Ferrari Hypercars Page 29
At the time of Chinetti’s Le Mans victory, Ferrari was a small constructor focused primarily on racecar production. This is the competition department in September 1950; in the foreground is a 125 C, while over to the left the first 375 F1 is under construction. The latter’s powerplant would play a major role in Ferrari’s first hypercars. The Mailander collection at the Revs Institute for Automotive Research

Automoblog Book Garage: Ferrari Hypercars

Book Garage

Recently, Danielle took me to nearby West Bloomfield Township, Michigan to visit Cauley Ferrari. I couldn’t believe my eyes when they had not just one Testarossa in the showroom, but two. I felt like a kid in a candy store – truth is, as a kid, I was in love with the car and could never get over those infamous grooves on the door.

There is still something about the Testarossa today that makes me love Ferrari.

Coming Alive

Ferrari Hypercars: The Inside Story of Maranello’s Fastest, Rarest Road Cars by Winston Goodfellow gives me the same elation. Ferrari has a vibrant history, well before my beloved Testarossa of the late 80s and the gorgeous 488 Spider of today. Goodfellow dives deep into this history with rare interviews, stories, and photography.

New light is shed on the automaker’s storied past. The 288 GTO, for example, is sometimes mistaken as the first Ferrari Hypercar, but the title actually goes to the 375 M of the 1950s. The 288 GTO came about after an encounter with a BMW 3 Series, not Group B as commonly thought. Believe it or not, the Porsche 959 played into the making of the F40 and the 365 P was actually ahead of the McLaren F1 in some aspects.

The book follows the figures behind the cars, going so far as to document the sometimes rough relationship between designer Sergio Pininfarina and founder Enzo Ferrari.

Author

Winston Goodfellow is one of the world’s leading experts on Gran Turismo cars, especially those from Italy. His words and photos have appeared in more than 50 magazines in several countries. Since 1989, he has been a Chief Class Judge for the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and member of its advisory board.

Illustrated Elegance

The book is genuine art, both in literary and photographic mediums. The pages have a unique gloss that feels a little different in your hands than a traditional book. It reads how you would expect something with “Ferrari” in the title would. The thrill of the words are accented by images of the cars, factories, and design studios.

Ferrari Hypercars: The Inside Story of Maranello’s Fastest, Rarest Road Cars is available through MotorBooks and Amazon.

Carl Anthony is Managing Editor of Automoblog and resides in Detroit, Michigan. 

Ferrari Hypercars Gallery

Last weekend in the Automoblog Book Garage, we featured one of Ferrari’s biggest rivals.