Giovanni Volpi
Conte Giovanni Volpi di Misurata (born May 9, 1938 in Venice ) is an Italian entrepreneur and nobleman as well as the founder and financier of the Scuderia Serenissima automobile racing team .
At the age of ten, Volpi inherited a large fortune from his father Giuseppe Volpi . As a car enthusiastic young man, he founded his own racing team in the second half of the 1950s, which initially mainly used Ferrari vehicles . He became one of Enzo Ferrari's best customers . The sporting activities were limited to regional events in Italy. Soon, however, the performance of the production vehicles was no longer sufficient.
He persuaded the Ferrari racing car chief developer Giotto Bizzarrini to develop a faster vehicle for him. Since the management team at Ferrari was at the same time violently quarreling with Enzo Ferrari and had decided to go into business under the name Automobili Turismo e Sport (ATS), he supported their entrepreneurial project. Angry, Enzo Ferrari called Volpi and canceled any collaboration. Left alone, Bizzarrini then developed the Ferrari 250 GT SWB Breadvan , an extremely fast GP racing car based on the Ferrari 250 GT SWB, at the request of Volpi . The name comes from the station wagon-like rear end. The car was clearly superior to the "normal" Ferraris in the race.
The enthusiasm for active motorsport subsided in the late 1960s and Volpi sold the breadvan for $ 2,500 . The extravagant one-off was offered at Christie's in 2005 for 3.5 to 5.0 million US dollars, but was not sold.
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| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Volpi, Giovanni |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Italian founder of the Scuderia Serenissima automobile racing team |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 9, 1938 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Venice |