APRIL 8, 2004

Painting the town red

New York City yesterday celebrated Ferrari's 50th year in the United States with the Empire State Building bathed in red light . The United States is traditionally Ferrari's biggest market and last year a total of 1350 of the cars were sold to US clients.

The first Ferrari arrived in the United States in the Spring of 1954 and the event was celebrated at this year's New York International Auto Show gala evening.

"There has always been a great feeling between the United States and Ferrari," said Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo. "In 1949 an American of Italian origin, Luigi Chinetti was the first man to win the Le Mans 24 hour race in a Prancing Horse car. We have a very strong presence here now. There are over 20,000 Ferraris on US roads and America's passion for the marque is growing all the time. We'll soon be opening a large new showroom on Park Avenue in the heart of Manhattan, too: a further demonstration of how important our cars are to our American clients. The fact that Ferrari's 50 years in the US are being celebrated by illuminating the Empire State Building with red light would have thrilled Enzo Ferrari as much as it does me and anyone else who is proud to be Italian."