When I am not photographing people, I find myself shooting cars.
Mr. Enzo Ferrari, who was born in Modena, Italy in 1898, left the Alfa Romeo Company in 1939 and agreed not to use his last name with any races or race cars for at least four years after his departure. So, he founded “Auto Avio Costruzionoi.” The new company produced the 815 Spider, but production ended during World War II in 1943.
In 1947 the company we call Ferrari today was officially birthed with the “Ferrari 125 S.”
As for the famous horse used in the Ferrari logo, it was tied to a highly decorated World War I pilot named Francesco Baraca. The horse was painted on the side of his plane. At the close of the war, Baracca’s parents offered Enzo Ferrari the opportunity to use the prancing horse symbol, so he did.
In this picture is a Ferrari 458 Italia. I snapped this on Tiger Hill in Murfreesboro, TN. The mid-engine car replaced the older Ferrari F430.
The 458 was produced between 2009 and 2015. While Ferrari is tight-lipped about their cars, it is rumored that a little over 15,000 458 Italia's were produced between '09 and '15. While that may sound like a lot, it is far from a high number. If you look towards a company like Ford, they made 160,412 Mustangs in 2005 alone.
As for handling, the 458 feels like a go-cart around the curves and reaches 62 miles per hour in 2.9 to 3 seconds, depending on track conditions. Top speed is 202 mph.
The Ferrari 458 is somewhat famous in the automotive world as the transmission is only available as a dual clutch 7 speed Getrag gearbox. In other words, it is not offered in the form of a traditional manual transmission car like other Italian cars are. The Ferrari company see’s it as the perfect automobile. It does however have paddle shifters on the column.
As for the interior, it looks like a fighter jet and every control needed is located on the steering wheel, even the button to start the engine, suspension controls and the turn signals.
- Horsepower: 570
- Engine: 4.5 L Ferrari F136 F V8