What does the "S F" on the Ferrari Shield stand for?
Enzo Ferrari left CMN in 1920 to work at Alfa Romeo and racing their cars in local races he had more success. In 1923, racing in Ravenna, he acquired a Prancing Horse badge (a WWI pilot symbol), although this icon did not make it onto a car until 1932. In 1924 he won the Coppa Acerbo at Pescara. His successes in local races encouraged Alfa to offer him a chance of much more prestigious competition and he was lauded by Mussolini. Ferrari turned this opportunity down and in something of a funk he did not race again until 1927 and even then his racing career was mostly over. He continued to work directly for Alfa Romeo until 1929 before starting Scuderia Ferrari as the racing team for Alfa. I spoke to an Italian-Australian acquaintance for a definitive translation of Scuderia. Definitive translations are hard to come by though. Sometimes languages don't directly translate one word to another. Scuderia is one such word, and so it doesn't have a directly comparable English word. It can mean 'stable', though not as in a stall where horses are kept, but as in the group term for a collection of horses or cars. It can also mean 'chassis' when referring to motorsport. Thanks muchly to Paul Marinelli from the NRC International Formula Holden racing team for the assistance. Hence House of Ferrari or Stable of Ferrari. The S F is placed at the bottom of the prancing horse symbol.
Thanks for the informative replies... I feel like I might have to take quiz later with all of the dates provided... LOL... Thanks again.