The Ferrari Enzo is nearing 23 years old, and people are still learning new things about it. When it first launched in 2002, the Enzo was the most impressive supercar the world had ever seen, breaking records and stealing hearts. It was the supercar of its time. So we can all forgive ourselves for overlooking some of its more trivial details, like the size of its side mirrors and why they’re different.
I didn’t notice that the Enzo’s side mirrors were different shapes and sizes until today, as I never really cared to look at them. The car’s perfect proportions, gorgeous front end, and screaming V12 always stole my attention. Now I can’t unsee it, though, especially since the side mirrors are mounted far out on the front fenders. The driver-side mirror is long and angular, keeping with the rest of the Enzo’s theme, but the passenger-side mirror is stubbier and more generic looking. Why?
The answer, courtesy of Eurospares on Instagram, is simple: visibility. If both sides had the same mirror, the passenger-side A-pillar would block about a third of that mirror’s length. Ferrari didn’t see the point in having a bunch of excess mirror that couldn’t be seen by the driver. On a normal production car, that wouldn’t matter because the added expense of manufacturing two differently sized mirrors would likely outweigh the desire to trim excess surface area. When you’re talking about a supercar as low-volume and expensive as the Enzo ($670,000 in 2002 money, which is around $1.17 million today), that extra cost is virtually meaningless.
So now, what do you do with this knowledge? Unless you’re in the one percent that can actually afford an Enzo, nothing. Maybe you could bore all your non-car friends with another useless factoid. Either way, the next time you see an Enzo in real life or on a screen, you’re probably going to spot the difference between its mirrors. I wonder what weird facts we’ll learn about the new Ferrari F80 in 20 years.
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