Ferrari Catalogue Raisonne 1946-1981.

[FERRARI, Enzo] Edited by Augusto Constantino.

Item Number: 138033

Milan: Automobile Quarterly Publications, 1981.

First edition of this profusely illustrated set covering every Ferrari produced between 1946 and 1981. Quarto, two volumes, original cloth, illustrated. Both volumes are fine in fine dust jackets. Housed in the original slipcase.

Italian motor racing driver and entrepreneur Enzo Ferrari was the founder of the Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team, and subsequently of the Ferrari automobile marque. He was widely known as "il Commendatore" or "il Drake". In his final years he was often referred to as "l'Ingegnere" or "il Grande Vecchio (the Great Old Man)". In 1920, Enzo joined the racing department of Alfa Romeo as a driver. In 1924, Ferrari won the Coppa Acerbo at Pescara, a success that encouraged Alfa Romeo to offer him a chance to race in much more prestigious competitions. Deeply shocked by the death of Antonio Ascari in 1925, Ferrari, by his own admissions, continued to race half-heartedly. Following the birth of his son Alfredo (Dino) in 1932, Ferrari decided to retire and to focus instead on the management and development of the factory Alfa race cars, eventually building up a race team of superstar drivers, including Giuseppe Campari and Tazio Nuvolari. This team was called Scuderia Ferrari (founded by Enzo in 1929) and acted as a racing division for Alfa Romeo. The team was very successful, thanks to the excellent cars, for example the Alfa Romeo P3 and to the talented drivers, like Nuvolari.