Peter Palmer: Automoblog Book Garage: Ferrari 70 Years

In 1947, Enzo Ferrari’s first car emerged from the Maranello factory. At that moment, a benchmark for all performance cars was born. Fast forward 43 years and Enzo Ferrari is the reason for my bedroom wall looking the way it did.

I was (and still am) obsessed with the Testarossa. I had several posters on my wall as a kid. Fast froward 70 years and there is still nothing like a Ferrari.

Innovation & Imagination

Italian cars are their own breed and certinately Ferrari proves that. Performance, style, class; all of it converges so wonderfully. From the 125S in 1947, to the versatile 340 in the 1950s, to the downright stunning 250s and 275s of the 1960s, there is no mistaking the Ferrari image.

In the early 90s it was the F40. With its unmistakable red glow and raised rear wing, it was most certinately a dream car for me growing up. As I was flipping though the pages of Ferrari 70 Years by Dennis Adler, I found that dream alive once again. It didn’t matter that I haven’t set foot in that old house I grew up in for years; the house that once held all my Ferrari posters on the wall.

When I read page 225, it all raced back.

“The F40 was one of those cars that beckoned you, no, compelled you, if you had any spirit at all, to take hold of the wheel and master the machine” writes Adler. “It was how a seasoned horseman might have felt when he came upon a wild stallion.”

Adler documents how the MSRP ($250,000 USD) jumped to nearly a million dollars as collectors raced to capture them. A million bucks for a car with no radio or power windows but that was the beauty of the F40.

It was what it was. Raw.

Meaningful Expressions

Ferrari 70 Years begins by highlighting the Italian culture post World War II, one that would ultimately bring about Ferrari’s rise. The book transitions from the early race cars and road cars of the 1950s, to the dawn of Ferrari in the United States. For the entire journey, we are treated with stunning, archival photography.

While Ferrari 70 Years is just shy of 300 pages, the photos really show the true meaning of the expression “a picture is worth a thousand words.”

Author

Award-winning author, photographer, and historian Dennis Adler is one of America’s most published automotive authors and historians. He has appeared on Good Morning America, The Today Show, and CBS Sunday Morning. The author of dozens of books on collectible automobiles and historic firearms, as well as a former magazine editor, Adler has published more than 5,000 articles and photographs.

Ferrari 70 Years is available through Amazon and Motorbooks. Adler’s book is one of the best representations of Ferrari’s incredible legacy.

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