Enzo’s signature

There are three colours in Enzo Ferrari’s heart. The “racing red” of his cars, the “canary yellow” of Modena as the backdrop to the Prancing Horse and the intense purple colour of the ink in his fountain pen, with which he wrote and signed letters, cards and communications by hand.

Throughout his life Enzo Ferrari remained faithful to purple ink. The reason for this is a childhood memory linked to his father Alfredo who, when writing a letter on a typewriter, used to keep a copy made using a small printing press: the result was practically a photocopy “ante litteram”. The text and signature of that duplicate always took on a purple colour: hence Enzo Ferrari’s loyalty to purple.

With his unmistakable ink, Ferrari also wrote many cards to his employees. These were often invitations to the company’s annual dinners, which he wrote and signed in his own hand. Nothing strange about it: Ferrari liked to have a direct relationship with his employees. He knew them one by one, took an interest in their family situations, and did not hesitate to give work to relatives in difficulty if the opportunity arose. It was a close relationship, at times paternalistic, but certainly characterised by great humanity. And by the straightforward Modenese dialect that Ferrari often used when talking to his friends and employees.