La Bella Macchina at The Crysler Museum, Norfolk, Virginia, July 2003

The Ferrari Exhibit The Crysler Museum of Art Norfolk, Virginia July, 2003

Exhibition Organization The twelve cars in La Bella Macchina are divided into three groups. Each represents one of the principal lines of automobiles designed and produced by Ferrari.

At the center of the room are Formula One racing cars: single seat, open-wheeled vehicles specifically designed to compete successfully in the closely regulated world of Grand Prix racing.

At the far end of the room, in front of the mirror, is a group of sports/racing cars. These vehicles are an amalgam of standard passenger touring cars and racing cars. They were designed so that they could be driven to the track, raced, and then driven home.

Finally, around the edges of the room are a group of Ferrari road cars. These vehicles, although incorporating features developed for racing cars, were designed as sporty luxury cars for private use on regular highways.

(This virtual book is presented in a completely random order relative to the description above.)

Enzo Ferrari In 1937 Enzo Ferrari (1898—1988), after twenty years as a designer and driver of racing cars for Alfa Romeo, broke with his long-time employer to found his own company. Ten years later, in the wake of the Second World War, Ferrari opened a factory in the small town of Maranello not far from his home town of Modena. The same year, 1947, he produced and raced the first car that bore his own name. Success came quickly and for the rest of his life Enzo was intimately involved with every aspect of his firm.

From the start Ferrari kept at its core an emphasis on racing, financing these activities through the design and sale of their line of fast and stylish sports cars. For this reason Ferrari vehicles stress performance and speed over comfort, luxury, or practicality.

Alfa Romeo, 8C 2300 Monza (Scuderia Ferrari) 1932

Alfa

250 MM Pinin Farina Berlinetta 1953

641/2 Formula One 1991

275 GTS/4 NART Spyder 1967

250 TRI/61 (Testa Rossa) 1961

250 GTO 1962

330 P 1963

250 GT Pinin Farina Coupe 1958

375 Indy 1952

375 Indy 1952

166 MM Barchetta 1949

65 P/2 Speciale 1967

246 Dino GTS 1973

END