by Bernard Martin

PITTSBURGH, PA - Joining us this summer at the Cortile is Ivan Ruiz, The Car Nut, who will be speaking during our Saturday Luncheon about the history of Maserati.

I met Ivan several years ago but didn't truly get a full understanding of the depth and breadth of his knowledge until he was conducting a tour at the Hilton Head Concours d' Elegance of some iconic Italian cars.  Ivan will be flying in to join us from Sweden where he is doing a presentation at the 40th anniversary of the Maserati International Rally.

Ivan has been collecting, restoring, and selling vintage European cars for over 35 years.  His initial interest was the Jaguar e-types, of which he’s owned over 100 over the years and later Italian cars, mainly Maseratis. His first Maserati was a 1965 Sebring which was a barn find and he restored the car himself, including the paint.

Ivan graduated as an Electrical Engineer from Cornell University and then spent 30 years working at IBM. He used his IT skills to create www.thecarnut.com, a website which caters primarily to Maserati owners and restorers looking for photos and documents for these cars. Over the years he scanned many sales brochures, owner’s manuals and technical documents have been scanned and are now available on his website.

Ivan is a frequent attendee and judge at many Concours D’Elegance where his cars are driven and not trailered.  “A car stops being a car when it is trailered from one place to another”. 

He feels that if his car cannot be driven to an event, the car does not deserve to attend.

“My wife and I enjoy taking our cars on long drives, of course you are never quite sure if it will make it, but that is part of the excitement!”
 
"Classic cars are more than just about a nice automobile; it is also a lifestyle. Car people tend to be very friendly, and we enjoy the social aspects of the hobby just as much as the driving."

Ivan's collecting and restoring vintage cars has led to ownership over the years of an Iso Grifo, Alfa Montreal, Alfa Sprint Speciale, Lancia Aurelia, Lancia Flaminia Touring spider, Ghia 450SS, Fiat Dino, Maserati Vignale spyder prototype, Citroen SM, and many others.

Ivan's focus is on Italian and British cars from the 1950's through the 1970's. Ivan particularly specializes in Maseratis and Jaguar e-types but he enjoys trying different cars.  Check out his website to see the cars he currently owns and make sure to also click on "personal cars" page while you are there.

Be sure to register for this summers Cortile where we honor Maserati as our 2022 Proietorre Macchina

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PITTSBURGH, PA - The Cortile Italian Car Show is excited to announce that  Maserati has been selected as our 2022 Proiettore Macchina.  

Founded in December of 1914 Alfieri, Ettore and Ernesto Maserati opened  a car workshop at in Bologna, Italy called  “Società Anonima Officine Alfieri Maserati.  It took until 1926 when their first car there first car all original car, the Tip 26, proudly bora the soon-to-be-famous Trident logo. Oops! Did We say Bora? We may be getting ahead of ourselves, so it's best we save some of the more detailed history for a future article!

But it's important to note that in  May of 1939, Maserati was the first Italian car to celebrate a win at the Indianapolis 500 with driver Wilbur Shaw at the wheel of the 8CTF “Boyle Special” at an average speed of 115.035 mph!

​This will be the first time that we've celebrated Maserati as our Proiettore Macchina.  We've been in contact with a number of owners of significant cars over the past decade and we have finally reached a point where we thought we could attract some significant cars with some very nice provenance.  Please plan on joining use for the 2022 Cortile Italian Car Show!

Wayne Long, Chief Judge and Founder of the Cortile Cup has announced that he has selected a new Judge for the 2017 Cortile Cup Competition.  Tom Bungay will be joining the judging team for the 2017 annual event at the Pittsburgh Golf Club on Saturday July15. 

Tom has been involved with the collector car business for over 40 years.  From racing in the early Monterey Historics, to judging at many West Coast events, Tom has been active in all facets of the hobby.  

Tom is currently an active participant in Historic racing, driving in events from COTA to Lime Rock.  In addition, he owns and operates a Legacy Motorcoars, a vintage car dealership in Jacksonville, Florida specializing in 50’s and 60’s European sports cars.

A native of Sacramento, California, Tom has been part of the collector car business for over 40 years. Starting with a restoration shop in Sacramento in the late 70’s, Tom moved south to Santa Barbara working with the sales and restoration of Lotus automobiles. This association with Lotus also led to participation in the Monterey Historics for several years. The Monterey Historics, ta premier vintage racing event in the United States, is held yearly at Laguna Seca Raceway in California.

In addition to historic racing, Tom has been active in SCCA road racing since 1970, with a few professional outings, including the Can-Am series in 1981 and Pro Sports 2000. Tom also established Bungay Automobile Appraisals over 25 years ago, a very active company in the collector car market.

Legacy Motorcars, LLC. ​was founded by Tom Bungay, a professional in the collector car business with over 35 years of experience.  At Legacy Motorcars they are experts at finding that special collector car that you’ve always dreamed of – and they may even have it in stock!

Their experience in the collector car market will lead to selecting the finest and most suitable vehicle that meets your needs.

Legacy Motorcars also has a pre-owned buyers service, to help you find the exact contemporary vehicle that you want and need, whether it is a slightly used Ferrari or an inexpensive car for your college-bound son or daughter. 

