The company was founded in 1939 by one of the biggest names in the world of car manufacturing, Enzo Ferrari.

With headquarters in Italy and the Netherlands, the company employs over 3,000 people nowadays but Enzo Ferrari’s original idea was that he was not interested in producing road cars.

The famous badge of Ferrari appeared in 1947 when a 125 S, powered by a 1.5 L V12 engine was produced.

The famous symbol of Ferrari - the "prancing horse" - is a black prancing stallion on a yellow shield, usually with the letters S F (for Scuderia Ferrari), with three stripes of green, white and red for the national colours of Italy at the top. The road cars have a slightly different rectangular badge.

As reported in 2018, the total of Ferrari cars built and sold in the whole company history was estimated at about 190,000 and this included a 1962 250 GTO which was built for Sterling Moss, although he never raced in the car. In 2012, the car became the most expensive car in history, selling in a private transaction for $38.1 million.

Ferrari is also the most successful racing team in Formula one, producing 15 championship drivers and 16 constructor championships.