Criminals Planned to Steal and Hold Enzo Ferrari's Corpse for Ransom

Matt Posky
by Matt Posky

Italian investigators said on Tuesday that they had prevented a criminal plot to steal the body of automotive legend and Formula One racing pioneer Enzo Ferrari. The scheme involved using two cars and a van, breaking into San Cataldo cemetery, absconding with the corpse, and then holding it for ransom.

Just imagine the incredible movie that would have resulted from the heist had the police not immediately foiled the plan. It would have equal parts The Italian Job and Weekend at Bernie’s.

Così buono.

According to Reuters, authorities discovered the plan during a series of investigations relating to arms and drug trafficking across Italy. Hundreds of military and police personnel conducted a string of raids, including some conducted by parachute, resulting in the arrest of dozens of mafia suspects in Sardinia, Lombardy, Tuscany, Veneto, and Emilia-Romagna in the process.

Several members of the group had apparently been plotting to swipe Ferrari’s body in the near future. One had even done some preliminary scout work at the gravesite. After acquiring the coffin, the crew intended to hide in the Apennine Mountains while demanding a ransom from the Ferrari family or company.

Thanks to swift action from the Italian military, Enzo’s body remains unmolested in an above-ground tomb in Modena, just sixteen miles from the Ferrari plant at Maranello. He died on August 14th, 1988 at the ripe old age of 90.

[Image: Ferrari]

Matt Posky
Matt Posky

A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.

More by Matt Posky

Comments
Join the conversation
10 of 15 comments
  • PeriSoft PeriSoft on Mar 28, 2017

    "What have you got in the garage?" "Oh, just an old dead Ferrari."

  • CarnotCycle CarnotCycle on Mar 28, 2017

    If scheme had happened, there would be no ransom. What would happen is finding Enzo's body, abandoned by side of the road, in the broke-down Fiat getaway van.

  • OldManPants OldManPants on Mar 28, 2017

    I want those shades.

    • See 3 previous
  • Felix Hoenikker Felix Hoenikker on Mar 29, 2017

    If they didn't get a ransom, the grave robbers were plotting to turn Enzio into a zombie and make him build counterfeit Ferraris.

Next