At the 2017 Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance tom's 1961 Maserati 3500GT Vignale Spyder was the winner of “BEST OWNER RESTORED” Trophy. 

by Bernard Martin, Managing Director, Cortile Italian Car Show

The 2017 Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance exemplified grace under pressure. With a 100% chance of heavy precipitation forecast for Sunday for the scheduled Concours d'Elegance and a sunshine-filled Saturday in the mix, Bill Warner and his team chose to move Sunday’s award-winning Concours to Saturday.  No small undertaking.
​

As I was having lunch on Friday with several other writers, I noted that I had heard that Warner and his team had come up with a "Plan B" back in 2000 if a weather event caused the the Concours to be moved.  As happenstance would have it, one to the people at the table chimed in "I'm on the Board and THIS is Plan B. We are in it. There isn't a Place C. We'll see if it works"

​It's a momentous task shoehorning a full schedule of Saturday and Sunday events into one day.  The Concours show would now coincide with Saturday’s "Cars & Coffee at the Concours presented by Heacock Classic Insurance".  The entire Cars and Coffee show field had to be relocated to an adjoining field, transport staff had to move up plans for unloading Concours cars by a full day; with cars that where still en route!  It required parking two different cars shows at the same time.   

Warner and his staff, according to rumor, had to make it all happen with 40% less volunteers who where only scheduled for a Sunday event. No small undertaking. It went off gracefully. It was a tremendous show. Warner and his team pulled a rabbit out of their hat while herding cats and looked great doing it!

It also made the task of trying to see over 600+ cars in a short period of time just as daunting.  Nevertheless, I was able to find some very nice examples of rolling Italian art on both the Concours and Cars and Coffee Showfield. 

Easily befitting our 2017 Proiettore Macchina, The Best of Show - Concours de Sport, was a 1939 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Lungo Spider from the Dano Davis Collection.

In the 1930s, the 8C 2900 Alfa was not a mere sports car but was the most advanced, modern and compelling sports car money could buy.  Milan's own Carrozzeria Touring patented the "Superleggera" construction which coincided with the birth of Alfa Romeo's masterpiece. 

​Approximately 32 of the 2.9 chassis were made and it is believed only 12 are Touring Spiders, seven of which are the long chassis like this car.  This car's known history starts in 1949.  In February 1949 it was raced in Sao Paulo by amateur driver Mario Tavares Leite who had the car imported from Italy to Brazil.  Mario won races with the car in 1949 and 1950 after which the car disappeared.  

Later it had a Corvette engine installed and the chassis was modified.  It is possible this car traveled to Brazil from Argentina in the mid to late 1950s without the Touring body and with the Corvette V-8 only to be reunited with the original Touring coachwork some four decades later. ​

Alfa Romeo Images courtesy of Nathan Deremer, Lead photographer and owner of Deremer Studios, the official photography studio of the 2017 Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance.

The Bonhams Amelia Island 2017 auction was held Thursday, at the Fernandina Beach Golf Club. It generated nearly $10.2 million in total sales with an 87% sell-through rate. A selection of more than 85 automobiles were offered at Bonhams’ 3rd annual sale. 

​Amongst the auction results, of the cars pictured below, the 1955 Ferrari 250 GT Europa Coupe was the top dollar car sold at the auction for a whopping $2,227,500. Bringing in the 3rd top dollar position was the 1986 Lamborghini Countach LP5000 Quattrovalvole for $335,500 while the 1968 Lamborghini Islero 400 GT, sold for $247,500, the 8th biggest sale of the show.

The Gooding & Company’s East Coast auction showcased at the Omni Amelia Island Plantation, a classic beachfront resort.  Held on Friday before the celebrated Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, Gooding & Company’s auction showcased a curated lineup of cars, invited spirited bidding.  Since debuting at Amelia Island in 2010, Gooding & Company’s prices realized have more than doubled, earning the event its reputation as the premier East Coast collector car auction.

Pictured below are some to of the examples of Italian design that went up on the block.  

The little 1958 Fiat 1200 TV Trasformabile pictured at the beginning of the slide show was a car I first saw at the Concourso Italiano show in 2015 during Monterey car week. It was based upon the Turismo Veloce, or fast touring, version of Fiat’s 1100 series, the limited-production 1100 Spider delivered fine details, a luxurious cockpit with swiveling seats, excellent road manners, and a handsome body designed by Fabio Luigi Rapi. By 1957, larger engines inspired the 1200 TV designation. While more revisions came in 1959, the 1957–58 models captivate today’s collectors. 

Along with a green convertible top, this sporting 1200 TV is presented with the body handsomely painted Gray Beige over upgraded green leather upholstery highlighted by white piping. It includes twin fog lamps, whitewall tires, correct spin-off hubcaps, a discreet modern radio, plus a factory-type steering wheel.  As you can see in the slideshow, we opened the hood to make sure that the olive oil can was still in place.  A rather humorous touch by the previous owner.

One of the marvelous things about the Amelia Island Concours d'Elgecance is the extremely rare cars that you can only find on display at Bill Warner's event.  

