Why are Ferraris red?

Well, most of us know that red is the racing color of Italy. But in reading Richard Williams biography of Enzo http://www.amazon.com/Enzo-Ferrari-ebook/dp/B004NBZG10/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333663651&sr=8-1 I came upon an interesting segment which I thought might interest chatters. I hope Mr. Williams won't mind my extracting from his excellent book.

It seems that the ten year old Enzo took in his first race in 1908 at an event called the Circuito di Bologna. Featured in the race were some of the greatest drivers of the day, including Vincenzo Lancia and Felice Nazzaro. They drove Fiats, with Nazzaro winning at an average speed of 74 mph, which seems pretty high for the day. Williams writes:

"Naturally the young Enzo was entranced by the spectacle of motor racing in its infancy. the two Fiats were painted red; a year earlier for the French Grand Priz at Dieppe, new regulations required entrants to paint their cars in their national colors -- blue for France, white for Germany, green for Britain, and red for Italy. The identities of those members of the governing body who determined the match of countries and colors are lost to historians, as are the reasons behind their decisions. But it may be reasonably assumed that the French, being the principal organizers of early motor racing, gave themselves the first choice, and took the blue with which their country is identified. It seems likely that the association of red with Italy came about through the popularity of Garibaldi, the 19th century leader of the nationalist movement, whose soldiers were famous for their red shirts."

Later on Ferrari recorded that he found these events "immensely exciting."

The green of Britain became the traditional British racing green, and you can order your 458 in that color. The white of Germany seemed to have morphed into silver. The French retained blue when their cars raced. But with the advent of cash-injecting team sponsors in the 70s, the code seems to have disappeared in favor of colors chosen by the sponsors -- after all they were paying. So we would see McLarens the color of Marlboro cigarette packs. But thanks to Ferrari, Italy has kept the tradition on its cars, and it is that tradition we honor when we order our cars in red.

 

Very interesting. Thanks for filling a gap in the story.

 

Evidently the gentleman from Belgium is correct, and the story of yellow racing Ferraris is a rich one, according to this piece from the Owners Club

http://www.ferrariownersclub.co.uk/happenings/2009/february/yellow_ferraris/text.asp