Count Volpi; Breadvan, de Portago death, Ferrari guilt, von Trips gives ’57 Mille Miglia to Taruffi

Hi Gary,

I am intrigued to ask, if you still have contact with Count Giovanni Volpi ? I would love to ask him the following question.

Can he confirm that Scuderia Serenissima removed the engine from 1733GT (250GT Pininfarina coupe, grigio fumo), and fitted it to 2733GT 250GT SWB Berlinetta Competizione? This is only a theory that I have discussed with some others, and this theory has since become a "fact" from at least one on-line source.

What had happened with 1733GT for it's engine to be used? Who owned 1733GT when it was later fitted with engine from 2885GT?

Background to 2733GT is detailed as follows.
https://www.ferrarichat.com/velostrada/issues/200510/Niles_2733GT.htm

2733GT DNF the 4h Pescara 15-Aug-61 and it may be that 1733GT engine was fitted shortly after this time, but it may be that the 1733GT engine was fitted much later by subsequent owners.

I ask these questions on behalf of Andrew Cummingham who is the current owner of 1733GT who managed to reunite it with it's engine in 2007.

 

Gary welcome to F-Chat, I thought you were on here years ago, glad your back!

 

Welcome back, Gary! I remember your old threads and really enjoyed them. Hope you are well.

 

Gary, thank you for the great story on Count Volpi! It brought back the same memories of when a bunch of us kids met him,
and if not contrary, I would like to share a bit about Giova' (Giovanni in short), that was part of my Italian childhood.

He was our neighbour at the then splendid, and as of yet to become, a 'rich and famous' beach.
The beach is Sabaudia, 1 km. away from the famous Mount Circeo (Circe lived there in Greek Mythology), and this short story is mostly unknown,
only to us, our grandparents, and parents, that by the most part are all dead. We are the 3rd generation of Sabaudia settlers.

As kids we always we always went to pester him, who by the time was +/- 15 years older than we were,
but was always a very nice fellow and he'd invite us in for Coca Cola, and play hide and seek in this humongous house (palace), we were a band of about 15 kids, boys and girls.
Amazingly and fortunately, we still see (most) each other at the same beach, and reminisce when walking in front of his house.

Otherwise, he was seldom there, I saw him maybe 2 or 3 summers, and was the only house that had a tunnel under the 'lungomare' (seafront?) to go to to his other house
that was on the lake, "Lago di Paola". The ancient Romans used the lake to moor their ships, through the "Canale Romano", with a little help from Nero.

Count Volpi, always a mythical personage, that all the other houses' owners, many of them, Roman aristocracy, always found him 'different'.
I think more misunderstood, than anything else, as he built a truly grand palace (potentially of questionable taste) there, that most found unusual and ostentatious.
We kids thought it very cool, could not care less what others thought. Not a normal beach-house, but a Neo-classical Palazzo ( of course, no clue then, but to us, it looked 'hot').
This always in summertime, as the rest of year, miserable weather, and only the locals were there in the town of Sabaudia.

My maternal grandfather had an involvement on the late 40's ( '49), in the development of the beach houses, along with a partner named Curatolo, (whose son I believe is still alive),
and one of the first tourist attraction, with live monkeys, no less, called "Lilanda' (one the monkeys name) ". My mother and I were cast in one of the first brochures around '60-61 trying to look as tourists, wish I had a copy.
Ours, was one the 10 first houses there.

Regards, Alberto

 

Love it!