Who was Enzo Ferrari?

0:00 Welcome to History's Not Boring by Kidopoly.com. I'm Mira! And I'm Finn! Before we get to today's topic, we have some special shout-outs. Happy 8th birthday to Le Vie and Happy 8th birthday to Paris in Athens, Greece.

0:17 And a big hello to 7-year-old Eli and 5-year-old Annie. Plus, today's episode is a special request from Oliver, who is 10 in Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

0:29 Oliver asked us to cover the fastest, most famous racing cars in the world. Great pick, Oliver!

0:36 If you haven't already, tap follow wherever you're listening so you never miss an episode.

0:42 Now, Finn, close your eyes and imagine the loudest, most powerful engine roaring to life. What if I told you that the most famous sports car company in the entire world started with a guy shearing mules and a good luck charm from a fighter pilot?

1:01 Wait, mules? Like the stubborn animals? And a fighter pilot? What are we talking about?

1:09 We are talking about Ferrari! Today we're zooming into the incredible true story of Enzo Ferrari, how he built his legendary racing company, and why a prancing black horse became the absolute ultimate symbol of speed.

1:25 So, where exactly does this story start?

1:29 It starts in the city of Modena, in the Kingdom of Italy, all the way back on February 18, 1898. That's when Enzo Anselmo Giuseppe Maria Ferrari was born.

1:42 Wow, 1898! Did they even have cars back then? I thought people mostly just rode horses or took trains.

1:50 Barely. Cars were very new and very rare. Enzo's dad ran a loud, hot metal workshop making heavy axles for the Italian railroad. Enzo grew up smelling engine oil and listening to the clanging of heavy hammers.

2:06 Did he build a car in the workshop?

2:09 Not exactly. But everything changed in 1908 when Enzo was just 10 years old. His dad and his older brother Dino took him to watch a motorcar race called the Sequito di Bologna. Picture massive, heavy cars zooming down dusty dirt roads, engines sputtering and backfiring like giant fireworks. That sounds amazing.

2:34 I bet it was so loud. Super loud! Enzo watched a famous driver named Felice Nazzaro win the race. And right then and there, looking through the dust and the smoke, he decided he wanted to be a racing driver. Did he get to race right away? Not for a long time. Life got really hard. During World War I in 1916, a terrible outbreak of flu swept across Italy.

3:04 Very sadly, both his father and his older brother passed away from the illness.

3:09 Oh no, that is so sad. What did Enzo do without his family?

3:15 In 1917, he joined the 3rd Alpine Artillery Division of the Italian Army to help with the war. And his job was actually putting horseshoes on mules. But then he got severely sick with the flu too. He was so ill that doctors weren't sure he would make it. Is he going to be okay? I'm really worried. He survived, but when the war ended, his family's metal business was totally gone.

3:44 He was just 20 years old with absolutely no money. But he had a massive dream of working with cars.

3:52 How do you go from having no money to building the fastest cars in the world?

3:57 By never giving up. He applied for a job at the giant Italian car company Fiat, but they rejected him. So he took a job at a tiny company in Milan, test driving converted truck frames.

4:11 Wait, the guy who made Ferrari started by driving old clunky trucks.

4:16 Yep, but he was an incredible driver. By 1920, he started racing for a famous company called Alfa Romeo. And on June 17, 1923, driving a bright red Alfa Romeo RL, he won a huge race at the Savio Circuit in the city of Ravenna. That's awesome! Did he get a giant gold trophy? He got something much better.

4:43 After the race, he met the parents of Count Francesco Baracca. Francesco had been Italy's absolute top fighter pilot in World War I with 34 aerial victories. But he had sadly died in battle. Why did Enzo meet his parents? Because they loved how bravely Enzo raced. Francesco's mother, Countess Paulina, told Enzo to put her son's personal symbol on his cars for good luck.

5:12 What was the symbol? A black prancing horse! Francesco used to paint it right on the side of his Spad S.13 biplane as he flew high above the clouds.

5:25 Whoa! The Ferrari horse logo came from a World War I fighter plane.

5:30 Exactly! Enzo adopted the horse and added a bright canary yellow background to the badge, because yellow is the official colour of his hometown, Modena. In 1929, he started his own racing team called Scuderia Ferrari, which actually translates to Ferrari stable, like a stable for super fast horses. So he was making his very own Ferraris now?

