Enzo had spent years racing for Alfa Romeo before creating Scuderia Ferrari in 1929. The team prepared and raced Alfa Romeos with considerable success, becoming Alfa’s semi-official competition operation. Enzo managed drivers, developed cars, and built the reputation that would eventually make his surname worth millions.

Then Alfa Romeo brought the operation in-house.

In 1939, Enzo left under an agreement preventing him from using the Ferrari name in connection with automobiles for four years. A lesser man might have accepted the situation, purchased a quiet house, and developed an interest in gardening.

Enzo Ferrari was not built for quiet houses.

He formed Auto Avio Costruzioni and began producing machinery and automobile components in Modena, later moving the operation to Maranello. While the contractual clock ran down, he prepared to build the car he actually wanted.

By 1947, the waiting was over.

The Ferrari 125 S became the first automobile to carry the Ferrari name. Beneath its narrow body sat a 1.5-liter V12 designed by Gioacchino Colombo. Twelve cylinders from only 1,497cc sounds excessive, complicated, and slightly unreasonable.

Perfect, then.

The 125 S made its competition debut at Piacenza on May 11, 1947, with Franco Cortese driving. It led before a fuel-pump problem ended the race. Enzo called the result “a promising failure,” which may be the most Ferrari description of mechanical retirement ever recorded.

Two weeks later, Cortese drove the 125 S to victory at the Rome Grand Prix. By the end of 1947, Ferrari had won six of the 14 races it entered.

The company had existed for several months and was already behaving like it owned the place.

Then came the 166 series.

Its Colombo-designed V12 grew to 1,995cc, producing roughly 110 horsepower in road specification, depending on configuration. The engine remained small, light, eager to rev, and considerably more sophisticated than the large-displacement machinery favored by many competitors.

The 166 Inter arrived in 1948 as Ferrari’s first proper road-going grand tourer. Each chassis received coachbuilt bodywork from firms including Touring, Stabilimenti Farina, and Ghia. Production amounted to approximately 37 cars, making Ferrari’s first road model less of a production line and closer to a very expensive tailoring department.

The Inter also established a business arrangement Enzo would follow for the rest of his life. Wealthy customers bought road cars. Their money paid for racing. Racing victories sold more road cars. Enzo tolerated the commercial cycle because it kept his competition department supplied with engines, mechanics, tires, and reasons to shout at people.

The road-going 166 Inter shared its bloodline with the competition-focused 166 S and 166 MM. Those cars quickly turned Ferrari from an ambitious Italian manufacturer into a serious international threat.

A 166 S won the 1948 Mille Miglia. The 166 MM followed with victories at the 1949 Mille Miglia and the 1949 24 Hours of Le Mans. Luigi Chinetti drove for more than 23 hours at Le Mans, because apparently sharing was regarded as a character weakness.

Ferrari’s basic formula was already complete: compact engineering, V12 power, racing as religion, road cars as financial support, and Enzo sitting in Maranello judging everyone through dark glasses.

Later Ferraris became faster, louder, wider, and vastly more expensive. The attitude never changed.

Ferrari arrived in 1947 carrying a V12 and a grudge. Both proved extremely durable.