Ferrari. Even the name sounds sporty and awe-inspiring. And , that's what drivers will always get from Ferrari vehicles- along with glaringly-long glances, street cred., and a whole lot of muscle packed into a powerful, sleek sports car. Ferrari was first established in 1947, and is under the Fiat Group. It has continued to prosper, even after the death of its beloved founder, Enzo Ferrari. Enzo came to establish the company through a fit of rebellion from his mother. His first auto-related job was as a race-car driver in the year 1918. Shortly after, Enzo moved to Milan to prosper as a race- car driver at the Costruzioni Maccaniche Nazionali. While here, Enzo gathered up all of his sponsor and trainer friends working for automaker Alfa Romeo and founded Scuderia (Stable, in English) Ferrari. His friends helped him to become head of Alfa Romeo's racing dept. in 1938, but he quit when he heard the company had plans to take Scuderia. He was prohibited by contract from racing for several years due to this decision. Scuderia began to produce parts and equipment for the war, and actually also produced the un-official first Ferrari- the Tipo 815.
By 1943, Enzo was becoming very successful, and the Ferrari factory moved to its current home of Maranello in Northern Itlay. It was bombed during the great War and rebuilt, eventually producing the first Ferrari road car in 1947- the 12 S. Enzo continued to build these vehicles to fund his beloved Scuderia. Enzo met with great success, and his sporty vehicles went on to take over five thousand race titles due to their finely-tuned V8 and V12 engines. In 1969, to appease heightened market demand, Enzo sold 50 percent of Ferrari's share capital to the Fiat Group, an amount that increased to 90 percent in 1988.
Ferrari competes with several other luxury sports vehicles on the market, including Jaguar, Bugatti, and Porsche- all of which have amassed quite a dedicated following for fans. Yet, despite Fiat looking over the Ferrari brand's shoulder, it has continued to remain quite autonomous and create loyalists all over the globe. The dedication of Enzo Ferrari is still apparent in every Ferrari vehicle that's built today.
There have been several stand-out Ferrari models over the past few decades; in fact, one could argue that every Ferrari model deserves to make the "most popular" cut. However, we'll focus on ten we think really stand out. They are: the Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa (TR)- a race car model built during the 1950s and 60s, the Ferrari 250 GTO- which was produced in the 1960s and has made several "Top Sports Cars of All Time" lists, the large touring Ferrari 500 SuperFast family of cars built in the 1950s and 60s, the mid-engined Ferrari 458 Italia sports car- officially unveiled in 2009, the Ferrari Enzo- which uses Formula One racing technologies, the gorgeous Ferrari 458 Italia- also officially unveiled in 2009, the super-fast Ferrari 599 GTO- unveiled recently in 2010, the sporty Ferrari 599 GTO- of which only 30 models were produced, the Ferrari 125- which debuted in 1947, and finally, the Ferrari GT4- which produced about three thousand models from 1973-1980.