Villeneuve got 27 from Jones when Alan won the title in 1980 and Ferrari had to give up their 1 and 2. I idolized Jones long before I became a Villeneuve fan.
A pic of Gilles when he borrowed a Mondial from the local Montreal dealer. After using it to get around during the the GP week, he returns it to the dealership and declares to Luigi Della Grotta (Montreal dealership owner): "the car is a lemon!!!". Image Unavailable, Please Login
As an italian growing up in Montreal, I can assure you that no one here really cared for Alan Jones nor how Gilles came to obtain number 27. Pretty much all the italians in our area are Ferrari fans and with a local Quebecer boy behind the wheel, we had the best of both worlds to cheer. All we knew is that there was this amazing driver doing impossible things with a less than stellar car. It was red with a big white number 27 on it. It's all I knew and all I cared about as a 9 year old boy.
The Gilles Villeneuve museum, along with the Luigi Ferrari Club, held a commemorative service remembering Gilles' passing 30 year ago. Along with a few speeches from a few of Gilles collaborators, the invited guests were treated to a personalized tour of the museum by the curator Alain Bellehumeur, as well as a benediction of the cars (and drivers) from the local Berthierville pastor. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
A few more photos from this event. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
A photo of Gilles Villeneuve's 126C from 1981 was presented museum. This car was brought to Montreal back in 1991 and is seen here while it was kept at the local dealership, when it was run by Luigi Della Grotta. http://www.ferrari101.com/forum/showthread.php?t=355035 I managed to capture (part of) a moment, when Luigi's daughter first saw the pic of her father. It was quite moving. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
You'll never see duels like this. If this duel were to have happened today, I'm sure that both drivers would have been sanctioned. Sadly, F1 has been suffocated by regulations. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Beautiful battle between Gilles and Arnoux, here is the video: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3tXJm9tYGM&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/ame]
A couple of pics that came across my way. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
According to "The Gospel According To Luigi", the Testarossa was the ONLY car worthy of being called a Ferrari. It was the best car ever produced by them. All others were crap. As he once told me when I bought my 308: "Hai comprato la macchina la piu scarta mai prodotta dalla Ferrari." Translation: "you bought the scrappiest car ever produced by Ferrari"
Relaxing. Back in the day before drivers were constantly followed by their publicist, cronies and other vermin in their entourage. Image Unavailable, Please Login
