The story of Ferrari begins with birth of the legendary Enzo Ferrari in Italy in 1898. Dedicated to designing and producing sports cars, Enzo set up his own company in 1939 after having raced for Alfa Romeo. In 1940 the company produced the 8-cylinder 815 Spider, two of which competed in the Mille Miglia race of that same year. The end of the Second World War saw the development of the 12-cylinder 125 S, which made its debut at the Piacenza Circuit in May of 1947. This was the first time a Ferrari-badged car appeared in a race. Since then, Ferrari has achieved over 5,000 victories and has become one of the most successful sports car marques in the world.