A house immersed in the Modena countryside. In the garden there is a child. He is 12 years old, it is 1957. He plays with a model of Ascari’s Ferrari. The miniature car is a sign of belonging. His mother is called Lina Lardi. His father, Enzo Ferrari. Their relationship: secret as it can be in a post-war Italian province: everyone whispers, chats. Enzo Ferrari is married. His wife, Laura, is a wounded, disturbed, betrayed woman. Laura knows. Head shots, tail shots, like useless frustrations. A marriage shattered by the pain of the loss of his son, Dino, who died at 24 of muscular dystrophy in 1956. Enzo: inspired, overwhelming. The pain already hidden under the dark glasses. Vision and cynicism to hold the helm within a ferocious motoring hyperbole. Lina is his only port. Balanced and quiet. That child observes, waits. He waited for recognition until 1975 and adopted his father’s surname in 1990. Today Piero, 78 years old, bears Enzo’s traits. A resemblance that is endearing because he keeps every memory alive. His story seems like a movie. Indeed. “Ferrari”, the title, directed by Michael Mann. It opens the first glimpse into the backstage of a myth. Terrible joys, secret impulses. Piero Ferrari is the first spectator, the only witness.
Was that little Piero really calm in the middle of a storm?
“I didn’t know. I had understood something during a car trip with my mother and one of her friends. They thought I was asleep while listening to their conversation. For me it was normal to have a busy father. He came and went and had lunch with us every day. It seemed like a normal life to me, even if something reached my ears from classmates. Vague references. Whoever knew was silent.”
– Carlos Sainz with Piero Ferrari (Afp)
Piero Lardi, Piero Lardi Ferrari, Piero Ferrari. To what extent was his surname a nuisance?
“Later, when I started frequenting Ferrari, it was a problem. Not with the people who worked in Maranello and knew the situation. Those who came from outside sometimes asked questions that caused some embarrassment.”
Those who knew his mother, Lina, speak of her as the person who most gave Enzo Ferrari balance. Can he tell us a little about yourself?
“He was a good person. I’ve seen him angry twice in his entire life. She didn’t raise her voice, when faced with a problem she made sure to overcome it with reasoning. She cared a lot about her person, her nails were always well-groomed, her hair was in place, she dressed elegantly. She must have suffered but she didn’t let it show, especially to me. For my dad, I think the time he spent with us was really peaceful. The Ferrari, the family complications, the death of his son Dino, never appeared.”
Lina and Laura. Two mothers, two women in love with the same man, different in character and destiny. Have they ever met?
“I don’t think so. I saw Laura only once in 1965 when her grandmother Adalgisa, Enzo’s mother, died. At the cemetery, her on one side, me on the other. She looked at me, I looked at her. It was a moment. Never seen again.”
Dino: a missed affection or a cumbersome ghost?
“Cumbersome, certainly because my father often remembered him even though he never spoke about him to me. But there were Dino engines, Dino Ferraris… I remember a single gesture: when my grandmother died, on a piece of furniture in her house there was a photograph of Dino. Dad put it in my hands. He said, “You hold it. He was your brother.” I was about to start working in Maranello, according to my grandmother’s wish: she had asked my father to take me into the company with him. And when he expressed a wish, for dad it was an order.”
Was the loss of his son a permanent pain for Enzo?
«A pain perhaps mitigated over time. Accompanied by the desire to find a cure for muscular dystrophy. But, he sees, he was not a man of many words. Only once did he make an explicit reference after the agreement with Fiat in 1969. He said: “If Dino had been there, I would have left Ferrari to you two” ».
“I’m always embarrassed when I’m asked to define my father.” His words…
«He was very clever, he presented himself in a different way in relation to the interlocutor. She interpreted it and acted accordingly. A true chameleon. Which is the real Ferrari? Impossible to answer: many faces, many facets.”
Of himself he said: “I am someone who dreamed of being Ferrari.” What did she dream?
“The dream is still alive today: creating new things, participating in the evolution of the car. Apply technology for the Ferrari of tomorrow while keeping in mind the mistakes of the past. It was my father’s philosophy and it is mine.”
He joined Ferrari in 1965 and held increasingly important roles. Is the Cavallino’s success also thanks to him?
“I have a hard time taking credit. Having given everyone my loyal collaboration and having kept in mind the history of Ferrari, the vocation to look forward, I consider it important.”
He didn’t make himself but he did a lot by himself. A high-tech company, cutting-edge planes and boats, two honorary degrees…Is there any freedom achieved in your departure from Ferrari?
«Of course, I find the contaminations between apparently different worlds interesting. Planes or yachts intended for people capable of appreciating them, as happens with Ferraris. I think I have collected a number of precious experiences put to good use to identify and offer an opportunity.”
Owner of 10% of the shares, heir to a large fortune, board member, vice president. What is Ferrari today for you?
«A company worth a lot of money. Forbes included me in the ranking of the richest people in Italy but I only gave my contribution to a company that has become a significant value. For this I want to give credit to Sergio Marchionne, a man with something more than anyone else”.
–
(Afp)
“Ferrari”, the film, contains the brutal ferocity of racing as opposed to the carefree vitality of the drivers. Life and death. How high is the price of the tragedy?
«In 1957 Castellotti died in Modena, De Portago in the Mille Miglia together with nine spectators. I remember my heartbroken father repeating: let’s not run anymore, we can’t go on like this. Then Monday arrived, he came to Maranello, where everyone was waiting for him to get back to work. What to do? Move forward, improve. It was a feeling I felt after Bandini’s death in ’67. My father insisted: don’t get close to the pilots because then they die or leave us. Yes, but sometimes it’s difficult. He was with Bandini and then with Lauda.”
There is another Enzo Ferrari, his nephew. Does that name also determine his fate?
“It’s not certain. I set up a family trust and this is what he takes care of. He is growing well. Every experience is useful, it happened to me, it’s happening to him.”
Another movie. Piero accompanies Enzo to visit the Ferrari racing department today. Can you imagine his comments?
“He would be happy to find order and cleanliness. And he would see a surviving spirit in the people who work at Ferrari. Pride and sense of belonging to an ancient racing family”.
2023-11-24 06:41:10
#Piero #Ferrari #father #pain #brothers #death #wife
