The Ferrari is passion on wheels, and that passion comes alive when you are behind the wheel. Imagine going to a local driving school in New York and the first car they bring out is a Ferrari and then learning how to drive behind the wheel of a Ferrari!

There are more than 100 Ferrari models in all, from the very first machines to wear the prancing horse in 1947 to today’s thrilling lineup of V-8 and V-12 coupes and convertibles.

The Ferraris are legendary sports-racing cars, road cars and the F1 cars. Clothed in graceful bodywork by Enzo Ferrari’s friend, Battista “Pinin” Farina, the early road cars were only slightly tamed versions of his racing cars. Indeed, the very first Ferrari road car, the 166 MM, took part of its name from the Mille Miglia, the famed 1,000-mile Italian road race won by a Ferrari in 1948 him.

The theme continued through such wondrous stallions as the Ferrari 340 America and 375 MM of the early 1950s. These cars could be driven to the track, compete for the checkered flag, and carry their driver to dinner that night. This was the romance of the dual-purpose sports car, an ideal that culminated with the Ferrari 250 GT SWB coupe of 1959. After that, the all-out performance demanded by competition and the veneer of civility required by Ferrari’s wealthy non-racing customers sent his road cars along their own route.

Certainly, each succeeding decade had its share of ferocious road going Ferraris — the 365 GTB/4 Daytona in the 1960s followed by the midengine 512 BBi in the ‘70s, F40 in the ‘80s, F50 in the ‘90s, and Enzo in the new millennium. But each period also had its gorgeous grand touring models as well, including the 250 GT Coupe, 330 GTC, and today’s 612 Scaglietti, all of which followed Ferrari’s classic front-engine V-12 format.

It is a cannon of the Ferrari faith that Enzo sold road cars mainly to finance his first love, racing. And in the first half of the company’s 60-year existence, that mostly meant endurance racing. Ferrari’s sports-racing cars were generally recognizable as wilder versions of models customers could buy and they competed in the big glamour events, like the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Targa Florio.

Such Ferraris as the pontoon-fender 250 TestaRossa and the voluptuous 330 P4 battled Jaguar and later, Ford, for supremacy in this particular crucible of 200-mph machine and high-risk automotive marketing.

Formula 1 had taken over by the mid-70s as the aristocrat of motor racing. And Ferrari refocused its efforts on this form of open-wheel, single-seat competition. Immortals like Alberto Ascari and Juan Manuel Fangio had driven Ferrari Grand Prix cars in the 1950s. The distinctive shark-nose Dino 156 F1 made Phil Hill the first American F1 world champion in 1961.

But even those classic men and their machines could not match the dominance of Michael Shumacher who, starting in the mid 1990s. He led Ferrari to six F1 manufacturer’s titles and captured for himself five F1 world-driving championships.

You can learn to drive all these cars and more. You can also learn some of the stories of the people who designed, built, and drove them. The Ferrari is a portal to automotive magic unlike any other. So find yourself a driving school in NY and learn to drive passion on wheels!

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