Ferrari is synonymous with the color red.
While these cars are available in a myriad of other hues, it’s the Rosso Corsa that’s most iconic.
The story behind the color is an interesting one that harks back to the very first model that left the factory.
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When asked to picture a sports car, you’ll likely picture a red one.
“Ask a child to draw a car, and certainly he will draw it red,” Enzo Ferrari himself once said.
This is inextricably linked to the legend that is the Ferrari brand, and its racing history.
There is more than one shade of red in the manufacturer’s paint swatch library, but Rosso Corsa – meaning ‘racing red’ – was the first.
In the early years of international motor racing, racers had to paint their car in certain colors to show what country they were representing.
France had blue cars, the United Kingdom was green, and Italy raced red cars.
While the rule faded away, Italian car manufacturer Alfa Romeo continued to paint its cars red.
It was during this time that an up-and-coming race car driver by the name of Enzo Ferrari emerged.
He broke away from Alfa Romeo in 1928, establishing the Ferrari brand we know and love today.
The more success his racing team saw, the more the color red became a part of the brand identity.
The company offers 30 different paint colors, plus the option to choose the Tailor-Made set-up and create your own unique shade.
Besides Rosso Corsa, there is Rosso Scuderia, a lighter tone, and Rosso Mugello which is darker.
In the 1990s, the signature shade was at an all-time high, with 85% of all Ferraris being painted red.
Today, the figure is lower but equally notable at 40%.
