The story of the Auto Avio Costruzioni 815 – the first Ferrari ever made
Would it surprise you to hear that the first Ferrari ever made did not have the Ferrari name on it? Welcome then to the story behind it...
Wherever you may be as these words sink into your mind, you'll probably need to travel thousands of miles to find someone who hasn't heard of Ferrari. It doesn't matter whether your knowledge of cars is utterly woeful, it is very nearly impossible for the legend that Ferrari have carved for themselves to have escaped your attention entirely. And with that in mind, you really do have to ask yourself how such legend started out in life?
The first car ever to use the Ferrari name and have the prancing horse badge displayed proudly on its body was the 125 S of 1947. But strictly speaking, that wasn't the first Ferrari - if your definition of that stretches to including the first car designed and built by Enzo Ferrari. For that was the Auto Avio Costruzioni 815 of 1940. And this is the story of that historic car.
Credit - Classic Driver
In 1920, the alluring gates of opportunity were swung wide open for a 22 year-young Enzo Ferrari. Through those gates he found himself undertaking one of the most exciting and prestigious jobs of the era – that of a racing driver, for Alfa Romeo. The stories of Alfa's racing dominance of the past will reverberate around the automotive world long after personal depictions become extinct from living memory. In 1920, Enzo had the majority of the creation of that legend ahead of him.
Enzo's career at Alfa would last for 18 years when, in 1938, he was fired, leaving a crescendo of celebratory cheers to ripple through the Italian sporting press. While the crass and misinformed view nowadays is that Enzo left Alfa of his own accord to set up his own company, this wasn't strictly the case. In fact, Enzo's firing caused upset to filter into the deepest pores of the Alfa ranks, which led to key figures following him out the door.
Credit - Classic Driver
But while Enzo may've parted ways with Alfa Romeo, their shackles were still firmly in place preventing him from having free rein over his own destiny. The restraints were of a legal nature, prohibiting Enzo from personally partaking in motor sport or from using the Ferrari name for 4 years. While that may appear to be something of an odd, and even tyrannical divorce settlement, within Alfa Romeo, Enzo had been responsible for the Scuderia Ferrari racing team – hence, their reticence at allowing him to use the name soon after his departure.
In his entrepreneurial way, Enzo found a way to dance within the confinements of Alfa's legal handcuffs. For in 1939, he founded Auto Avio Costruzioni with the objective of manufacturing aircraft components for the Italian government. It didn't take long however before Enzo found himself being caressed by the alluring touch of motor sport. That said, Enzo's position would not see him relax into the driver's seat, for such a role would be forbidden by his agreement with Alfa Romeo. Instead, his company was commissioned to build 2 racing cars for competition in the Brescia Grand Prix – a wartime variant of the traditional Mille Miglia. The instructions came courtesy of a 19-year-old Alberto Ascari - the son of one of Enzo's closest friends, Antonio Ascari - and fellow Italian racing driver Lotario Rangoni. Vampiric in his thirst for Alfa's blood, Enzo was only too keen to get started on what he hoped would be revenge on wheels.
Credit - Classic Driver
In order to achieve that aforementioned revenge however, Enzo faced a seemingly insurmountable challenge. The cars weren't commissioned until the December of 1939, and they would need to be designed and built from the ground up ready to race by the end of April the following year. The one thing he needed was a reliable and productive team of like-minded folk around him, and due to the subsequent revolt at Alfa Romeo, such engineers as Alberto Massimino & Vittorio Bellentani had left the company in support of Enzo. The reality was however that a dedicated team wouldn’t quite be enough to get the job done in the punishing 4-month time frame. What Enzo needed to do was have a rifle around to see if he could gather any components from other manufacturers.
The engine turned out to be such a component; although, not in the way the official story implies. The official story speaks of Enzo utilising the potential of 2 Fiat 508C Balilla 1100 4-cylinder engines for his racing car – but the truth tells a rather different tale. For only a handful of components from the Fiat engine were used in the making of the AAC's beating heart.
Credit - Classic Driver
For a start, the block was a completely different – cast out of aluminium, made to accommodate 8-cylinders totaling 1500cc (rather than the 2200cc that would've resulted from the joining of two Fiat engines). The smaller displacement meant the pistons from the Fiat engines weren't suitable for the AAC. The Fiat's cranks and cams were also of no use to Ferrari due to how he wanted the AAC to have the correct timing for a Straight-8 engine - resulting in him making his own crank to house all 8 cylinders, along with a single cam. The only components Ferrari could utilise from the original Fiat engines were the valves, the cylinder heads, and the connecting rods.
