Carlo Felice Trossi

Carlo Felice Trossi
Trossi in 1934
Born	Carlo Felice Trossi (1908-04-27)27 April 1908 Gaglianico, Piedmont, Italy
Died	9 May 1949(1949-05-09) (aged 41) Milan, Lombardy, Italy

Count Carlo Felice Trossi di Pian Villar (27 April 1908 – 9 May 1949) was an Italian racing driver and auto constructor.

Racing career

During Trossi's career, he raced for three different teams: Mercedes-Benz, Alfa Romeo and, briefly, Maserati. 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;^[1] while the Australian started and finished the race, Trossi earned more points than him under the mileage-based AAA points system.^[2]

The 1935 Trossi-Monaco, often on display at the Museo Nazionale dell'Automobile

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.^[3]

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".^{[4][better source needed]}

Personal life

Trossi was born in Gaglianico, Italy. He died of a brain tumor in Milan at 41 years of age.^[5]

Motorsports career results

European Championship results

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

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	EDC	Pts
1935	Scuderia Ferrari	Alfa Romeo Tipo B/P3	Alfa Romeo 3.2 L8s	MON Ret^1	FRA	BEL	GER	SUI	ITA	ESP	—^1
1936	Scuderia Torino	Maserati V8RI	Maserati 4.8 V8s	MON Ret			ITA 7				7th	23
		Maserati 4C 2500	Maserati 2.5 L4s		GER 8	SUI
1937	Scuderia Ferrari	Alfa Romeo 12C-36	Alfa Romeo 4.1 V12s	BEL Ret	GER	MON	SUI	ITA 8			17th	35
1938	Officine A. Maserati	Maserati 8CTF	Maserati 3.0 L8s	FRA	GER	SUI	ITA DSQ				36th	32
Source:[6]

Notes

• ^1 – 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)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4
1947	Alfa Corse	Alfa Romeo 158	Alfa Romeo 158 1.5 L8s	SUI 3	BEL 3	ITA 1	FRA
1948	Alfa Corse	Alfa Romeo 158	Alfa Romeo 158 1.5 L8s	MON	SUI 1	FRA	ITA Ret
Source:[7]

References

1. "Carlo Felice Trossi". www.champcarstats.com. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
2. "1936 AAA National Championship Trail". www.champcarstats.com. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
3. Road & Track, April 1972.
4. Piloti Che Gente, Enzo Ferrari, 1893
5. Saward, Joe. "Jean-Pierre Wimille: The man who would have been champion..." Archived 2001-06-17 at the Wayback Machine at grandprix.com
6. "Drivers – Carlo Felice Trossi". kolumbus.fi. Archived from the original on 6 July 2017. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
7. "Carlo Felice Trossi – Biography". MotorSportMagazine. Retrieved 21 May 2019.

Sporting achievements
Preceded by Rudolf Caracciola	European Hill Climb Champion (for Racing Cars) 1933	Succeeded by Xavier Perrot (1972)