Emilio Giletti (20 April 1929 – 4 January 2020) was an Italian racing driver. He made a name for himself in the early 1950s, after the racing experience took possession of the family factory, and was later the owner of Giletti S.p.A. His son
Massimo Giletti
Massimo Giletti (born 18 March 1962) is an Italian television presenter and journalist.
Biography
He was born in a wealthy family from Piedmont. His father Emilio Giletti was a racing driver and a industrialist, owner of a textile factory in t ...
is an Italian television host.
Racing career

Emilio Giletti only entered 25 races between 1951 and 1955, racing mainly
Ferraris and
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. ...
s. In 1953, his big break came when Maserati decided to offer three young drivers the chance to drive their sportscars; Emilio was chosen along with
Luigi Musso
Luigi Musso (28 July 1924 – 6 July 1958) was an Italian racing driver. In 1955 he joined the Ferrari team, entering into a fierce rivalry with Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins, which boosted the performance of the team, but also encouraged ...
and
Sergio Mantovani. It was with the
Officine Alfieri Maserati squad, when he scored his biggest win, when he took a class victory on the
1953 Mille Miglia.

During this period, he enjoyed some success, scoring his only race win, in the 1952 non-championship Trofeo della Reggione Sardo and finished on the podium in the 1953
Targa Florio
The Targa Florio was a public road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near the island's capital of Palermo. Founded in 1906, it was the oldest sports car racing event, part of the World Sportscar Championship between 195 ...
. Away from Sportscars, Giletti raced in just one
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 ...
race, the 1953 Gran Premio di Modena, but retired due to a valve failure with his
Maserati A6GCM
The Maserati A6GCM is a single seater racing car from the Italian manufacturer Maserati. Developed for Formula Two, 12 cars were built between 1951 and 1953.
Introduction
The A6GCM belongs to the A6 family of Maserati vehicles which comprised ...
. He was also originally listed to race in the
1954 Gran Premio de la Republica Argentina, but Maserati gave the drive to Musso instead.
After finishing seventh in the 1955 Giro di Sicilia, he retired from International Motor Sport.
Giletti S.p.A.

Despite his passion for speed, he abandoned motorsport when he inherited the family business, Giletti S.p.A., one of the leading companies in the production of
yarn
Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, used in sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery, ropemaking, and the production of textiles. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufac ...
s. Under his control, the company became a technologically advanced company in the development of its production cycle, as well as their technical socks for sport.
In October 2012, Emilio Giletti was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment, suspended, for manslaughter following the death of a Giletti S.p.A. employee, Massimo Sasso, in September 2008.
[http://www.lastampa.it/2012/10/10/edizioni/biella/operaio-morto-in-fabbrica-condannato-l-imprenditore-RUHZpCY95MDJQCdHTn40NK/pagina/html ]
Racing record
Career highlights
Complete Mille Miglia results
Complete 12 Ore di Pescara results
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Giletti, Emilio
1929 births
2020 deaths
People from Trivero
Mille Miglia drivers
World Sportscar Championship drivers
Italian racing drivers
Sportspeople from the Province of Biella