‘THERE WAS THE POPE AND THEN THERE WAS ENZO’

Should you visit the Museo Enzo Ferrari in Modena, you’ll find as many examples of the sporty dream machines the legendary car magnate lavished on the world as you could wish for, from 1948 Touring Superleggeras and GT 2+2s from 1968 to the 2002 model that bears his name, fittingly resplendent in scarlet livery and complete with DeLorean-style batwing doors. There’s even a unique Ferrari Hydroplane, the Arno XI, from 1954. The exhibits are spotlit like rarefied jewels, and it’s not hard to see why the name Ferrari has transcended the world of AutoBuzz fanboys and Mille Miglia grand tourers and come to stand for something recherché and revered, whether it’s being dropped by French literary luminaries (Whisky, gambling and Ferraris are better than housework: Françoise Sagan) or U.S. rap eminences (Droptop ’Rari, scratch that off my bucket list: Gucci Mane).

However, amid the racers and engines and technical drawings, one of the Museo’s most telling exhibits is rather more modest: a pair of black Persol #2762 sunglasses in a Perspex case. These, along with an immaculate trenchcoat,. “By the mid seventies, he had reached a demigod dimension. He was the Grand Old Man, not just of motor racing, but of the country.”