5:57 Not quite yet. He was still managing the racing team for Alfa Romeo cars. He didn't start making his very own cars until years later. But then World War II started. In 1943, Enzo moved his factory operations 11 miles south to a town called Marinello to try and stay safe. Did it work? Were they safe in Marinello?

6:21 Unfortunately, no. The factory was still bombed twice in 1944 and 1945. Oh no! Was everything destroyed? Did they have to stop completely? They had to rebuild, but Enzo was determined. As soon as the war ended, he and his workers started designing a brand new, powerful car. Finally, on May 11, 1947, the very first Ferrari made its racing debut.

6:51 Yes! What was it called? How fast was it? It was called the Ferrari 125S. It weighed only £1,433 and featured a brilliant 1.5 litre V12 engine designed by Giochino Colombo. A V12 means it had 12 cylinders arranged in a V shape. It pumped out 118 horsepower and could reach a top speed of 130 mph.

7:22 That is incredibly fast for 1947. Did it win its very first race?

7:28 Actually, no. In its debut race at the Piacenza circuit, driver Franco Cortez was leading the pack. But with just three laps to go, the fuel pump broke and the car sputtered to a complete stop.

7:43 Oh man, that's terrible luck after all that work.

7:47 Enzo called it a promising failure, and he was absolutely right to be hopeful, because just two weeks later, the 125S won its first Grand Prix in Rome. The Ferrari legend had officially begun.

8:02 Okay, so they started winning. But why are Ferraris almost always red? Did Enzo just really love the colour red?

8:10 That's a great question. It actually wasn't his choice at first. Back in the 1920s, the International Automobile Federation assigned a colour to every country for racing. British cars were green, French cars were blue, and Italian cars had to be painted Rosso Corsa, which translates to racing red.

8:34 Oh, so it was like the official Team Italy colour. But Ferrari just kept it forever?

8:40 Yep. Today, about 45% of all Ferraris sold are still painted that famous bright red. And speaking of racing, Scuderia Ferrari became the most successful team in Formula One history.

8:56 How successful are we talking? Like a dozen wins?

9:00 Try over 250 wins. They are the only team to compete in every single season since the championship began in 1950. They've won 16 constructors' championships and 15 drivers' championships. With legends like Michael Schumacher winning five titles just for Ferrari.

9:23 That's unbelievable! They really are the kings of the racetrack. Their cars must be so advanced now.

9:30 They are! Did you know a modern Formula One Ferrari steering wheel costs over $50,000 and has more than 20 buttons and dials on it. But here's an even crazier fun fact. Ferrari is so famous now, they even have their own indoor theme park in Abu Dhabi called Ferrari World. A theme park? Do they have a roller coaster?

9:55 They sure do. It features a roller coaster called the Formula Rossa. It launches you from 0 to 149 miles per hour in just 4.9 seconds. Riders actually have to wear special safety goggles just to protect their eyes from bugs and dust because it goes so unbelievably fast.

10:19 149 miles per hour on a roller coaster. I think my stomach would be left at the starting line.

10:27 It's now the second fastest roller coaster on Earth. It's exactly what Enzo Ferrari would have wanted. Pure, unadulterated speed. Alright Finn, it's time for the quiz! Let's see how much you remember about the fastest cars on Earth.

10:43 Okay, my engine is revved up. Let's do this. First question.

10:49 What year was Enzo Ferrari born? Next one. What animal is on the famous Ferrari logo? Question three. Where did the horse logo originally come from? Here's number four. What was the name of the very first Ferrari car built in 1947? Last question. What colour were Italian race cars officially assigned to be painted?

11:30 Great job! Let's see how you did. The first answer is Enzo was born in 1898. For question two, the famous logo features a prancing horse. Number three, the answer is, it came from a World War I Italian fighter plane flown by Francesco Baracca. Question 4. The very first car was the Ferrari 125S. And the final answer is Italian cars were assigned to be painted Rosso Corsa or Racing Red.

12:05 Wow! I still can't believe a company that makes the fastest cars started with a guy who was just shooing mules in the army.

12:14 It really shows that if you never give up on your dreams, you can build something truly legendary.

12:21 If you loved learning about Enzo and his super fast cars, please leave us a five-star review.

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12:55 See you next time on History's Not Boring.

12:59 Bye everyone!