2003 Ferrari Enzo supercar
Ferrari Maserati of Silicon Valley owner Giacomo Mattioli describes the 2003 Enzo supercar at Ferrari’s 60th-anniversary celebration at his Silicon Valley dealership in Redwood City, CA.
A story by Ferrari
Enzo (the 2000s)
The Enzo Ferrari is a 12-cylinder Ferrari supercar named after the company’s founder, Enzo Ferrari. It was built in 2003 using Formula One technology, such as a carbon-fiber body, F1-style sequential shift transmission, and carbon-ceramic brake discs. Also used are technologies not allowed in F1 such as active aerodynamics. After a downforce of 775 kg (1709 lb) is reached at 300 km/h (186 mph) the rear wing is actuated by a computer to maintain that downforce.
The Enzo was initially announced at the 2002 Paris Motor Show with a limited production run of 349 units and priced at $643,330. The company sent invitations to existing customers. All 349 cars were sold in this way before production began. Later, after numerous requests, Ferrari decided to build 50 more Enzos, bringing the total to 399.
On November 8, 2005, Ferrari announced that it would build one additional Enzo, bringing the total to 400. The car, chassis #ZFFCZ56B000141920, was auctioned by Sotheby’s Maranello Auction on June 28, 2005, to benefit survivors of the 2004 Tsunami for €950,000 (US$1,274,229), almost twice its list price. This sum was presented to Pope Benedict XVI, while Formula One driver Michael Schumacher gave the pope a steering wheel to commemorate the donation.
This wheel included a plaque that read, “The Formula 1 World Champion’s steering wheel to His Holiness Benedict XVI, Christianity’s driver.”
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