Count Carlo Felice Trossi di Pian Villar (27 April 1908 – 9 May 1949) was an Italian

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

and auto constructor.

Racing career

During Trossi's career, he raced for three different teams:

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...

Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian carmaker known for its sports-oriented vehicles, strong auto racing heritage, and iconic design. Headquartered in Turin, Italy, it is a subsidiary of Stellantis Europe and one of 14 brands of mu ...

and, briefly,

Maserati Maserati S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914 in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. The company has been owned by Stellantis since 2021. Ma ...

. He won the 1947 Italian Grand Prix and the 1948 Swiss Grand Prix. He relieved playboy-driver Frederick McEvoy for 51 laps of the 75-lap 1936 Vanderbilt Cup; while the Australian started and finished the race, Trossi earned more points than him under the mileage-based AAA points system. Trossi backed one of the most unusual Grand Prix cars, the Trossi-Monaco of 1935. It featured a 16-cylinder, two-stroke cycle, two-row radial, air-cooled engine and an aircraft-like body designed by Augusto Monaco. The car was a spectacular failure and never raced in a Grand Prix event. Trossi had many exciting hobbies: racing boats and airplanes in addition to cars. He was also the president of the Scuderia Ferrari in 1932. Enzo Ferrari said of Trossi: "He was a great racer but never wanted to make the effort to reach a dominant position and I remember him with emotion since he was one of the first to believe in my scuderia of which he was a part".

Personal life

Trossi was born in

Gaglianico Gaglianico is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Biella in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about southeast of Biella. Gaglianico borders the following municipalities: Biella, Candelo, Ponderano, S ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. He died of a

brain tumor A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the Human brain, brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign ...

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

at 41 years of age.Saward, Joe
"Jean-Pierre Wimille: The man who would have been champion..."
at grandprix.com

Motorsports career results

European Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ;Notes * – As a co-driver Trossi was ineligible for championship points

Post-WWII Grandes Épreuves results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

! colspan="3" style="background: #99ff66;" , Sporting achievements {{DEFAULTSORT:Trossi, Carlo Felice Italian racing drivers Sportspeople from Biella 1908 births 1949 deaths Counts in Italy European Championship drivers Grand Prix drivers