Enzo Ferrari was a racing driver who founded the Italian sports car manufacturer bearing his name. Ferrari cars are generally seen as a symbol of luxury and wealth.
He was born Enzo Anselmo Ferrari on February 18, 1898, in Modena, Italy. His father, Alfredo Ferrari, had a metal business. At the age of 10 Enzo saw several car races in the 1908 Circuit di Bologna, and he decided to become a race car driver. He received little formal education, and in his youth during WWI he was shoeing mules during his assignment to the Alpine Artillery division of the Italian Army. Both his father and brother died in 1916 as a result of Italian flu outbreak and the family business collapsed.
Ferrari himself became severely ill during the 1918 flu epidemic which he barely survived, and was discharged from Italian service. He applied for a job at Fiat, was turned down and eventually got a job as a test driver at a small car-maker named CMN. In a 1919 race at the Targa Florio he finished ninth. With the help of his friend Ugo Sivocci he got a job with Alfa-Romeo in 1920, and had success as a racing driver. In 1923, young Ferrari won the Circuit of Sivocci at Ravenna. There, he acquired the legendary ace pilot Francesco Baracca’s WWI pilot badge, a prancing horse on a yellow shield. This icon would have to wait until 1932 to be displayed on a racing car.
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