How Ferrari Influenced The World Of Supercars

Ferrari is a name that most people will recognize and also associate with red colored cars, but their style, legacy and history goes way beyond a simple color. Everybody knows that Enzo Ferrari only made production cars to help fund the Scuderia, the racing division. While these production cars quickly became known for their extravagant style and extreme road performance, Enzo saw his customers with certain disgust because he felt that they were buying his cars for the glamour of owning a Ferrari and not for the performance. To make things a bit more interesting, some true competition was needed and what better name to compete against than Lamborghini?

This is a Lamborghini tractor. Fancy, eh?

The only problem is that in the 50s, Lamborghini wasn’t exactly making some of the most incredible cars but was known as the largest agricultural equipment manufacturer, meaning mostly tractors. Despite this fact, he did have a passion for beautiful cars and he could afford quite a nice collection, some of which were made by Ferrari. The problem is that his wife kept burning the clutch on one of them, so Lamborghini took it upon himself to find and fit a better clutch on the expensive supercar. After doing this, he went to Ferrari and told him that he found a solution to their problem, Enzo’s response wasn’t very welcoming and he actually refused to take advice from a “tractor manufacturer”. Furious, Lamborghini decided to start making road cars with only one goal in mind, to create a grand touring car that would rival any Ferrari. The first models rolled off the line in the mid 60s and were quickly recognized for their performance, power and comfort and when the Miura was introduced in 1966, everything changed and a mid-engine design became the standard.

This is considered one of the most beautiful cars. 

Lamborghini Miura

By the mid 60s, Ford had arranged to buy Ferrari but at the very last moment, Ferrari decided not to. After going home disappointed, Ford decided to show Ferrari how it is done and so they created the GT40 which ended Ferrari’s dominance at the 24 Hour Le Mans endurance race in 1966 and again in 1967, and again in 1968 and also in 1969.

When Enzo died, in 1988, the value of every car rose as did sales and the last car the commissioned, the F40 remains one of the most shocking cars to look at and one of the most unpleasant ones to drive.

Now, we have the Ferrari 458, a masterpiece in every way and if we think about the fact that 85% of Ferrari is owned by Fiat, things are going pretty well for the prancing horse.