1st Model with factory shields as an option

1933 Alfa Romeo.


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Lol.

For the mass production road cars, I suspect it was the 550, but possibly the 355 as well. Ferrari stepped up its options lists and merchandising in the '90s.

 

I may be wrong but I had suspected that it was an unwritten option. I recall seeing Testarossa with them. I thought it was from the factory.

 

I think this would be right, F50 was the last road car with shields standard before they were options. 355 and/or 550 .... not sure about unofficial options but Ferrari has been known to have bespoke offerings for special customers

 

According to this 1932 on an Alfa

but really sometime during WW1 on Count Francesco Baracca airplane

According to Ferrari, Papà Enzo took the logo from an image of a red horse painted on the fuselage of Count Francesco Baracca, an ace pilot in the Italian air force and a World War I hero. Apparently, Enzo only ever spoke of the logo’s provenance once. And this is what he had to say:


In ‘23, I met Count Enrico Baracca, the hero’s father and then his mother, Countess Paolina, who said to me one day, ‘Ferrari, put my son’s prancing horse on your cars. It will bring you good luck.’ The horse was, and still is, black. And I added the canary-yellow background, which is the color of Modena [Enzo’s birthplace].

What the film leaves out--and what Wikipedia filled in for us--is that Francesco Baracca died in action, possibly after his airplane got shot by ground troops and crashed in a fiery mess. The reason Ferrari’s horse is black, not red, is because it was meant to be a symbol of mourning for the fallen pilot. It’s a touching detail, but one that the big PR machine of modern-day Ferrari chose to omit. Guess they don’t want anyone to hear Ferrari and think “death by burning vehicle.”


The genesis of the Ferrari brand / La genesi del marchio Ferrari - YouTube

 

288 GTO.

 

Shields were not an option on the 288 GTO.

In 1998 Ferrari began offering a wide variety of options thru their Carrozzeria Scaglietti Program. This included such things as custom paint and leather interiors. Carbon fiber trim, painted brake calipers, "Daytona" seats and fender shields to name a few.


Source: Forza Magazine, February 1998.

 

The production version of the final Fiorano Edition of the 355 with F1.

Before that, IIRC the SPECIAL limited edition cars had them, F40, F50, the 288GTO?
But they were on every one of them in the series.

It all got very popular with the 360 of course, after the final 355.

 

Shields were standard and not an option on the 599 GTO as well.

 

I think 355 as well but...This may be incorrect, but I had a customer with a 94 348 spider with shields. He said they were factory installed at his request. They were enamel and embossed into the fenders. Possible?

 

I believe the later model year 355 had shields as an option. Saw one for sale at Mecum last year and the window sticker had it as an option.

 

Were they an option on the 348competizione?

 

Definitely an option on 355's but not sure of the year they started.

 

I think it's very possible. Going by what my customer said, and what I have seen, I think they first appeared as an option on the 94/95 348 spiders.

 

Add the 348 GTC as a special edition car which also had shields as standard

No

They were standard

I have never heard this before, be good if we could confirm.....as the advice I have always relied upon was that from FORZA above

 

available on the 512TR in NON usa markets...
288 was std to ALL
VEVER available as an ordered OPTION from mfg on the TR
and the 512 PRIOR to the 512M...

 

In 1998 Ferrari began offering a wide variety of options through their Carrozzeria Scaglietti Program. All 1998 Ferraris had fender shields as an available option.


Joe

 

+ 1 with Big Tex, that's exactly the conclusion we arrived at after a long discussion on a french Ferraristis forum. This means mid-1998 at the earliest for road-produced cars; again as Alan says, the special edition cars got theirs before, and the 348 competizione, as track was its vocation, in 1993.

Rgds

 

This is the only correct answer.

In short, they were first an option in the 98 F355 and 550.

 

The production version of the final Fiorano Edition of the 355 with F1.

 

Its in the parts catalogue...
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Good work. Someone actually looked it up.


And they were not offered on any TR or 512TR or M variant, US or Base model.

 

They weren't an option, they were standard as the car had development work done by the scuderia (same as 288gto, f40, f50). Optional in 1998 on all models, not limited to the Fiorano 355's as I've seen them (with proper recessed fenders) on non Fioranos and non-spiders.

 

Well if we are going to split hairs.....

the correct answer is a 348.

The original question was "which model was the first to offer factory installed fender shields as an option?" rather than which variant within a model ;-')

ie. Make = Ferrari
Model = 348
Variant = GTC as opposed to TS/TB/GTS/GTB etc

When choosing a 348 if you specified GTC spec you would get a package of options including indented wings and shields (see the letter from Maranello on www.348GTC.com).