Enzo's signature - not in the famous purple ink

Hello Paul,

Thank you for sharing, I have been collecting autographs of famous drivers for many years and have the true legends, Ascari, Farina, Hawthorn, Clark etc.

Having studied this signature I have a slight doubt about it. The 'g' in Grazie does not look quite how he use to write. I have however seen some authentic ferrari signatures in black and blue ink, I guess these may of been collected inperson when the pen with purple ink was not at hand.

People should know that some Enzo Ferrari signatures are actually stamps and these were used sometimes on the factory issued postcards of his different drivers. These often fool people as the effect is quite convincing.

I have heard a rumour about the purple ink and I do not know if it holds any water. But apparantly it began from his early days when he wrote with an Italian lead pencil that, when licked, became violet in colour. If anyone else can prove or disprove this I would be most interested.

Alex

 

In the recently released book "The Ferrari Phenomenon" by Matt Stone & Luca Dal Monti,they make reference to Enzo's use of purple ink on p.40." Enzo Ferrari rarely signed his full name,preferring simply "Ferrari" as his autograph and signature.More often than not,he signed with his own fountain pen-filled not with black,not blue,not even red,but violet ink.Why?He told friend and journalist Gino Rancati:"My father wrote with a copying pencil ( containing a purple lead), because in those days the use of a letter-book was mandatory.My faithfulness to this memory will tell you why i use violet ink".

 

Hi Paul,
You are welcome. In my opinion, I am afraid that I think it is fake. I would however be interested to hear other peoples opinions. The Stirling Moss signature is 100% authentic.

If you would like a professionals opinion you could contact a UACC (universal autograph collectors club) registered dealer. They will be able to give their professional opinion but they like to charge high prices for doing such a task.

If you have other signatures that you are uncertain about I will take a look for you and give my opinion.

All the best,

Alex

 

I have a dozens of original (non-stamped) Enzo Ferrari signed items you can see at this link on my site - including one of the earliest known ones from 1933. You will find that the majority of ones from the 1970s & 1980s differ from the one in your book.

http://www.collectorstudio.com/index.cfm/ID/34/SearchResults?criteria=enzo_ferrari

 

True but they still look like each either, whereas yours doesn't really look like either, mostly due to the proximity and sizing of the letters, as well as the strokes used.

 

Morry is quite right, look how the letters are formed especially 'a' in the two examples and then compare these against your ferrari signature.

Enzo's signature seems to stay very similar throughout most of his life.

A Parkes autograph is quite a rareity!

Alex

 

Here is a Mike Parkes autograph:

http://www.collectorstudio.com/index.cfm/ID/23/itemID/3940/details/1?cl=

and other Parkes items:

http://www.collectorstudio.com/index.cfm/ID/34/SearchResults?criteria=parkes

 

Hello Paul
I have the possibility of viewing many Enzo signatures on a daily basis and I must say that there are a number of things about this signature that make it questionable;
1) the ink colour
2) the actual signature shape
3) the single word 'grazie'. Usually there is no comment or something longer, such as "Ringraziemento (IIRC - spelling may be wrong) e saluti"
4) date usually below the signature
Just my opinion
Nathan

 

Hi Nathan,
I have just tried accessing your site with no luck. Do you still run it? It sounds like you have some rarities.

Thanks,
Alex

 

Hi Alex
Thanks for trying to access my site. I regret that it is down at the moment until my 'web manager' (is that the title?) gets it sorted. Hopefully not too long. Thanks
Nathan