ISSUE ARTICLES

FERRARI SERIAL NUMBERS by Gerald Roush

Over 30 years ago Kurt Miska, author and observer of matters Ferrari, wrote: "There is a certain mystique about Ferrari serial numbers and often a Ferrari owner's devotion or lack of it to the marque is equated with a knowledge of these esoteric numbers." In the years since Kurt wrote those words this aspect of the Ferrari obsession has declined. To be sure, there is still a cadre of Ferraristi who are dedicated to the compilation of massive amounts of data about each and every car that emanated from Maranello. But their efforts are largely devoted to only the older Ferraris. These are the ones that are considered by many to be the only true Ferraris--those that were conceived and built during the time that Enzo Ferrari reigned as the absolute master of the company that bore his name. As Ferrari production increased under the tutelage of Fiat, attempts to keep track of all the cars being produced became too much for most collectors of such trivia. There are pockets of other Ferrariphiles whose interest extends to the newer cars. However, many of them concentrate on only one or a few models, such as Enzo Ferraris or the 308 series. Fortunately, for those few numerophiles whose interest in Ferrari serial numbers knows no bounds there are private groups of "trainspotters" whose members share their spots and/or discoveries. This is an activity that is much more popular in Europe than in the United States. Perhaps the most prominent is the group "Telaio", which has members in 16 countries. Indicative of how this passion has fallen out of favor in America, however, is that fact that there are over four times as many members/contributors in Europe as there are in the United States. For those who love tracking Ferraris by serial number (S/N) or Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) they have had to learn how the various systems used have worked. While it has always amazed me, though, how many owners have no clue about the number of their Ferrari, I find it even more amazing that many folks engaged in the business of buying and selling these cars are as equally in the dark. In the beginning the numbering system used by Ferrari was very simple, ignoring a couple of false starts in the very first years. Every Ferrari road car was given, in sequential order, an odd chassis number. This began with 001, then 003, 005, 007 and so on. This system continued for almost 40 years, until 1987 and chassis number 74999, or basically 37,500 Ferraris. Meanwhile, every Ferrari intended strictly for racing was given, in sequential order, an even chassis number. This began with 002, then 004, 006, 008 and so on. This numbering system continued until 1972, and only just over 450 Ferraris (counting the early false starts) were given chassis numbers in this sequence. Of course, there were Ferraris given chassis numbers in both categories that actually fit better into the other category. Also these do not take into account special sequences such as the 512 S and M which got their own sequence of 25 cars, even numbered from 1002 to 1050, nor the monoposto Ferraris. This meant those who collected serial numbers only had some 38,000 Ferraris to keep track of, and the only real aberration was left-hand or right-hand drive. In 1987 Ferrari decided to no longer restrict the sequential numbers for road cars to only odd numbers, and began using both odd and even numbers. With the sequence having reached approximately chassis number 172000 that's a another 97,000 Ferraris for the trainspotters to find. No wonder the hobby of trying to keep up with it all has fallen out of favor! In addition there have been a few additional twists added to recording Ferrari serial numbers. The first came in 1968 when the United States began imposing emission (Environmental Protection Agency or EPA) and safety (Department of Transportation or DOT) regulations on cars being sold in this country. While there was no way of determining if a Ferrari was USA legal or not strictly from the S/N more information, or a more detailed inspection was required to properly record a particular example. Throw in the number of European examples modified to meet USA standards (Gray Market) cars and the compilation of data expanded. Then in 1980 came the now ubiquitous 17-digit VIN, initially a requirement by the USA but now universally adopted, at least in part, for all Ferraris. This system further defined the automobile to which it was assigned. On any Ferrari the first three digits define the country or origin, the marque and the manufacturer. For EVERY Ferrari this means the 17-digit VIN ALWAYS starts with the letters "ZFF", Z having been assigned to Italy, the first F to the marque Ferrari and the second F to the manufacturer Ferrari S.p.A. The fourth digit identifies the engine type used. With only 24 letters available ("I", "O" and "Q" are not used) and more than 24 engine types it became necessary to use many letters more than once. The fifth digit identifies the "passenger protection system" installed in the vehicle--seat belts, air bags, etc. The sixth and seventh digits identifies the particular model of Ferrari. The eighth digit identifies the market for which the Ferrari was built. The main ones are "A" for LHD North American, "B" for LHD European and "C" for RHD United Kingdom, with others for smaller markets. Only these eight digits appear on a Ferraris no matter the market for which it was intended. The ninth digit was the "USA Check Digit" and was calculated using all of the 16 other digits. It appears only on USA and occasionally some Middle East market cars. On all others it is usually a "0" (zero). The tenth digit, again found only on USA and some Middle Eastern cars, designates the model year. In 1980, when the 17-digit VIN was introduced, A was chosen for 1980 models. The various years then followed along in alphabetical order except "I", "O", "Q", "U" and "Z" were not used. When the end of the alphabet was reached in 2000, 2001 model year cars were given the tenth digit of "1". This continued in numerical order through model year 2009. Starting with model year 2010 the alphabet will be recycled, again starting with "A". But that is not the only change introduced for model year 2010. For reasons unknown what had been the fourth digit, identifying the engine type, has become the sixth digit and the fifth digit identifying the "passenger protection system" has become the seventh digit. Meanwhile, the sixth and seventh digits, which had identified the particular model of Ferrari, have become the fourth and fifth digits. Thus a 2009 599 GTB's 17-digit VIN started off with the digits ZFFFC60A390, while a 2010 599 GTB's 17-digit VIN starts off with the digits ZFF60FCA6A0. What started out as a simple exercise for Ferraristi "train spotters" has now become rather complex and confusing. No wonder there are fewer and fewer folks willing to pick up the passion!

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