constructors titles and 209 F1 wins to name but a few. They attract top drivers and are legendary in the field of Formula One.

Michael Schumacher driving for Ferrari dominated F1 from 2000-2004 and cemented the place of Ferrari as a great racing brand.

For a chance to get behind the wheel of a Ferrari today you can do a web search for Ferrari hire London, Ferrari hire Buckinghamshire or another geographical type search to find a super car hire place near you.

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With the invention of the car came the desire for speed. Cars quickly evolved from practical to sporty to satisfy the desires of those that wanted to race.

The first sports cars started to appear at the latter end of the 1940’s. Ferrari, Lotus, Jaguar and Porsche all had sporting road car designs. When you think of today’s supercars you think of sleek design, high speed, high power and even higher price tags and the sports cars of the 1940’s were the first steps towards today’s technological wonders.

Throughout the 1950’s and early 1960’s sports car performance progressed. 1954 saw the arrival of the Meredes 300 SL Gullwing which was the first road car to reach in excess of 150mph. It was capable of a top speed of 165mph and is now considered to be one of the all time classic road cars.

The Gullwing was first shown at the 1954 New York Motor Show and it wowed the public. It has distinctive ‘gull wing’ doors and was made from a lightweight aluminium body. The Gullwing had a 3 litre engine and 240bhp, and in its day was the fastest production car available.

1400 Gullwings were built between 1954 and 1957. The design was superceded by the open Roadster.

It was Ford that created what many people believe to be the first supercar. Their GT40 made its debut at the Nurburgring in 1964 but it wasn’t until 1966 that Ford took their place in American racing history by finishing Le Mans in the top three positions, beating Ferrari. The GT40 has now won more prestigious races than any other road racing car in history.

The Lamborghini Miura made supercar history because it was the first production car to feature a mid-mounted engine (normally only seen on F1 cars). It looked so different to any road car that had come before. The Miura was unveiled to the world in 1965 at the Turin Auto Show by Ferrucio Lamborghini himself and was named after Spanish fighting bulls because of the aggressive body styling.

In terms of pure speed, after the 150mph title was claimed, 200 mph was the next great speed barrier to try for. The prize for that went to the Ferrari F40 – the last car commissioned by Enzo Ferrari and revealed on Ferrari’s 40th birthday.

The F40 was produced between 1987 and 1992. Its top speed was 201mph and it raced from 0-60mph in 3.9 seconds.

The F40 is rated by many as the greatest supercar of all.

The price of an F40 reached in excess of half a million pounds during the late 1980's and even now is holding its price well.

The SSC Ultimate Aero TT (made by Shelby Supercars) is the world’s fastest production car to date with a top speed of 257mph. The Guiness World record run clocked the car in at 255.8mph. The 2009 version can reach speeds of 270mph and is reported to accelerate from 0-60mph in 2.7 seconds!

Modern technology has allowed the creation of some amazing cars. They have come a long way but are not yet at the peak of design so it remains to be seen what the cars of the future wow us with.

For a chance to get behind the wheel of a Lamborghini today you can do a web search for Lamborghini hire Hertfordhire, Lamborghini hire London or another geographical type search to find a super car hire place near you.