Ferrari mourns the passing of one of the most celebrated gentleman drivers of the 1950s, Count Giannino Marzotto, who died on Saturday the 14th of July aged 84.
Son of an industrialist, Marzotto was the epitome of the well-dressed racer becoming famous in 1950 for driving a Ferrari 195 S to victory in the epic Mille Miglia road race in a double-breasted suit, complete with tie. He won the Mille Miglia a second time in 1953 in a 340 MM spider bodied by Vignale, with which he established the record average speed (over 142 km/h) since the race began in 1927, and also came fifth overall at the 1953 24 Hours of Le Mans in a 340 MM berlinetta.
Enzo Ferrari in his book ‘Piloti, che gente’ had this to say of Giannino: “He was an extremely quick driver; a youngster with the character traits of Varzi in the way he could coldly calculate and reason, as well as for his seriousness and grit… Giannino would have been an excellent professional driver – perhaps even a champion.”
