Besides the open road, the best place to fully appreciate Ferrari style and speed is now at London’s Design Museum. In graphic designer RGB-speak, the vivid scarlet shade is called hex FF2800. But it’s more commonly recognized around the world simply as Ferrari red. Paired with the yellow prancing horse logo, it’s a sign of Italian industrialist Enzo Ferrari’s manufacturing, design and engineering prowess.
Besides the open road, the best place to fully appreciate Ferrari style and speed is now at London’s Design Museum, where Ferrari: Under the Skin, curated by Andrew Nahum and Gemma Curtin, marks 70 years of the iconic Italian sports car. Enzo Ferrari’s famous aphorisms, such as “aerodynamics are for people who can’t build engines” and “I build engines and attach wheels to them,” may have been catchy but they aren’t strictly true, since the bodywork has as much flair as the power under the hood. Examples of this revolutionary design on display include the kicked-up tail of engineer Giotto Bizzarrini’s 250 GTO, a sign of his elegant and modern approach. Another innovation you’ll see is the influential 1986 Testarossa form designed by Sergio Pininfarina around the then-new mid-rear engine.
There are more than $230-million worth of Ferraris on show: Michael Schumacher’s 2000 Formula One winner, cars helmed by racing drivers Stirling Moss and Peter Collins (his with a cutaway driver door), as well as an exact replica of the 125 S, the first car built under Ferrari’s own name in 1947. Also on display are rarely seen archival sketches, helmets worn by Kimi Raikkonen, Mike Hawthorn and Alberto Ascari, famous racing suits and the charismatic motor mogul’s own driving licence, the humble but important document that started it all.
Ferrari: Under the Skin runs at Design Museum in London through April 15, 2018. For more information, visit designmuseum.org.
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