The name of the car – 815 – references the engine's 8-cylinders and 1.5L displacement. With 4 Weber-Carbs sucking more air into the cylinders, the engine produced what seems now like a poultry 75bhp. As pathetic as it may appear by today's standards, it was a lot for its time. And considering it only had to carry 1378lbs (625kg) up the road, a top speed of 110mph was possible. And that would feel jolly brisk without the luxury of a cabin to protect you from the elements.
Credit - Classic Driver
The 4-speed gearbox came from Fiat; although the gears themselves were manufactured by AAC. The curvaceous bodywork was crafted by the fantastically evocative sounding Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera, who built it out of a special aluminium and magnesium alloy that resulted in it weighing just 119lbs (54kg).
The inevitable hand of time ticked by, dragging the Brescia Grand Prix closer with every fleeting second. Enzo and his team crammed as much work as they possibly could into time's unrelenting continuum. And against all odds, they managed to build the two 815s in time for the race.
Credit - Top Speed
While the distance of the Brescia Grand Prix was comparable to the Millie Miglia, the route was different. The dawn of the horrors of war were beginning to eek their way into certain areas of Italy – areas that the traditional Millie Miglia would normally pass through. To avoid racing through such dreadful hostilities, the 1940 event wouldn't take place over 1 large near-1000-mile lap as it would normally; instead, travelling over 9 shorter 103-mile laps around the city of Brescia. To say it was grueling wouldn't even get close to conveying the true nature of the beast.
The two 815s were numbered 020 and 021. The 020 car was driven by Lotario Rangoni and Enrico Nardi (who'd also had influence in the design); the 021 car was driven by Alberto Ascari and Giuseppe Minozzi. Upon the waving of the checkered flag, both cars set off in their pursuit of victory, and vengeance. But in the way of the delicious cocktail of triumph and retribution lay 927 miles that would be driven flat out in cars that had been merely foetuses in their creator's visionary mind just a few months earlier. The tremendous likelihood of failure seemed ineluctable.
Credit - Top Speed
The initial performance inspired hope. Ascari's 021 car led the 1500cc class, with Rangoni in 020 not far behind. But for Ascari, hope evaporated out of existence as his car broke down with valve trouble. Rangoni took the lead. For the responsibility now rested with him to carry Enzo's creation forward to glory. Nervousness lined the stomachs of all those involved, sprinkled with the deadly intoxication of hope. The 020 car set the lap record, and built up an astonishing 30 minute lead over the rest of the field. But on lap 8, disaster struck when 020 retired with engine failure. The phrase "so close but so far" comes instantly to mind.
While the result may have been a bitter and disappointing pill to swallow, it did at least show that Enzo was capable of building a car that could outpace the big-boys – albeit, when they weren't clattering to a halt in a cloud of smoke. Their unreliability was a sign of their rushed conception that didn't leave them with the required time to iron out their foibles.
Credit - Classic Driver
It didn't take long for the trembling echoes of war to encompass Italy in its entirety, upon which Mussolini's Fascista government forced the AAC factory into focusing their efforts on fighter plane components. Subsequently, the factory was bombed, which was the catalyst for Enzo relocating from Modena to Ferrari's current home in Marenello.
As the deathly howls of conflict faded, Enzo established the now sacred Ferrari S.p.A brand in 1947. As mentioned at the beginning of the blog, the first car to wear his Prancing horse insignia was the 125 S – a car far more advanced than the 815. Perhaps however it wouldn't have been as advanced as it was had it not been for the invaluable experience Enzo gained from working on the 815. And who knows how that discrepancy could've rippled through Ferrari's future.
Credit - Classic Driver
In an act of extraordinary sacrilege, the 020 815 was scrapped in 1958. The 021 car however was sold to racer Enrico Beltracchini, who honoured racing with its participation in 1947. He then sold it to a museum, after which he bought it back. He then sold it again to Mario Righini, whom continues to keep the car in his collection today.
The ignorant amongst you may look back at the AAC 815 with the viewpoint of it being a somewhat unremarkable failure. If however you can define its achievement through what it started – what is arguably the most legendary car maker of all time – then the 815 has a tremendously important place in automotive history.
Written by: Angelo Uccello
Twitter: @AngeloUccello
Tribe: Speed Machines
Facebook: Speed Machines – DriveTribe
Photo Credits: Top Speed & Classic Driver
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Comments (4)
That double windscreen is properly, drool-inducing. Nailed the styling first time out.
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Thanks a lot :D
This picture makes the car look simply stunning.