As you look through the slide show below, you'll find a one-ff 1930 Alfa Romeo 1750 GS Testa Fissa.  Its the gray colored race car featured at the beginning of the slide show.  It has a very unique body that was recreated on the original chassis.  Just three months after its introduction, a 1750 driven by Giuseppe Campari and Giulio Ramponi would win the 1929 Mille Miglia. Later that year, Marinoni and Benoist won the Belgian 24 Hour Race at Spa. Alfa would take the Targa Florio, too, and one year later, the company won its second Mille Miglia, in addition to a host of other events. In short, Alfa Romeo began the 1930s as it ended the 1920s—utterly dominating Italy’s sports car and competition scene.

The Alfa 3000CM was featured in the Alfa Romeo booth again this year.  If you recall from last years report, it was campaigned at the PVGP back in the early 1980's and is part of the Auriana Collection. 

​When you get to the end of this slide show you'll see a lovely 1933 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300. The 8C 2300 Tipo Le Mans' was the sport version of the '8C 2300' and it had a successful debut in the 1931 Eireann Cup driven by Henry Birkin. It won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1931 (Howe-Birkin); 1932 (Chinetti-Sommer); 1933 (Nuvolari-Sommer) and 1934 (Chinetti-Etancelin).

One of the most interesting vehicles at Cars and Coffee at the Concours was this 1959 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Veloce "Confortevole" pictured in the first few slides below.  The production total of the Confortevole (comfortable) variant of the Sprint Veloce (SVC) was 199, the first 50 having aluminum framed windows. An SVC seems to be an SV which falls between the SVAlleggerita (SVA) and the 101 body based SV which began production in early 1958 and upon which 101 mechanical components were gradually phased in until the 750 bits were all used up, sometime in 1960.

​Basically, the Confortevole is an updated version of the race-bred lightweight  "Allegerita" Sprint Veloce but has a more comfortable interior and lacks the aluminum body panels & plastic windows of the lightweight.  It still maintains all of the high-performance mechanical features of the lightweight but in a grand touring version.  

​As a side note, the folks pictured in the lawn chairs behind the red caravan turned out to be from Pittsburgh originally, just like the van which had a pre-insterate Pennsylvania map sitting on the dash.  

We're also very excited to welcome Heacock Classic Insurance to the 2017 Cortile as a sponsor and they will be providing Coffee on both Saturday and Sunday morning July 15-17 during the arrival of the show cars!

Each year the Cortile selects a marque or model to highlight for the annual event based upon factors such as historical significance, unique local interest, brand resurgence.  The  cars of Alejandro deTomaso have been selected as our 2016 Proiettore Macchina! 

Alejandro de Tomaso (1928–2003) started his career in the car industry as a racing driver for Maserati and O.S.C.A. He participated in two Formula One World Championship Grand Prix's, debuting on January 13, 1957.  In 1959 he founded De Tomaso Automobili originally to build prototypes and racing cars.

De Tomaso Automobili (1959 - 2004) was a Modena Italy based automobile manufacturing company founded by the Argentine-born Alejandro de Tomaso with funding from his wife, Isabelle Haskell, an American heiress and race driver.

De Tomaso's first road-going production model was the Vallelunga, named after the famous racing circuit, was introduced in 1963. The Mangusta, introduced in 1966 was the first De Tomaso car produced in significant numbers. With the Mangusta, De Tomaso moved from European to American Ford engines. About 400 Mangustas were built before production ended in 1971.

In the late 1960s, Ford was in need of a high performance GT to combat the likes of Ferrari and Corvette, and assist in generating additional dealership traffic for its mainstream product lines. De Tomaso Automobili was relying on Ford  289 and 302 V8's engines in the Mangusta model and had purchased the Ghia design and coach-building concern. After Ford's failed attempt to purchase Ferrari, a Ford-De Tomaso business arrangement was consummated and work began on a new mid-engined GT which would become the most iconic of the DeTomaso cars produced: The Pantera. 

From 1961 to 1963 De Tomaso designed chassis for a number of Formula One teams using O.S.C.A., Alfa Romeo, Fiat-8 and Ferrari V-6 engines.  In 1970 Alejandro De Tomaso took an interest in a rising F1 team and  built a magnesium chassis, designed by Gian Paolo Dallara, and powered by a Cosworth V8, for Frank Williams Racing Cars for use in the 1970 Formula One.  The relationship began to sour after Piers Courage fiery crash at Zandvoort.  It would mark the last year De Tomaso appeared in F1.

The Pantera followed on the heels of DeTomaso's F1 fame in 1971 with a 351 Cleveland Ford V8 and a low, wedge-shaped body designed by Ghia's Tom Tjaarda. Through an agreement with Ford, De Tomaso sold Panteras in the USA through Ford's Lincoln and Mercury dealers. Between 1971 and 1973, 6,128 Panteras were produced in Modena, the largest number of a single marque of De Tomaso produced. The Pantera was finally phased out of production in 1993 with somewhere around 7000 total units produced.

In 1971 De Tomaso also introduced the Deauville which was attempt to rival contemporary Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz saloons.  In 1972 De Tomaso introduced a coupé based on the Deauville, the Longchamp. The Longchamp used a slightly shortened Deauville chassis and had the same Ford V8 engine. The body design, however, was substantially different, and influenced by the Lancia Marica prototype, also designed by Tom Tjaarda.  A total of 409 Longchamps of all variations were built, by the time the production ended in 1989.

