A CANADIAN WON A FERRARI FROM ENZO HIMSELF ON A HANDSHAKE BET
To give you some idea of the clout that Austrian- Canadian oil baron Walter Wolf had, he once called up Pirelli and had them develop from scratch a 325- series tire for his personal Lamborghini.
Such a thing was only possible if you had deep pockets and owned your own Formula One team — and Walter had both.
Wolf campaigned a team in the years following the Lauda- Hunt battle made famous by the movie Rush, and could often be found in the pits, hobnobbing with drivers and team owners. As he always drove Lamborghinis ( he even had three custom ones built), Enzo Ferrari was always encouraging Walter to switch to a Maranellobuilt steed.
After the Long Beach Grand Prix, where the Ferrari team managed to beat Wolf Racing’s single car, piloted by Jody Scheckter, Enzo made Walter a bet. If Wolf won the Monaco Grand Prix, Enzo would give him a free Ferrari.
If Ferrari won, Wolf would have to buy two Ferraris.
No formal contract was needed; the two shook hands and the pact was sealed.
As it happens, Wolf’s team won Monaco handily, the pinnacle of their season. True to his word, Enzo sent along a Ferrari 512BB — and a bill for the tires. “He said: the car is free,” chuckles Wolf, “but the tires are not.”
Later, Wolf would ask Canadian racing legend Gilles Villeneuve to drive the freshly serviced car back from the Ferrari factory, which was a huge mistake. But that’s another story.