Umberto Maglioli

A most accomplished sports car driver for nearly two decades, the pipe-smoking Maglioli found his Grand Prix opportunities severely limited, given his position as a junior Ferrari driver. He had made his reputation as national production car champion in 1952 with Lancia, then winning the 1953 Targa Florio and the Carrera Panamericana in 1954 in the marque’s cars. Despite success at Maranello in hill-climbs and sports car races which included victories in the Pescara 12 Hours, Buenos Aires 1000 Km and Circuit of Mugello, Umberto joined Maserati for 1956, again racing only occasionally in Grands Prix, but he also began the start of a long and fruitful association with Porsche by winning the Targa Florio with von Trips.

A practice crash at Salzburg in 1957 sidelined him with leg injuries but he bounced back in 1959, winning the Sebring 12 Hours with Hans Herrmann. Little success came Maglioli’s way in the early sixties, but a return to the Ferrari sports car team in 1963 saw him take third place at Le Mans and in the Nürburgring 1000 Km, followed by another win at Sebring in 1964.

Throughout the rest of the decade he continued to race a variety of potent machines, including a Ford GT40 and the works Porsche 907, with which, paired with Vic Elford, he won the Targa Florio in 1968, his last major victory.