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A RICHNESS OF RED PART 1
IN 1988, HORS LIGNE PUBLISHED a Special of its “Magazine of Quality Leisure.” Printed in Switzerland on premium stock, the magazine even incorporated a hologram of the original Ferrari GTO into the rearview mirror in its cover shot.
“Holography,” Pio Fontana wrote, “is a highly sophisticated process, developed in the States, which uses laser light to produce three-dimensional images, which, after a lot of scientific jargon concerning split-beams, light waves and interference patterns, can be reproduced on a printed page.” And, using other premium printing techniques, Hors Ligne produced what’s essentially a soft-cover coffee-table art book celebrating Enzo Ferrari’s 90th birthday.
Enzo Ferrari turned 90 on February 20, 1988. His death on August 14 of that year left an extraordinary heritage of richness, much of it in Italian Racing Red. Here in Parts 1 and 2 today and tomorrow are tidbits, and especially photography, gleaned from the Hors Ligne Special.
The First Ferrari. Other machines were fabricated earlier by Enzo Ferrari (the Tipo 815, for example), but the 125 C first carried his name into competition on May 11, 1947, on a 3.2-kilometer circuit through the streets of Piacenza, Italy.
Ferrari Motor Sports. Hors Ligne wrote, “Unlike other constructors, who ventured into and out of racing according to the vicissitudes of the sport and the dictates of business, Ferrari always made competition his life blood, the foundation and soul of all his actions.” (Let’s forgive him the occasional snit about one thing and another; i.e., forgoing the 1961 United States Grand Prix.)
A Familiar Venue. The 1986 Formula One season featured the most powerful Grand Prix cars in history, some exceeding 1350 hp at near-80-psi boost.
A couple of personal notes: I’ve watched the Monaco Grand Prix from the Loew’s. And, later in 1986, I actually drove the Benetton B186 Grand Prix car. As noted before, it’s difficult to work this into conversation, but it can be done.
Tomorrow in Part 2, we continue our ambling through Hors Ligne Special: Ferrari. ds
© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2022
Simanaitis Says 
“Let’s forgive him the occasional snit” made me chuckle. I read Mike Lawrence’s ‘Grand Prix Cars 1945-1965’ not long ago, and recall Mr Lawrence couldn’t let an opportunity pass to bring up Mr. Ferrari’s various snits. I think there’s few subjects on which folks differ more than Enzo and his cars.