Enzo Ferrari is not well known outside Italy. (46){{U}}Evan as his cars were racing to victory all over the world, the man at the helm of the racing team preferred to stay in Modena and watch the races on television at home{{/U}}. This intimate account of Ferrari's early days and his emergence as the spirit behind the team fills the gap neatly.
Ferrari. now owned by Fiat, has long been synonymous with Formula One racing. (47){{U}}Over the years, McLaren, Benetton and Williams may between them have won more races, but it is the glamour as well as the singular success of Ferrari that draws the crowds{{/U}}. As a young man Ferrari had neither the money nor the killer instinct to become one of the great racing drivers. "If you want spectacular results, you have to know how to treat your car badly. The fact is I don't drive just to get from A to B. I enjoy feeling the car's reactions, becoming part of it. I couldn't inflict suffering on it." What Ferrari liked was to be "an agitator of men".
The first Ferrari team raced Alfa Romeos, though the partnership did not last. (48){{U}}In 1947 Ferrari relaunched on his own, making the first of the cars that would wear the badge of the black prancing horse on a yellow background{{/U}}. By the early 1950s, in the hands of such drivers as Alberto Ascari and Juan Fangio, Ferraris were leading the world championships. Meanwhile, Luigi Chinetti, a great salesman, persuaded Ferrari that road versions of the cars would sell well to rich Americans. In Italy road Ferraris became the film star's must-have car in Cinecitta. (49){{U}}Roberto Rossellini even got to drive one in the famous Mille Miglia before his wife, Ingrid Bergman, persuaded him to abandon the race halfway through in Rome{{/U}}.
(50){{U}}The accounts of early races, such as the Mille Miglia from Brescia to Rome and back and Tazio Nuvolari's win in a Ferrari-run Alfa Romeo at Nurburgring in Germany in 1935, are among the highlights of Richard Williams's book{{/U}}. As the Italian crossed the winning line, Hitler's sports minister ground his teeth and crumpled his prepared speech lauding a Mercedes victory. Mr Williams is a talented writer; he loves Italy and motor racing, and his passion for both shines through.