Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York ...

Giovanni Volpi di Misurata (born 1938 in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isl ...

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and ...

) is an Italian-Algerian nobleman and a former

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded ...

racing manager and

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

team owner. He inherited a fortune, at the age of 24, from his father, Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata, a politician financier and founder of the renowned

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...

. During World War II, Giovanni Volpi's father served in Mussolini's cabinet as the minister of Finance and one of his chief advisors. He designed several of Mussolini's austerity measures and escaped prosecution after the war. His father also acquired and restored

Villa Barbaro Villa Barbaro, also known as the Villa di Maser, is a large villa at Maser in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It was designed and built by the Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, with frescos by Paolo Veronese and sculptures by ...

at Maser, Italy, built originally for the Barbaro family. Giovanni Volpi is the son of Giuseppe and his second wife, Nathalie El Kanoni. Giovanni Volpi founded a racing team,

Scuderia Serenissima Scuderia Serenissima and Scuderia SSS Republica di Venezia were names used by Giovanni Volpi to enter his own cars in Formula One and sports car racing in the early 1960s. Scuderia Serenissima was an auto racing team in the early 1960s. Funded ...

, in 1961 and quickly became one of

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car ...

's best customers. In 1962, Scuderia Serenissima commissioned to Piero Drogo and

Giotto Bizzarrini Giotto Bizzarrini (born 6 June 1926 in Quercianella, Livorno Province, Italy) is an Italian automobile engineer who was active from the 1950s through the 1970s. After graduating in 1953, Bizzarrini eventually joined Alfa Romeo as a test driver. ...

the design of the Ferrari 250 GT Drogo, also known as Ferrari Breadvan. At the end of the year, when a group of senior figures, including Bizzarrini and

Carlo Chiti Carlo Chiti (19 December 1924 – 7 July 1994) was an Italian racing car and engine designer best known for his long association with Alfa Romeo's racing department. He also worked for Ferrari and was involved in the design of the Ferrari 156 Shar ...

, left Ferrari to join Volpi and found ATS, Volpi's relationship with

Enzo Ferrari Enzo Anselmo Giuseppe Maria Ferrari (; 20 February 1898 – 14 August 1988) was an Italian motor racing driver and entrepreneur, the founder of the Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team, and subsequently of the Ferrari automobil ...

cooled. Ferrari consequently refused to sell Volpi two 250 GTOs he requested for his GT team. Following a disastrous 1963 Formula One campaign, where drivers

Phil Hill Philip Toll Hill Jr. (April 20, 1927 – August 28, 2008) was an American automobile racing driver. He was one of two American drivers to win the Formula One World Drivers' Championship, and the only one who was born in the United States ...

and

Giancarlo Baghetti Giancarlo Baghetti (25 December 1934 – 27 November 1995) was a Formula One driver who raced for the Ferrari, Automobili Turismo e Sport, BRM, Brabham and Lotus teams. Baghetti is one of only three drivers to have won his first World Champion ...

both failed to score championship points, ATS closed. Volpi subsequently continued with the Serenissima marque.

Bruce McLaren Bruce Leslie McLaren (30 August 1937 – 2 June 1970) was a New Zealand racing car designer, driver, engineer, and inventor. His name lives on in the McLaren team which has been one of the most successful in Formula One championship history, ...

used a Serenissima engine for a few Grands Prix in 1966. Volpi is married to Dominique Rizzo and lives in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

References

* Counts of Italy Italian nobility Ferrari people Living people Formula One team owners 1938 births Italian motorsport people Italian people of Algerian descent Businesspeople from Venice {{Italy-business-bio-stub