Alejandro deTomaso made many acquisitions throughout the 1970's. De Tomaso Automobili owned motorcycle company Moto Guzzi from 1973 to 1993 and from 1976 to 1993 De Tomaso owned legendary Italian sports car maker Maserati, and was responsible for producing cars including the Biturbo, the Kyalami, Quattroporte III, Karif, and the Chrysler TC.  ​

In February 1976 Alejandro de Tomaso purchased Innocenti.  Innocenti had acquired the rights to Mini from British Leyland and from 1976 to 1987 the top of the range Innocenti was the Innocenti Mini de Tomaso.  Over the years they produced Lambretta scooters as well as a range of automobiles.

We are very excited to feature the cars of Alejandro de Tomaso at this years Cortile

Concourse Italiano is THE Italian car show to attend on the west coast. It's held at The Bayonet and Blackhorse golf course which is  located on what used to be Ft. Ord, a large military base from 1917 until it was decommissioned in 1994.  It was founded in 1986 by a group of Maserati and Alfa Romeo enthusiasts which actually includes one of the founders of the Cortile.  However, when I arrived I had not known that fact.

Concourso Italiano is held during the Monterey Car week in August each year.

The week of car events on the Monterey peninsula include the 

• Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance is held on the final Sunday of Monterey Car Week. The Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance was founded in 1950 as an adjunct to the Pebble Beach Road Race, a race event sponsored by the Sports Car Club of America and conducted on a circuit of closed public roads.
• Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, formerly known as the Monterey Historics until 2010, is held the final weekend of Monterey Car Week at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The three-day event has over 500 participants, and generally features a specific marque every year.
• Legends of the Autobahn show features German automobiles. It began as a BMW Car Club of America event and grew to include all German cars.
• The Porsche Werks Reunion event features Porsches and was established in 2014 after splitting off from the Legends of the Autobahn show.
• The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering (usually shortened to The Quail) is a car show limited to 200 automobiles located at the Quail Lodge & Golf Club

In 1976 Maserati Club International was formed and it quickly grew to 3500 members, which was pretty extraordinary by itself. 1986 saw the first Concorso Italiano with the Maserati Club and and Alfa Romeo Club playing an instrumental role in ti's creation. That first year saw 45 Maseratis on the snowfield.

The 2015 Concorso Italiano featured the reunion of the Ferrari 250 GTE, the 25th anniversary of the Lamborghini Diablo, the 50th anniversary of the Iso Grifo, the “King of Spain” Maserati Quattroporte, the Touring Superleggera concept car, and Tom Meade’s Thomassima II.

As I traveled the showgrounds I discovered that Alfa Romeo had just unveiled their new logo: Only the sixth change since the their beginning in 1910.   The Alfa Romeo booth was surrounded by cars from the Alfa Romeo Owner's Club who where one of the founding clubs of the event.  ​Featured prominently was the newly introduced 4C which will certainly grace these show fields in 50 years time.

​Certainly one of the true highlights of the show was seeing the  25th anniversary of the Lamborghini Diablo display area.  I was intrigued by the story about a barn find of a Lamborghini Muira what was over a decade in the making.  What was presented was a completely original un-restored Muira.  

The Concorso Italiano is now run by Tom McDowell who also runs the Desert Concorso.  It's a well managed and very organized show that brings together the very best Italian cars on the west coast.  Similar to the Cortile, it features both daily drivers, I followed about 5 Alfa Romeo Duetto's down 101 to the Show, as well as some very rare show cars.  I was surprised to run into at least 10 people from the Cortile Show at Concourso Italiano! My son and I are planning a road trip next summer and making this the Apex of our trip. If you have to opportunity to visit Concorso Italiano in the future be sure to let some people at the Cortile know.

​Below please find some more great images from the show....  ~Bernard Martin

In 1896 the first Italian car was produced. 10 short years later, in 1906, the Targa Florio race was started. The Targa Florio race drove much of the passion of the early Italian Automobile manufacturers who’s names have become the legends of today.

The Targa Florio open road endurance race was considered one of the toughest competitions in Europe. The 1906 first running covered 3 laps equalling 277 miles through multiple hairpin curves on treacherous mountain roads, and at heights where severe changes in climate frequently occurred.  Then, just as today, automobile manufacturer’s and drivers proved their mettle by winning races.  It was out of that heat of racing competition that fueled many of the iconic Italian car marques of today.  

Alessandro Cagno won the very first Targa Florio in 1906. He was employee #3 at the Fiat automobile company that had formed in 1899. Fiat was one of the first Italian manufacturers to be involved in racing.  In 1908, Vincenzo Lancia, finished 2nd at Targa Florio. Lancia had been a race driver for Fiat starting in 1900. In 1906 he had started is own automobile manufacturer and launched his first production car, the Lancia Alpha, in 1908. By 1913, Lancia introduced the the very first complete electrical system as standard equipment on his cars. No doubt that innovation was derived from his racing experience.  Although Vincenzo Lancia started his company in 1906, at the 1908 Targa Florio he was driving a Fiat.  Not only where the boundaries of the race courses muddy at that time, so where the relationships between those early manufacturers. They shared component parts and people.  It's always been a melting pot in that sense...

