On this day, 90 years ago in 1932, the Prancing Horse emblem made its debut appearance on Scuderia Ferrari cars. In celebration, as from today and for the rest of the Austrian Grand Prix weekend, the F1-75s driven by Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz will sport that original version of the emblem, first seen at the Spa-Francorchamps 24 Hours on 9 July 1932.
In Italy too. The old emblem will also feature on the 488 GTE cars that are racing at Monza this weekend in the 6 Hours, fourth round of the WEC (FIA World Endurance Championship). Driving the number 51 and 52 cars, entered by AF Corse will be Ferrari Competizioni GT drivers, Alessandro Pier Guidi-James Calado and Miguel Molina-Antonio Fuoco.
Lucky debut. The Prancing Horse was originally the emblem of aviator and war hero Francesco Baracca, whose family suggested Ferrari use it for good luck. The current emblem is essentially similar to the original, which featured a yellow background as a tribute to the city of Modena, along with the team’s initials and the Italian colours at the top part. The slight difference in that the original horse was less stylised, while the team initials were smaller and spaced further apart. It first appeared on the Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 MMs, driven by the pairings of Antonio Brivio-Eugenio Siena and Piero Taruffi-Guido d’Ippolito. The race ended with the best possible result, a one-two finish.
In the museum. Apart from seeing the F1-75 at Spielberg or the 488 GTE at Monza first hand, the original emblem can also be admired at the Maranello Museum where it features on an Alfa Romeo 8C raced by the Modenese squad, along with a Rudge motorcycle that the Scuderia raced mainly in the Italian championship from 1932 to 1934. In fact, the very first appearance of the Prancing Horse emblem was on a motorcycle, at the Circuito di Pontedera race on 3 July that same year. Both the car (on display for a short period) and the motorbike form part of a major exhibition, “Scuderia Ferrari – The Full Story,” which features several unforgettable models that tasted both legendary victories and defeat in Formula 1 and sports car racing.