High-powered Italian automotive exotica has always had an attraction for a select number of prominent people of means. Today it’s the nouveau riche, the highly paid athletes, rock stars and entertainers who can be seen in the latest Lamborghini, Ferrari or Maserati, but in the immediate post-war years athletes weren’t rich, movie personalities seemed to prefer British, German or American machinery, and there were no rock stars. Instead, the rich and famous who were drawn to rare and rapid Italian transportation in the 1950s often came from Old World wealth, namely European or Asian royalty.
King Leopold III of Belgium with his first wife Astrid of Sweden.
As Italy emerged from the ashes of World War II, so did Ferrari, becoming in just a few short years the preeminent manufacturer of high-performance sporting automobiles, a reputation built largely on the company’s success on the racetrack. Within the first ten years of its existence, the young company located in Maranello and Modena, Italy, had used its 12-cylinder engines, wrapped in beautiful yet purpose-built coachwork, and the world’s best drivers, to win numerous important Grand Prix and sports car races, and capture a few championships.