Some have said that the history of Italian car manufacturing reads like a soap opera, with tales of arguments and agreements, of splits, mergers and acquisitions. Indeed, the tales of who worked for whom, who raced for whom and who supplied what for whom are so very intertwined and melded together that it is often difficult to know where any single bit of innovation originated. Enzo Ferrari once said "If you see what a competitor is doing and it is better than what you are doing, you have to surpass them to ensure your cars are better." Italian manufacturer’s where constantly stealing away the best talent or forging new alliances, whether it be engineering, design, production or racing drivers.  It’s that hot blooded molten cauldron of racing competition that forged Italian cars from the very beginning.

In 1922 Lancia introduced the very first monocoque bodied car. That is, the first car that had a body that supported the structural load by using the car's exterior body, rather than an internal frame. The idea of a monocoque was not well received in 1922 even though it is the standard design in Formula One and Indy Car Series racing today.  This was primarily because of the use of Carrozzeria. In those early motoring days, you see, when series production did not yet exist, the process of acquiring a new vehicle required two major decisions by a car buyer: 

1. First, customers already accustomed to ordering carriages from a coach builder, would select an automobile manufacturer to provide only the rolling chassis, comprised of the chassis, drivetrain (engine, axles, wheels), suspension, steering system and the radiator - the radiator, usually its shell, soon became the only visual element identifying the rolling chassis brand.   
   
2. Second, the customer would approach a Carrozzeria, a coachbuilder, requesting a personal body design to be fitted on the new chassis. Initially, the long-established and refined skills used to build the wooden and metal bodies of vehicles were so specialized that most manufacturers had contracts with couchbuilders to produce bodies for their chassis.   Such is the case with many Italian marques who, to this day, utilize Carrozzeria with famous names such as Bertone, Carrozzeria Touring, Ghia, Pininfarina, Scaglietti, Vignale and Zagato for their body design.

The Carrozzeria influence runs deep in Italian Automobile history. Diatto was an Italian manufacturing company founded in 1835 in Turin to make 'carriages for wealthy customers’ and rail coaches for the Orient Express. By 1905, Diatto decided that automobiles where the future of transport.  By 1921, Milanese Carrozzeria Ugo Zagato designed a lightweight and aerodynamic body for the Diatto chassis while brothers Alfieri, Bindo and Ernesto Maserati built 2-litre Grand Prix Rolling chassis cars for Diatto. The Maserati brothers, Alfieri, Bindo, Carlo, Ettore, and Ernesto had started Maserati in 1914 and all the brothers had been involved with automobiles from the beginning of the 20th century. In 1926, Diatto suspended the production of their race cars, leading to the creation of the first Maserati badged car and the founding of the Maserati marque as we know it today. One of those very first Maseratis, driven by Alfieri Maserati, won the 1926 Targa Florio.  In 1925 Vittorio Jano, Alfa Romeo’s Chief Engineer, (who had started at Fiat in 1911 and was coerced to join Alfa Romeo by Enzo Ferrari in 1923) asked Zagato to create a body for the Alfa 6C 1500, which should be “light and fast”. Ugo Zagato, using his Aeronautics background, succeeded in creating a sleek and light “Rosso Corsa" bodies for the car.

Why Italian Cars are Red
In 1904, many national motor clubs banded together to form the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus (AIACR) which is the predecessor to the current FIA governing board which it become known as in 1950.  Originally the country colors where: Blue to France, Yellow to Belgium, White to Germany and Red to the USA. Italy “adopted” its famous 'Racing Red' when a red Itala (Itala was a car manufacturer based in Turin, Italy from 1904-1934) won the Peking to Paris race in 1907 but it really wasn’t ‘established’ until the “Rosso Corsa" Alfa Romeo’s began to dominate racing events in the 1920’s.

The Quadrifoglio
The cloverleaf or “quadrifoglio” has been used on Alfa Romeo cars since 1923. As a friend of Enzo Ferrari, Ugo Sivocci was hired by Alfa Romeo in 1920 to drive in the three-man works team, called "Alfa Corse",  with Antonio Ascari and Enzo Ferrari. 

Upon Sivocci's death, the quadrifoglio was adopted for all Alfa Romeo racecars. The quadrifoglio emblem 'cloverleaf' has been the symbol of Alfa Romeo racing cars since1923. Since WWII, it has also been used to designate the higher trim models of the range. The quadrifoglio is usually placed on the side panels of the car, above or behind the front wheels—on the front wings in the case of modern vehicle.

Ferrari begins at Alfa Romeo
Which brings us back to Alfa Romeo who won the inaugural Grand Prix world championship in 1925 with Enzo Ferrari at the helm of the team. 

Scuderia Ferrari
In 1929 Ferrari started the Scuderia Ferrari team in order to enter amateur drivers in various races primarily racing Alfa Romeo’s. In 1930 Tazio Nuvolari won the Mille Miglia in an Alfa Romeo 6C. In 1933 Alfa Romeo experienced financial difficulties, and withdrew its in-house team from racing. The Alfa Romeo racing team was privatized and officially named Scuderia Ferrari with team leader Enzo Ferrari at the helm.  Few people realize that the DNA for every Ferrari was actually born on Alfa Romeo's payroll. Enzo built a robust racing team from scratch starting in 1929, tapping some of the greatest pre-war drivers in Europe to lead the Scuderia to victory. 

