What books are considered the ESSENTIALS of Ferrari history?

Congrats on your 20-year pin. But what is this thing you call a "book?"

 

Here are a few suggestions:

Enzo Ferrari by Luca dal Monte
Ferrari 6th edition by Hans Tanner and Doug Nye
Piloti Che Gente by Enzo Ferrari
Ferrari The Sports and Gran Turismo Cars 3rd edition by Fitzgerald and Merritt
Ferrari Sport Racing and Prototype Competition Cars by Antoine Prunet
The Ferrari Legend: The Road Cars by Antoine Prunet
Ferrari 250 GT Competition Cars 2nd edition by Jess Pourret
Memoirs of Enzo Ferrari's Lieutenant by Franzo Gozzi
Making a Difference by Tito Anselmi and Marcel Massini
Una Vita Per l'Automobile by Enzo Ferrari

Any of the more specialized titles by Marcel Massini and Doug Nye, both of whom do outstanding work.
Also the softbound volumes by Dean Batchelor published in the 1970s. IMO they hold up well and I still refer to them from time to time. You can buy them for peanuts.

Have fun!

 

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In addition to what’s already been mentioned….

Ferrari: The Man, The Machines*….Grayson
Ferrari by Mailander…Mailander
Ferrari: A Champion’s View…Phil Hill
Enzo Ferrari: The Man, The Cars, The Races….Yates (never mind the naysayers, it’s a counterpoint and worth reading, but not necessarily “essential”)
Enzo Ferrari….Williams


*Among the best of the “forgotten” Ferrari books and a must-have.

 

Interesting to note that quite a few of the books listed above (and I don't mean the ones by Enzo Ferrari) were written 40 or 50 years ago. Is it really the case that, so many years on, no-one has been able to improve upon them and that nothing that has happened or been learned in the years since would add to them or be worth writing about?

 

Enzo Ferrari: The Man, The Cars, The Races, The Machine. by Brock Yates

 

I think the Enzo Ferrari biography by Luca Dal Monte published in English in 2018 will be regarded as a seminal work. Dal Monte's research is documented with extensive citations. Having worked for Ferrari & Maserati's press offices for a combined almost 15 years in addition to Peugot Italia and Pirelli, he had access to numerous primary sources, yet the biography is not a PR puff piece that highlights only the positive aspects of Ferrari's legacy. Dal Monte attended high school & college in the US as an exchange student and is bilingual Italian & English, so the English text reads clearly unlike the sometimes flowery translations of Italian prose put out by Italian marketing firms. I highly recommend it.

 

BTW this thread contains a great discussion of collectible Ferrari books, covering topics such as content, production quality and value. https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/official-book-collectors-thread.200937/

 

I personally believe most of the ground has been pretty well covered, but, in my opinion, nothing post-Enzo has been as interesting as the people, cars and races during the Enzo era.

 

That may or may not be so but I just find it surprising that Tanner/Nye. Fitzgerald/Merritt, Prunet, Pourret etc. have not been updated* or supplanted by more recent volumes. As Balsamina rightly said, Luca Del Monte's Enzo biography added a lot, as have a number of "more specialized" titles. It was also interesting to see the recent Vanwall book which text-wise is a reprint of the original 1975 volume but with far superior presentation than was possible when it was first published.

(*I know that part of Prunet's 250 book was effectively updated into a 250 GTO-specific book).

 

Do you mean Jess Pourett? It's easy to confuse the two.

 

This isn't about Ferrari, but it is about the iconic Schedoni luggage made for specific Ferrari models and the relationship of the Schedoni family with Enzo Ferrari -

Ferrari by Schedoni by Alberto Mantovani

 

Oops! Yes, I did indeed. Thank you. I was thinking Pourret but typed Prunet!

 

Piloti Che Gente, the Cartier Edition is expanded
Mon Ami Mate.......
Klementaski and Ferrari.

Those arre all behind glass over here....

Agree on Ferrari by Mailander..that's two volumes I believe

 

I remember as a pre-teen going to the library (remember those?) and finding a book in the automotive section on the TR. I probably looked at that thing a hundred times.

Books and periodicals were everything in the days before the internet.

 

I think if someone is going to buy this book; I thought it was a good read I loved the Italianess of the text, you should buy the leather bound addition. The book is about Schedoni “leather” shouldn’t it be covered with the subject at hand.

 

If you want to know the definitive history of Ferrari - and know the DNA, here is what I suggest: these are in English

1. My terrible joy's By Enzo Ferrari
2. Pilote che gente - Drivers I knew - Enzo Ferrari
3. Ferrari -Biography by Yates
4. Ferrari Biography by Dal Monte
5. Ferrari Racing Cars by Autocourse ( Young )
6. My Years at Ferrari - Niki Lauda
7. Ferrari - Hans Tanner
8. Ferrari Catalog Raisonee 1989 ( up till Enzo died)
9. The Ferrari Factory - in pictures ( forget the author )
10. Any auto course books - but in particular 1975 - 1979 has a lot on Ferrari.

 

Get ANY book that was published before Ferrari revisionist history was adopted and accepted.

 

Please explain

 

I have two books on the factory.

Inside Ferrari by Michael Dregni
Dentro La Scuderia -Inside the Scuderia by Angelo Castelli

 

There is also Ferrari the Factory: Maranello's Secrets 1950-1975 by Karl Ludvigsen

I think the Castelli book has a slightly misleading title as it is indeed about the factory and not the Scuderia (racing team).

 

Without going too much into it (As it has been discussed Ad Naseaum here in Fchat)...... Two examples: The "DINO", and Piero. That is all

 

Understand, let’s not forget the Lancia D50..