How A Fighter Pilot Has Led To The Most Recognisable Symbol In Motor Sport

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How A Fighter Pilot Has Led To The Most Recognisable Symbol In Motor Sport - By: Shaun Parker, Posted on: 2007-12-08

The prancing horse is one of the most recognisable symbols in the entire world. It represents speed, performance and in most cases wealth. This can be seen as a reason why Ferrari merchandise is so popular, as people like to be associated with such attributes.

Ferrari has been at the pinnacle of motor sport for the last half century and beyond, its racing division has experienced almost constant success rarely failing to finish on the podium at the end of the season.

This is why the Ferrari has the biggest following of all racing teams and probably the most enthusiastic.
Ferrari merchandise sells readily worldwide due to the recognisable symbol and the fan's desires to be seen wearing the colours and symbols of a company that demands respect.

Ferrari takes its name from the legendry founder Enzo Ferrari. He founded the company on the basis of creating racing cars and sponsoring drivers to bring the Italian nation pride in motor sport under the name of Scuderia Ferrari. This was Enzo's passion and he only moved to creating street legal cars twenty years after the company's conception purely to fund more racing.

Today Ferrari has been sold to Fiat but it still produces cars of the highest quality and performance. Nothing is jeopardised when Ferrari build a car, from the lightweight alloy chassis and fibreglass panelling to the merchandise such as the Ferrari toolbox and watch that comes with the purchase of such a fine car. Testament to the principle of performance; Ferrari cars above all benefit from their racing heritage, cars are constantly reverse engineered from the company's racing division.

The latest supercar to be released with the usual heraldry of huge press interest and conjoined merchandise was rapturously accepted by the worlds motoring fraternity. Named after the company's founder it was given the title of the Ferrari Enzo.

Engineered using technology from the Formula 1 team and with the help of unrivalled champion Michael Schumacher the car is the closest thing you can get to a Formula 1 car on the road. Consisting mostly of carbon fibre and with a semi-automatic sequential gearbox it brings the driver an awesome driving experience.

This experience however comes at a price; originally only built in a limited edition of 349 for existing Ferrari owners 50 more were later built. Today they sell at around 500,000 pounds at auction. At that price seemingly the closest most of us will ever get to owning one is to purchase the merchandise.

In the world of Formula 1 racing Ferrari have experienced unimaginable success, this could be down to the apparent luck that the prancing horse brings. So the story goes that when Enzo Ferrari won the Savio, Ravenna race in 1923 he met the mother of Italy's most celebrated fighter ace Francesco Baracca. Enzo asked if he could put the fighter's symbol, a red prancing horse on a white cloud on his racing car for good luck, she agreed and the rest is history.

Enzo changed the colour of the horse to black as a mark of respect for the pilot who had eventually been downed in action, also changing the background to yellow, the colour of his home town, Modena. Today the prancing horse is instantly recognisable and emblazoned on all manor of merchandise, from pens to lighters, sat-navs to bikes.

The motif is also present as the coat of arms for the city of Stuttgart, which explains why Porsche, who are based in the city, also adopted the horse as its logo and placed it all over its own merchandise. This also explains why Enzo adopted the name Scuderia Ferrari, as the literal translation of both Stuttgart and Scuderia is stud farm.

Named in Italian as the cavallino rampante (prancing horse)it represents one of the finest motor car companies on the planet, a global brand with enough savvy to use its emblem to sell merchandise to the many Ferrari fans worldwide.

Article Source: http://www.girlarticles.com

Shaun Parker is a Ferrari enthusiast who has purchased much of the Ferrari merchandise range. To find out more please visit ferrari.official-merchandise.com