In 1937, the Maserati brothers sold their shares of Maserati to Adolfo Orsi, although they continued working for the company as engineers under a 10 year contract.

In 1938, Alfa Romeo management made the decision to enter racing under its own name, ere-establishing the Alfa Corse organization, which absorbed what had been Scuderia Ferrari. Enzo Ferrari disagreed with this change in policy and was dismissed by Alfa Romeo in 1939. The terms of his leaving forbade him from motorsport under his own name, for a period of four years. However, Ferrari managed to manufacture two cars, named the AAC Tipo 815’s, for the 1940 Mille Miglia, engineered by Alberto Massimino and driven by Enzo’s old racing partner Antonio Ascari’s son, Alberto Ascari.  This name comes up again later…

in 1939 and 1940, a Maserati 8CTF won back-to-back wins at the Indianapolis 500, the only Italian manufacturer ever to do so.  World War II, however, brought a halt to most racing. 

After WWII new key people joined the Maserati team. Alberto Massimino, the Fiat engineer, with both Alfa Romeo and Ferrari experiences oversaw the design of all racing models for the next ten years. The focus was on the best engines and chassis to succeed in car racing. The new projects saw the last contributions of the Maserati brothers, who after their 10-year contract with Orsi expired went on to form O.S.C.A. in 1947.  Also in 1947, Ferrari decided to start making cars bearing his name, and founded Ferrari S.p.A.

By 1949 Ilario Bandini was producing his own car and entered Mille Miglia with his new 1100 siluro, featuring torpedo-like bodywork car and used the a Fiat engine, modified with a twin overhead camshaft cylinder head based on an Alfa Romeo design.  Carlo Abarth had been sporting director of the Cisitalia factory racing team since 1947. In 1948 begun the financial downfall of Cisitalia, spurred by the investments needed to put the 202 coupé into production; the following year the manufacturer went under. Carlo Abarth took over Cisitalia's assets and in March of 1949 and Abarth & C. was founded.  As you can see once again, just a before the war, Italian auto manufacturing was a melting pot and one of the reasons people are often confused about Italian marques.  Interestingly, the Cisitalia 202 is featured in the 2011 video game “L.A. Noire” by Rockstar Games and Team Bondi as a secret car called the Cisitalia Coupe.  The game resulted in the liquidation of Team Bondi.

Iso Autoveicoli S.p.A. was founded in 1953 by Renzo Rivolta with the introduction of the Isetta “bubble car”  The Isetta is always a hit when kids see them at the PVGP and “It’s so cute!” is often heard at both the Cortile and the BMW show. The Isetta was designed to be an ‘everyman car more or less in the same spirit of Henry Ford’s Model T, to enable the Europeans get back on their feet after the war and move into the use of cars again and away from motorbikes which had been the defacto form of transport in the immediate post war era.  Demand for the Isetta was so great that eventually BMW stepped in and took over production.

The mixing and matching of components, teams and drivers in the 1950’s was both confusing, exciting and exactly where the legend of Italian performance took it’s grip on the asphalt and has not let go since. In 1950 Nino Farina won the first Driver’s Championship in an Alfa Romeo.  In 1951 Alfa Romeo won again with pilot Juan Manuel Fangio.  By 1952, facing increased competition from their former employee, Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, by then a state-owned company, decided to withdraw after a refusal of the Italian government to fund the expensive design of a new car. 

In 1952 Alberto Ascari gave Ferrari its first Drivers Championship and then again in 1953. Ascari drove for Ferrari, Lancia and Maserati for the 1954 campaign.  Ascari won the Mille Miglia driving a Lancia sportscar. 

Enzo Ferrari is famously quoted: “Second is the first of the losers.” Being first in racing was everything for him and he dominated the 1950’s in World Sportscar Championship winning in 1953, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1960 and 1961 but Maserati was always close at hand, especially in 1956 with a Maserati 300S driven by Stirling Moss. 

Notably, 1957 marked the year that Argentine-born Alejandro de Tomaso made his Formula One debut as a driver.  That becomes rather important later in our story as de Tomaso became the owner of Maserati and many other iconic marques in the 1970's.  But, again, we're getting ahead of ourselves in the story....

After 1957, Maserati began focusing on building road cars due to financial difficulties. Some have said it was the Italian passion for the racing business that drove up the performance innovation of not only Italian cars but all automotive manufacturers in this period. Alas, it may also have been the focus on the racing business that took the focus off of selling consumer cars, and, by the 1960’s, many Italian Marques where experiencing lots of "financial difficulty." 

In 1959 Alejandro de Tomaso founded De Tomaso Modena SpA . 

1961 marked the year that Alfa Romeo started importing cars to the United States.  Meanwhile at ISO, after the success of the Isetta bubble car, and together with engineer Giotto Bizzarrini, and chassis builder Bertone, Renzo Rivolta began developing the Iso Rivolta in 1962 and moved ISO into the “GT/Gran Turismo” (Grand Touring) & performance sports car manufacturer category.

