Enzo Ferrari was not initially interested in the idea of producing road cars when he formed Scuderia Ferrari in 1929, with headquarters in Modena. It rapidly became a technical-racing outpost of Alfa Romeo and effectively took over as its official racing department in 1933 when Alfa Romeo withdrew its in-house racing team. The Scuderia bought, prepared and fielded racing cars for gentleman drivers. The Scuderia was then supplied with Alfa Romeo P3 monopostos and fielded many famous drivers such as Tazio Nuvolari and Achille Varzi.

The Ferrari's monopostos were now sporting the Prancing Horse shield on the engine cover. In 1935 the Ferrari's workshop designed and built its first race car, the Alfa Romeo Bimotore, taking the first steps on the route to become a car manufacturer. Moreover, during 1937 the first examples of Alfetta 158 were assembled in Modena under Enzo Ferrari's supervision. In 1938 Alfa Romeo brought its racing operation again in-house, forming Alfa Corse in Milano and hired Enzo Ferrari as manager of the new racing department. At the same time the Scuderia Ferrari was disbanded.

On September 6, 1939, Enzo Ferrari left Alfa Romeo under the provision that he won't use the Ferrari name in association with races or racing cars for at least four years. A few days later he founded Auto Avio Costruzioni, headquartered in the facilities of the old Scuderia Ferrari in Modena. The new company ostensibly produced machine tools and aircraft parts but in 1940 Ferrari did in fact build two examples of a race car the Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, based on a Fiat 508C platform. It was the first Ferrari car and debuted at the 1940 Mille Miglia, but due to World War II it saw little competition. In 1943 the Ferrari factory moved to Maranello, where it has remained ever since. During the war the company's focus was mostly on fabricating grinding machines which were copies of original German tooling machines. The factory was bombed by the Allies between 1944 and 1945, but it was quickly rebuilt. In late 1945, after the war ended, Ferrari commissioned Gioacchino Colombo the design of a new V12 engine. In December 1946 Ferrari released to the press the specifications and drawings of his new car.