Scuderia Ferrari was founded 96 years ago!

On 16 November 1929, Enzo Ferrari signed a document that would permanently change the history of motorsport.

This day marks the official creation, before a notary, of the Scuderia Ferrari… but not yet Ferrari itself. For contrary to what popular imagination might suggest, this date does not mark the birth of Ferrari as a car manufacturer, but rather the purely legal founding of a sporting entity meant to enter cars in competition.

In Modena, at the notary Alberto Della Fontana’s office, Enzo and a few partner friends – notably Mario Tadini, as well as Alfredo and Augusto Caniato – formed a company whose purpose was to run a racing team and field Alfa Romeo cars for wealthy professional and amateur drivers. The Scuderia had already existed in practice for several months, building a growing reputation on the circuits. But 16 November was the administrative officialization: statutes, share capital, responsibilities and legal recognition.

The beautiful Ferrari story

This distinction is essential. Because in 1929, Ferrari was not yet Ferrari and Enzo was neither a manufacturer nor an engine builder. The Scuderia acted as the sporting arm of Alfa Romeo, of which it quickly became the semi-official team. It prepared, maintained and entered the cars, but manufactured nothing. Its emblem, the famous « cavallino rampante » (prancing horse), already flew on the bodywork, but it was still only the banner of a racing team, not of a manufacturer.

It was only in 1939, after his split from Alfa Romeo, that Enzo Ferrari created a new entity: Auto Avio Costruzioni. The company was forced, for four years, not to use the Ferrari name for its creations. It was only in 1947, with the debut of the 125 S, that the Ferrari brand as the world knows it today was officially born.

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Thus, 16 November 1929 remains a founding date — that of the team, the sporting organisation, the human adventure in competition. But the true birth of Ferrari the manufacturer would occur nearly two decades later, in a completely different context, and with a broader ambition: to become an automotive legend, on track as well as on the road.

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