Ferrari Expert - Marcel Massini

Noted Ferrari historian, Marcel Massini will be featured on CNBC's "Biography", Oct 1st. at 10:00PM e.t. As the world's most respected Ferrari aficionado and expert, he will present the 15 most beautiful Ferraris of all time. Born in Geneva, Switzerland in 1957, Massini traces his ancestry and Italian heritage back over 200 years to the area surrounding Lake Como not far from Milan, Italy. As a boy growing up in a household without even a family car, he was understandably awestruck at the sight and sound of a black Ferrari 250 GTE while vacationing with his family in the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland. The exciting car from Maranello left its indelible mark on him and he quickly became a die-hard Ferrari enthusiast, dedicating his free time to building model kits of the various Ferrari cars.

As his model building skills increased, the desire for more accuracy led Massini to collect every Ferrari photo and automotive magazine that was available to him. When these materials weren’t enough, he would track down documents and attend as many automotive events as possible in order to see the cars up close and in person. Eventually he came to realize that the research and detective work aspect had become much more fascinating than the construction of the models so he sold off the models and kept the documents, photos and books instead. Today, that collection has grown into a remarkable database, photographic archive and reference library. Filled with literally thousands of files, documents and vintage prints, his database is one of the largest of its kind in the world.

Today's Thought

"Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens."
-Jimi Hendrix

(Photograph by: Robert Knight)