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Half of Ferrari sold for $3.5 million
Selling Half to Fiat
In 1968, kidney disease convinced Enzo that the end was near. He talked to his old colleagues at Alfa Romeo, but the deal he made was with Gianni Agnelli and Fiat, the company that had turned down his job application in 1918. Agnelli had also been one of the first buyers of a Ferrari road car.
Fiat took 50 percent immediately, a price that valued all of Ferrari at $6.8 million. A secret clause would give Fiat another 40 percent when Enzo died and pass the last 10 percent to his son Piero. Enzo kept final authority over racing, so he could spend his last days running the team.
A Long Recovery
His end was nowhere near. Enzo went into organ failure in 1970 and was hospitalized for months, recovered, and lived until 1988, long enough to launch the F40. Fiat bought the remaining 40 percent that year for about $77 million, a price that valued Ferrari at $192 million.
In 2015, Ferrari went public at a market capitalization of $9.8 billion.
How had Fiat and Ferrari already worked together?
In the mid-1960s, Formula 2 rules required an engine to be fitted to at least 500 production cars. Ferrari could not build that many on its own, so Fiat produced Ferrari's Dino V6 for its own Fiat Dino, launched in 1966. Ferrari sold its own Dino road cars as well, beginning with the 206 GT in 1967.
Why is the F40 called Enzo's last Ferrari?
Ferrari introduced the F40 in 1987 to mark the company's 40th anniversary. It was the last new Ferrari Enzo personally approved before he died in 1988. The car used a twin-turbocharged V8 and a lightweight body built from composites that included Kevlar and carbon fiber. Ferrari quoted a top speed of about 201 miles per hour.
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