The first lady to ever race in F1, on a 250F, has passed away. She was at the International meet at Bastad in Sweden in 2010 where I was able to briefly speak with her, a great lady who made a fine speech that weekend. I last saw her with her husband Theo Huscheck at Beaulieu near Monaco in May of 2012, she had been ill for some time and had since retired from public appearances. Her great love as Luigi Musso Ferrari F1 driver, killed too young at Reims in the mid fifties. Maria Teresa de Filippis, first woman to race in F1, dies aged 89 - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com There is a great book in Italian about her which I enjoyed reading a few years ago, written by Cesare de Agostini: La Signorina F1 RIP Signora pilota. MS
Sad, very sad... Picture was taken at the Ennstal-Classic in Austria, she was verry often there, a real Lady. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Met them both way back in 1994 at the international meet. We moved to the same hotel with them on the second stop in Riccione? Both were very nice people. Theo even knew who I was when I arrived in Cortina. He had heard of my high speed run in the Bora in Ely Nevada. They introduced the QPIV at that event and she drove it the entire time. Theo was running the event for the club that year. Sadly we don't last forever ...
I had the pleasure of meeting Maria Teresa and Teo quite a few times over the years. She was a wonderful person and spending an evening with her was a real joy for all the Maseratisti. My last personal memory goes back to a Bassano del Grappa "Mitiche" event of a few years ago. At lunch, she was looking for a place among the various tables; I reised up suggesting she could join our group sitting in front of me. I had next to me my lovely nephew Valentina and her husband, a good car enthousiast and collector, taking part to the Rally with their pre-war MG supercharged sports car. Valentina and Maria Teresa started chatting amiably and Valentina ended-up saying something like: "You see, madame, driving our old cars with no weather protection and without normal car comfort can be a bit tought..." There was a moment of silence and slight embarassement, then I said "Valentina, la Signora Maria Teresa De Filippis won a race or two competing in sports car racing with Fangio, Ascari, Moss, Taruffi, Villoresi, Musso, Castellotti and all our heroes. She also raced quite honourably in Formula 1 with her Maserati. I am sure she is more or less aware therefore of the kind of difficulties you were mentioning..." Maria Teresa was the first to laugh taking all of us out of the embarassment and Valentina took much proud of her event menu signed by Maria Teresa. You'll be for ever in our hearts, Pilotino!
Somewhere I have a magazine pic from, IIRC, 1968., showing a 3500 GT among the other cars on a ferry heading to Croatian island of Krk. Don't believe that any 3500 GT lived in former Yugoslavia so obviously a foreign tourist. I know that late Maria Teresa de Filippis used to spend summer vacations at Krk so I thought that maybe she drove a 3500 GT after she retired from racing. It would be nice if photographer accidentaly catched her car! But in 1968. it was 5-10 years old car so I'd think she would switch to newer one by then. Does anyone knows about her private cars?
I was riding in the just out of looong restoration dark red Ghibli spyder of my friend Johan who had invited me when his wife had to attend another event. The Bastad meet was a wonderful one which I will never forget because I met the most important lady in my life that weekend (not Maria, many great people, it was perfectly organized, sunny, a group of us had a dip in the very cold sea water each early morning before jacuzzi and then huge smorgasbord breakfast -you feel super energized after that!- even the Italians tried it(!) and took place in the country of my birth so yes a very special memory. The only bad point was two drivers from a country at the other end of Europe behaving like idiots on the racetrack day, let's just say their track courtesy reflects the economic competence of their government. I will make no further comment about this, not important when recalling a magic weekend. Maria's speech was gracious as ever and Theo Husckeck her companion made everybody laugh during the gala dinner when he thanked the CEO of Maserati Sweden for sponsoring the event saying something like "We [classic Maserati owners] are set in our ways, not really interested in the new Fiat Maseratis, you won't sell a single new Maserati from this event but nevertheless we really appreciate your sponsorship" That brought the house down Best regards, Marc
that made m laugh..! There were three cars from the other end of Europe, which do you mean? You met your good lady at the Maserati meet or generally at this weekend?That's wonderful. I loved the hotel, and as an engineer liked the architecture and the way metal meets wood. Company was great, i still remember meeting some Norwegian people who were a pleasure to speak to. Missed the factory visit as i had strong headache, but liked the Concours. It was a nice weekend to remember, but i believe it ended too soon.
Glad you enjoyed the event too, let's get back on topic, here is a nice tribute to her: Maria Teresa de Filippis obituary and F1 career appreciation - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com Actually this one is even better: http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/jan/11/maria-teresa-de-filippis Best regards, MS
Nice b/w photos: Addio a Maria Teresa De Filippis, prima donna a correre in Formula 1 | Ruoteclassiche
