Ferrari's Prancing Horse - II Cavallino Rampante Some 30 years before the first Ferrari automobiles took to track, the symbol that would identify them had already been born. The story of the Cavallino Rampante, or "Prancing Horse," is at once simple, intriguing and touching. In the 1920s, Enzo Ferrari met Count Enrico Baracca and his wife, Countess Paolina Baracca. The Countess would suggest to Ferrari that his racing team adopt the symbol their deceased son had used on his fighter planes in WWI - a red rearing horse.
Francesco Baracca, Italy's greatest WWI flying Ace with 34 kills, was shot down in 1918 at age 20. The horse painted on his planes was thought to represent his own stallion, Nibbio.
After his death, the squadron's airplanes carried his symbol, but with the horse painted black to honor the fallen man
Ferrari first used the Baracca's horse on his team's Grand Prix racers that won the 1932 Spa-Francorchamps 24-hour race.
Ferrari set the black horse against a yellow background, the
official color of his hometown, Modena. In his 1963 autobiography, "My Terrible Joys," Ferrari recounted the story, writing, "I still have Baracca's photograph, with his parents' dedication in which they entrust the horse to me."
- I can't afford the car but, I could afford the plates. It's a waste for me to keep them. These plates are very esoteric and would make most people that look at your Ferrari wonder what they mean. However car tragics (like me) would see them and
know right away the importance.
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