Cavallino Rampante - 132 years on

Fighter ace Francesco Baracca was born on May 8th, 132 years ago. He was credited with 34 kills and was KIA in June 1918. Why is he relevant for this forum? His mother is the person who suggested that Enzo Ferrari used the Baracca coat of arms, the black Cavallino Rampante, as the crest on his own race cars.

After the countess Paola Baracca had gone to congratulate Enzo Ferrari on her victory at the Circuito del Savio and had made this proposal to him, at the beginning he was hesitant to put the Cavallino on his cars. In the end, to make her a pleasure, he resolved to do so by inserting it in a coat of arms, replacing the white background with the yellow one, the color of Modena. And the rest is history.

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Apparently there isn't any documental evidence of that story, so it could have been fabricated by Enzo Ferrari. But it doesn't make it less interesting anyway: all legends have some part of fiction, and Ferrari knew it.

The same applies to the discussion between Ferrari and Lamborghini.

 

It's not really a "crazy" story. Noble people in the area gift him something for winning a race.

If it was a war story and he saved someone from the Regiment "Piemonte Cavalleria" (2nd) then maybe

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regiment_%22Piemonte_Cavalleria%22_(2nd)
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Thank you for this poignant reminder.

I wonder how many new Ferrari customers are aware of this heritage ?

Ofcourse there is also a small prancing horse in the Stuttgart emblem of my Porsche cars, but it lacks the elegance of Enzo's Cavallino !

 

Years ago I was on a tour of the Porsche Factory and the tour guide stated emphatically that Ferrari stole the Prancing Horse from Porsche. He didn't like it when I told him Enzo Ferrari used the Prancing Horse on his Alfas in the 1930s well before Porsche even existed - to which he replied well then Ferrari stole the horse from the city of Stuttgart.

 

I think that there is really no connection between Porsche's horse and Ferrari's horse. however what does seem clear is that Baracca's airplane had a horse on it and in WWI many Calvarly Units were transitioned into air borne units - usually reconnaissance or spotters.. .as this is what light calvary was used for at the time... then they further morphed into fighting aircraft.

Calvary was usually filled with the minor nobility - so there was usually a lot of personal crests etc... as part of the personal identification of the Calvary soldier.

Stuttgart ( stud city ) was a center for horse breeding ... so that could be about the only connection between the two horses. I don't know how anyone can prove any further connection... a Rampant Horse with Tail down usually signified a Knight of the land... while a Rampant horse with Tail up is a Knight with no land ... meaning they were created a noble by a monarch, but not awarded an estate. I'm not sure that Enzo knew much about heraldry , but he changed the tail of the horse from down to up ... it has a nice rounded look to it.

At the Enzo Museum in Modena one room has an entire wall showing the progression of the horse emblem. which is all done in Cloisonné badges... pretty cool...

 

Enzo also made a curious change to the horse design: look at the emblem of the "Piemonte Reale" on Baracca's airplane: the prancing horse has its two rear legs on the ground, which is the only way for a horse to prance.
Enzo's has only one leg on the ground, something that anybody having the slightest knowledge about horses will tell you is impossible: the horse will fall on its side...

Rgds

 

I have always believed in Baracca's Stuttgart connection, long before the internet existed.

Here is the extract in Wiki's Italian language bio of Baracca, the other language version do not include this. In Italian for Stuttgart they say Stoccarda. One of his kills would have been from Stuttgart hence he painted that plane's shield on the side of his.

Anyway on their respective noses Maranello cars have a stallion and Porsches have a farm horse;-)

Secondo un'altra tesi, il cavallino rampante di Baracca deriverebbe invece non dallo stemma del suddetto reggimento bensì da quello della città tedesca di Stoccarda. Gli aviatori di un tempo, infatti, venivano considerati "assi" solo dopo l'abbattimento del quinto aereo, di cui assumevano talvolta le insegne in onore del nemico sconfitto. Baracca, noto per la sua lealtà e il suo rispetto per l'avversario, avrebbe quindi fatto dipingere sulla carlinga del suo velivolo il cavallino rampante (già nero, secondo questa tesi) visto su quella del quinto aereo da lui abbattuto, un Aviatik (o, secondo altri, un Albatros B.II) tedesco probabilmente guidato da un aviatore di Stoccarda. Se così fosse, allora i cavallini (o meglio le giumente: Stutengarten - da cui Stuttgart, il nome tedesco di Stoccarda cui l'arma parlante fa riferimento - in antico altotedesco significava "recinto delle giumente") che compaiono negli attuali stemmi della Ferrari e della Porsche (quest'ultimo desunto direttamente dallo stemma della città tedesca) avrebbero, benché leggermente diversi nella grafica, la medesima origine.

 

I have my doubts: the "Piemonte Reale" cavalry regiment seems a much clearer thread to me.
BUT: I have to say I have my doubts about Enzo's claims regarding the gift from Comtessa Baracca too!
Looking at the timescale, it doesn't match very well: the comtessa is supposed to have given Enzo the insignia in the early twenties; and then, it didn't re-appear before the early thirties (?). Why would he have shelved the thing for ten years?

Rgds

 

Who knows...it's all lost in the mists of time unless the Baracca family has a chest with his old letters in the attic and one of them tells the tale...yes I know the stuff of researcher's dreams but hey it happens occasionally.

 

I've already read the story of Baracca taking the horse from the airframe of an enemy, so if true, yes, Ferrari stole the horse from Porsche. First to beat Stuttgart ass first too.

 

The story I saw is that before the war, Baracca rode with a riding club from Stuttgart. So who knows what the real story is?

 

I'd have to go back and look at what the horse's position means in Heraldry ... but I think you are correct I doubt Enzo did much heraldry checking .....

 

I think its because of the connection from his personal racing days and then him managing the Alfa Corse team... when he started Scuderia Ferrari he needed an emblem for the team... perhaps the good luck horse was the emblem? if you look back it was very common for companies to have a Mascot logo... Gucci the knight with baggage etc...Alfa with the crest and laurel wreath ... so I think he wanted something visual to separate his team from other Alfa's being run as privateers.

also when he started SF he was not the President -it was Count Trossi who put the $$$ in the team Enzo was just the GM but really the brains and brawn behind the whole thing..... so I could see a noble man like Trossi wanting something heraldric for the team... it is however just my opinion.

 

Porsche started a year later than Ferrari... but both were active right after the war... so its a close run thing. The Ferrari Scudetto appeared first in the 30's.. .while the Porsche Badge did not show up till 1948...

given the territory the Baracca flew... I have my doubts on him cutting out the horse from a German / Austrian plane... but its possible. he flew a lot over the Isonzo front... so lots of mountains...