Anyone ever meet Enzo?

some good reading here.

 

Thanks for the stories

The best I can do is being in Italy when he was alive

 

That's a great story. With something you gave, and him hanging it in his house, it would be like always, being, in his sight. And to have art be the target he truly enjoyed, well I feel it doesn't get better than that

rik

 

Sorry about the spelling if not correct. In any case thanks to all for these stories. This one though is my favorite.If my first wife had met Mr. Ferrari I might have stayed with her. It was my second wife though who talked me into buying a 328GTS in Italy and having several memorable trips driving around Italy in a Ferrari. I wouldn't have traded this for anything. Yes even meeting "you know who". just one man's opinion tongascrew

 

An interesting sidelight on Mr. Ferrari's "Commendatore" title: I once mentioned to Brenda Vernor, after Mr. Ferrari's death, that my maternal grandfather had been granted the honorary title "Commendatore" by the Italian government in 1961, with several others, in a presentation by Antonio Segni at the Italian Consulate in NYC. Brenda noted that Mr. Ferrari did not like the term "Commendatore," believing it to be associated with the Italian Fascisti of the WW II era. Instead, he preferred to be called "Ingegnere," although I don't believe that he actually held an engineering degree. Fred

 

Some really great stories in here. Thanks, everyone, for sharing.

 

Fred is right, Enzo did not like the title that so many used. In Italy, one cannot go wrong using "Dottore", meaning in the broad sense one who has an education. Even the lawyers go by "Dottore" rather than "Avvocato". I don't know whether or not Enzo had an engineering degree, but it was clearly his appelation of choice.

 

In 1987 I was a participant in the Mille Miglia with my 166MM. At the Modena checkpoint, Ferrari factory, Enzo was seated at strategic vantage point to watch all the cars being stamped through. I was asked to pull the car to the side and then brought over with my navigator (my dad) to meet Enzo (not how I greeted him). I told him that I was honored to both meet him and to drive his car in the MM and in vintage races in the US. Through translation he told me that he was pleased to see the car being used as intended, and that he was very fond of the 166MM. I hate to admit it but I then asked for his autograph which he obliged and then it was off to the races again. Over the years I owned that car it provided "introductions" to nearly every great driver I could have imagined wanting to meet, and a few that I came to know. Great fun! Cheers, George

 

I recall an Honorary one being granted, IIRC.......

 

Yes, Gozzi documents that in his book, "memoirs..."

 

I have been fortunate to meet Mr Ferrari several times; the first time was in 1959 (I was 9 yrs old) when my father took me to the factory during our summer vacation on the Italian coast.
We had long drive in a............DAF 600 (prototype) that my father had for a 25.000km test.
I remember having lunch with my dad and Piero Taruffi in Modena before going to the factory where Mr Ferrari and a number of technicians put the DAF on a bridge to look at the Variomatic system.
We were shown the racing department and Enzo gave me a plastic model of the 246 Dino Formula 1 car which I still have!
While in Modena at the Viale Trente e Trieste building, I remember seeing a number of obsolete sports-racing cars, probably Mondials or Monza's, stacked one on top of another.....

Another model he gave me was a 1:18 312 B3 many years later (still got that one too) during a visit after a LONG wait.........
Gozzi (a wonderful man) was very apologetic for keeping us waiting.

 

Thank you for sharing. If you get a chance, I would love to see a picture of the two model cars.

Regards

 

Yes please!

 

My late friend 'Doc' Postlethwaite told me once about The Old Man asking him to hang around at the Mille Miglia retro stop in which he would place the Papal seal upon participants' road books, or whatever it was he did there.

Apparently at one point he called 'Doc' over and muttered out of the corner of his mouth "What's the matter with all these lunatics with their old scrap cars? Why don't they spend all their money on our new ones?". Evidently, he never quite wrapped his mind around the commercial potential of 'Classiche'.

Unlike the buggers who run his creation today...

DCN

 

I know that some people here know Brenda Vernor. What are the chances of getting her to register here and tell us a story or two...?

 

Great thread....glad I stopped in. My father was my hero, but Enzo Ferrari was his.

 

+3

 

I am a big fan of true balsamico, Modena and have spent many a Ferrari annual fluid change expense on some from 50-75+ years old.

I understand from a reading somewhere Enzo had a bottle, per year, given him, which he kept at the restaurant: Can anyone enlignten me on the provider or balsomic he kept or other info regarding such. I understand he never really let others touch it.


rik

 

My father met Enzo on a couple of occasions many years ago when he was a young manager in Magneti Marelli.

I'm still angry at him for not having taken an autograph/picture...

 

I don't know about that, but Brenda Vernor once told me that it is commonplace around Modena for people to have their own bottle of balsamic vinegar at a favorite restaurant. I believe that she in fact follows the practice at a popular restaurant near Maranello where we have had dinner several times. Fred

 

thanks--truly terrific stuff.


rik

 

Wow, can't believe I didn't see this thread earlier. Awesome experiences everyone.

 

I am too young (24 yo), to have the chance to met Enzo. But my father had met Enzo once or twice in the 80s. Here's a photo of them (my father is the fourth from right) maybe in 1985 or 1986.
Image Unavailable, Please Login