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11 November 2020
Champagne legend unveils first English vintage
11 November 2020Very special edition
They don’t often make books like this one. A mighty tome indeed, Taschen’s remarkable history of Ferrari doesn’t come cheap, and dedicated collectors will pay in excess of £20,000 to own a copy
B ooks don’t come much more remarkable than art publisher Taschen’s latest work, a truly magnum opus that tells the story of possibly the most famous auto brand of them all, Ferrari. Limited to just 1,947 copies – in honour of the firm’s founding in 1947 – the book will cost collectors up to $30,000 (£22,000), depending on the version they choose to buy.
Topping the price list are the 250 art edition copies, which come with a solid steel and chrome bookstand, plus a copy of the book enclosed in its own aluminum display case. The stand and the case together are intended to be reminiscent in look to a Ferrari 12-cylinder engine and are the work of the famed industrial designer, Marc Newson.
During a varied career he has created products from footwear to ocean-going yachts. He’s also a vintage car enthusiast, who has taken part in events such as the Mille Miglia, a classic four-day race that follows a route between the Italian cities of Brescia and Rome.
The remaining 1,697 books are termed collector’s edition copies, and sell for £4,500 each, including the aluminium case.
The work itself, comprising 514 pages and measuring 12.7in by 17in, is hand-stitched and incorporates a classic cover design featuring the famous prancing horse on a classic red background.
All the copies are signed by Piero Ferrari, the company’s vice chairman and the only surviving son of company founder Enzo Ferrari. Art edition copies also have the signatures of John Elkann, Ferrari’s current chairman, and the late Sergio Marchionne, who was the CEO of Ferrari and its former parent company Fiat Chrysler.
Edited by Pino Allievi, a veteran Ferrari historian who worked with Enzo Ferrari, the book includes hundreds of unpublished photographs, drawings and sketches from both the Ferrari archives and private collections from around the world, as well as original documents that belonged to famous Ferrari drivers.
Taschen.com