Is that really him?

Although they are rare nowadays, there is something really fascinating about car brands that have an “owner”, in other words, brands that are associated with a particular person, who created them or is a member of the family that created them. Henry Ford, Enzo Ferrari, Ferdinand Porsche, Ettore Bugatti, Ferruccio Lamborghini and Giovanni (Gianni) Agnelli (l’Avvocato) are names that immediately spring to mind, yet there are also contemporary examples, like Horacio Pagani and Gordon Murray. But what cars were (or are) driven by these leading figures from the car world — the individuals who played (or play) such a crucial role in keeping the automobile dream alive?

We decided it would be fun to find out. It was actually a Spanish follower who gave us the suggestion, and we were happy to take it up! So, let’s look at what we discovered. Henry Ford, proudly American, would doff his cap when he saw an Alfa Romeo, so it is hard to imagine that he never drove one. Ferrari was unpredictable: for many years, he used Peugeots — was his visionary intuition so great that he had already foreseen the 2021 Stellantis merger between Fiat and Peugeot?! —, although he subsequently switched brands, turning to Renault. There was a clear reason for this: Renault had introduced the turbo engine into Formula 1 racing and Enzo, wanting to encourage Fiat, as a stakeholder in Ferrari, to invest in the same direction, bought a Renault 18 Turbo for everyday use. This was followed by another, and then finally by Renault’s flagship of the time, the 25. Equipped with a turbo engine of course! It is no coincidence that he himself went on to create a winning turbo powered F1 car.