1964 marked the founding of by Bizzarrini S.p.A. by former Alfa Romeo, Ferrari and ISO engineer, Giotto Bizzarrini. The company built a small number of highly developed and advanced sport and racing automobiles. [Be sure to click on the Bizzarrini link for more of the story]

Fiat Powered
Although race cars did not bear the name Fiat on the their grill in the postwar period, Fiat became the power plant of choice for many companies.  An alliance with Fiat was crucial to the success for many of the iconic racing names.  Since it’s founding, Fiat had expanded manufacturing into farm equipment, marine engines and even airplanes while at the same time supporting many many of the Italian marques who's focus was on racing and performance....

During the 1960s and 1970s, Former F1 driver, de Tomaso acquired Ghia and Vignale coachbuilding studios, and gained control of the Benelli and Moto Guzzi motorcycle firms, the Innocenti car company, and, in 1975, the celebrated sports car maker Maserati, which de Tomaso rescued from bankruptcy. de Tomaso originally produced various prototypes and racing cars, including a Formula One car for Frank Williams' team in 1970 as well as the famous Pantera and Longchamp.

Automobili Lamborghini was founded in 1963 by manufacturing magnate Ferruccio Lamborghini. A former mechanic during World War II, Lamborghini started a tractor business, Lamborghini Trattori, in 1948, using leftover military hardware. By 1955, his tractor company was one of Italy's largest farming equipment manufacturers. Finding himself in a position to indulge his passion for luxury cars, Lamborghini began buying Alfa Romeos, Lancias, Maseratis, and Ferrari’s.

Lamborghini thought Ferrari's cars were good, but too noisy and rough to be proper road cars. Most annoyingly, Lamborghini found that Ferrari's cars were equipped with inferior clutches, and he was continuously forced to return to Maranello for clutch rebuilds. Ferrari technicians would take the car away for several hours to make the repairs, not allowing the curious Lamborghini to view the work. Frustrated with the recurring nature of the problems, during one particularly long wait, he took the matter up with the company's founder, "Il Commendatore", Enzo Ferrari.

What happened next has become the stuff of legend: Ferruccio complained to Enzo in "a bit of an argument", telling him that his cars were rubbish; the notoriously pride-filled Modenan was furious, telling the manufacturing tycoon, "Lamborghini, you may be able to drive a tractor, but you will never be able to handle a Ferrari properly. You stick to building tractors and I will stick to building sports cars.” Enzo Ferrari's snubbing of Lamborghini had profound consequences. Lamborghini later said that it was at that point that he got the idea that if Enzo Ferrari, or anyone else, could not build him a perfect car, he might be able to simply make such a car himself. An the birth of the Lamborghini Bulls began.

In 1971 the Fiat 124 Sport Spider was prepared for Rally Competition when Abarth became involved with its production and development. From 1972 on they had relative success with wins in 1972, 1973 and 1974.  The Fiat 131 Abarth was a very successful rally car replacing the 124. Between 1976 and 1981 Fiat Abarth won 18 World Rally Championship events, and won the WRC three times: in 1977, 1978, and in 1980. Notably in 1973, De Tomaso also purchased Italian motorcycle company Moto Guzzi.

The Lancia Delta is the most successful individual model designation ever to compete in rallying. All this gave Lancia a total of 11 Championships over the years.  Lancia took over the role of motorsport for the Fiat Group during the 1980s. In 1988 Lancia was the Marque of the Year at the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix.

In 1972, Al Garthwaite, of Algar Ferrari of Philadelphia fame, and Luigi Chinetti partnered to create an automobile importing company in the United States which was fundamental in giving birth to the East Coast American Ferrari Dealer Network. Establishing retailers from the Atlantic coast to the Mississippi River and through the lower half of Texas, the Chinetti-Garthwaite enterprise imported over 1600 Ferraris to this network through a distribution facility in Paoli, Pennsylvania. 

Enzo Ferrari was once quoted as saying “I have yet to meet anyone quite so stubborn as myself and animated by this overpowering passion that leaves me no time for thought or anything else. I have, in fact, no interest in life outside racing cars.”  

However, to fund the racing cars, Enzo needed to sell cars and the Chinetti-Garthwaite enterprise SOLD cars. In fact, many have said that the sales of the cars in North America funded the technical developments in Ferrari F1 cars in the 1970’s and led to the success Ferrari in F1 with Niki Lauda piloting in in 1975 and 1977 and Jody Scheckter in 1979.  We are very honored at the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix Cortile to welcome Algar Ferrari as one of our sponsors of the Marques of Italy in 2015 and Tom Frasca, who was Luigi Chinetti's personal secretary for over 30 years as one of our Cortile Cup Judges. 

With the loss of new Italian cars being exported to the United Stated, interest waned for several years in the United States with the exception of the Italian car aficionados. 

By 2007 a group of Italian Car enthusiasts prompted the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix to showcase as Marque of the Year “All Italian Cars” . This included Marque of the Year Chairman, Bernard Martin, and Pam Martin, Chad Pcsoyler Ian Martin.

The celebration in 2008 was so well received that the following year saw the founding of the Cortile Italian Car Show at the PVGP. Word must have gotten out about the resurgence of Interest in Italian cars because in June of 2009, Fiat Group and Chrysler Group LLC formed a strategic alliance. Consequently, Fiat has become the sixth largest car manufacturer in the world and it foretold the return of Italian marques Fiat and Alfa Romeo again being exported to North America.

