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Alfredo Ferrari (nicknamed Alfredino or Dino; 19 January 1932 – 30 June 1956) was an Italian automotive engineer and the first son of automaker Enzo Ferrari. He was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy and died aged 24. After his death, Ferrari named the car fitted with the engine that Alfredo was working on at the time of his death "Dino" in his honor.
Born to Enzo Ferrari and his wife Laura Dominica Garello, on 19 January 1932, Alfredo was named after his paternal grandfather and uncle.
Enzo, who at the time was a racing driver for Alfa Romeo, had vowed to stop racing cars if he had a son. He kept his promise and retired from driving in 1932, concentrating on racing team management with the newly formed Scuderia Ferrari.
From an early age, Enzo groomed Alfredino, "little Alfredo", to be his successor. Alfredo studied economics in Bologna before moving to mechanical engineering in Switzerland.
In his short career at Ferrari, Alfredo was widely credited for the 750 Monza racing car; and, to a limited extent, a 1.5-litre V6, the Ferrari Dino engine, that would later see action in Ferrari's early Formula Two racers. Alfredo suggested to his father the development of a 1.5-litre DOHC V6 engine for F2 at the end of 1955. Two years later in 1957, to honor his son, Enzo named the Dino series of racing sports cars using this V6 engine after him. Road cars under the same marque soon followed.
Gino Rancati, a friend of Dino's father, Enzo Ferrari, noted: "Dino, though he suffered because of his health, had always played an active part in the Ferrari company. He was interested in everything, but it was perhaps engines that interested him the most."
During his time at Ferrari, Alfredo started experiencing health problems. His physical movements gradually became stiff, and he was often unable to maintain his balance. At his return to Modena, he was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. In the final days of his life, while hospitalized, he discussed technical details of the 1.5-liter V6 with fellow engineer Vittorio Jano and his father, Enzo Ferrari; Enzo remarked on Dino's "intensity, intelligence, and attentiveness". Alfredo would never see the engine; he died in Modena on 30 June 1956, aged 24.
Piero Ferrari, Dino's younger half-brother who was born out-of-wedlock to Enzo Ferrari and mistress Lina Lardi on 22 May 1945, and who became Enzo's heir after Dino's death, has stated: "I never knew Dino, but I have never felt I was a victim of his memory, or of the pain that my father, Enzo, had always felt because of his death. And I would not be sincere if I did not say that when I was recognized [in 1978, after Laura's death], I experienced a great deal of emotion."
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