The Proiettore Macchina concept was introduced a the second year of the Cortile in 2010. Proiettore, in Italian, is the word for headlight. "Headlight" encapsulates our goal for Proiettore Macchina which is to shed light on the robust history of Italian motorsports and motorcars. 

The Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix, presented by the Greater Pittsburgh Automobile Dealers Foundation, has a mission is to produce a world-class vintage racing event in order to raise funds that help provide residential care, treatment and support individuals with autism and intellectual and developmental disabilities in the Pittsburgh region through the Autism Society of Pittsburgh and Allegheny Valley School. Both of these charities play a key role in our success, supplying volunteers at all of our events.

Cortile Lunch Saturday, July 18
All Italian race cars are invited to drive up to the Italian Cortile at the Pittsburgh Golf Club on the golf course for lunch on Saturday. There will be 300-400 Italian show cars displayed on the 18th fairway. Joe Parlanti will lead the cars through the city streets, departing the Italian Paddock at 11:15 am. Details on Cortile – Saturday

Eligible Cars
Qualified Italian cars of all marques manufactured before 1973 are eligible. See our Approved Car List for specifics. We already have commitments from several racers and we’re looking forward to featuring 20-25 cars. If you believe your Italian car is eligible and can not find it on our list please email Alain Raymond.

Contact
Alain Raymond is a long time supporter of the PVGP and a familiar smiling face throughout vintage racing. He has volunteered to help recruit and manage our Marque of the Year race. If you have any questions regarding the Italian Marque or any aspect of our races please email Alain Raymond

Entry Form
To enter the Marque of the Year Race you will need to register for our race and add an additional $50 to particpate in the Marque of the Year race. Your grid position will be determined by your best time on Saturday afternoon.

The cost is $125 to participate in our Marques of Italy, the Cortile and the Fiat FreakOut.  Register and pay on-line here. All proceeds benefit the Grand Prix Charities. If you are with the Fiat FreakOut you must register on the Fiat Club America website in order to have your car qualified for judging.

Here are the events during our ten day festival where Italian car’s will take center stage:

A year-long celebration beginning today will mark Maserati’s Centennial, a century of success lived to the full in the spirit of “The Absolute Opposite of Ordinary.” 

With the month of December Maserati officially enters the 100th year of its history. It does so in a period of unprecedented health and unparalleled growth. More than 23,000 orders worldwide up to date are propelling Maserati into a new dimension. Today Maserati is amongst the fastest growing brands in the United States and a concrete reality in nearly 70 markets in the world, starting with China, Maserati’s second largest commercial reality on the planet. 

A company 100 years young, Maserati showcased only days ago at the Los Angeles Auto Show its new brand look and marketing communication campaign. Both are inspired by “ The Opposite of Ordinary” concept, a testament to the company’s first 100 years and a guideline for the next 100. For, as the whole history of Maserati proves, while some automobiles are inspired by basic geometry, Maseratis are simply inspired.

It is with great pride that Maserati introduces the Centennial Logo. Maserati’s world famous Trident was inspired from the sculptures of Italy itself. So it seemed fitting to sculpt a new image to represent our first 100 years of passion in car-making. The Maserati Centennial Logo is more medallion than graphic. It lives as a forged symbol of our racing heritage. But even more importantly, it resembles nothing found among other luxury brands. And so it serves as a constant reminder of our core belief. That in everything we build for the next 100 years, to always be—The Absolute Opposite of Ordinary.

In the second half of 2014, Modena will play host to an extraordinary exhibition of some of the most evocative models in Maserati’s history. The Museo Casa Enzo Ferrari will show a special display of Maserati’s many iconic models, both passenger cars and race cars, all brought together because they hold special significance in the history of Maserati.

The first tangible sign of the celebration for Maserati’s 100 years is the official Centennial book, to be released the first week of December and formally presented at the Maserati HQ showroom in Modena on Friday, December 6. “Maserati – A Century of History” has been written by four highly qualified authors and chronicles the Maserati century along three main themes: company history, model range, motor sports. 

A dedicated Maserati Centennial website - www.maserati100.com – will keep Maserati friends, fans, clients and collectors informed of all the activities planned to celebrate the 100th anniversary. The dedicated website is online from today, December 2. 

As Maserati's Centennial celebrations get underway, the special section to mark the occasion makes its debut on www.maserati.com. The section provides exhaustive details on the legendary Maserati marque, from its establishment in 1914 to the present day while #Maserati100 is the official hashtag through which anyone can keep track of all the Centennial news, events and content. The new section will allow visitors to learn about Maserati's history through a captivating voyage that takes in unforgettable cars, famous names, a timeline of the most important events, the biggest projects, the innovations and the many achievements in the world of racing. The content is enhanced with downloadable materials and users can even vote for their best-ever Maserati.

And it doesn't end there: on the 13-month long journey from December 2013 to December 2014, Maserati100.com will be frequently updated with new content, events, downloadable material and a section where users can upload content related to events taking place around the world to mark Maserati's Centennial. All people will need to do to receive the updates and relive Maserati's history is sign up for the monthly newsletter.

The Maserati Centennial year will officially end on Sunday, December 14, 2014, with a dedicated event.