I visited the 815 Avio with Phil Hill.....

Very Cool! Thanks for posting!

 

Super thread

 

Wow... That's awesome...

 

Amazing. Thank you, glad you could visit then. Bringing up your girl right too
Pretty hard to believe I'd ignore a Stratos stradale, but that garage will do it. Pre-war Alfa and AAC 815 alone, and I'm done. Wait'll Stu sees this. Wow.

 

Isn't that the 4th 275 GTB Speciale?

 

Unique event it is. The 275 GTB is #7107, a regular shortnose.

 

Is there such a thing as a list of all the cars Righini owns? I understand he has a number of small displacement Italian "specials", including a 1940 Siata/Fiat 1100 Mille Miglia coupe.

 

Great pictures Vincent, I am amazed. I have a TopGear video from + 10 years back where Clarkson also gets a visit at the collection and a chat with Mr. Righini. The way the cars are stored is so Italian, just lovely.... Imagine opening the doors of that house for the first time....

By the way, don't you own me a signatured photo????

All the best,
Joren

 

I thought it was 7217GT. Where is this car? (If it exists) Is it like 7185 or 6701?

 

Excellent photos! Thank you very much for sharing. How is Phil doing? I hope that it is not the case, but, he does not look well.

 

Thread of the month!

Wow, such amazing history.

 

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?p=135211222#post135211222

 

Back in 1997 I had the very great privilege of doing this tour with Phil Hill (though through Page & Moy in the UK rather than GP Tours in the US – I believe at least at that time that Phil’s daughter worked for GP Tours). He is an amazing guy with a phenomenal knowledge of cars. He has driven just about everything and still follows the current racing scene being especially proud of the (then nascent) career of his son Derek. Oh, and it does open a few doors in Italy when you're travelling around with an ex-Ferrari World Champion!

After visiting Monza for the GP we met up with Phil in Como. First stop was the Alfa Romeo museum. The official guide came sauntering over as only an Italian can (actually he was a charming guy) and his jaw almost hit the floor when he saw Phil with us. The Lamborghini factory (pre-Audi) was a real contrast to the spotless Ferrari with its professional tour guides. At Lamborghini one of the directors came out to show us round, while a Diablo did donuts in the car park! When we pointed out the workers smoking on the shop floor next to various hazardous and flammable equipment he just shrugged and said ‘they are craftsmen’. Another Diablo in the repair shop had been heavily wrapped round a tree but was still about to be repaired.

We were due to tour the Maserati factory as well, but it was closed for refurbishment as Ferrari had just taken it over. Instead we fetched up on Signor Righini’s door. Unfortunately, there had been a slight breakdown in communications; he was out and our coach load wasn’t expected. Signora Righini didn’t bat an eyelid and most graciously welcomed us in, even finding cake and drinks for us all!

The guardian of the collection went round opening doors in the courtyards, each revealing a greater trove of treasures. I lost count of how many cars were there. Close to 100, I would guess. I understand Signor Righini is/was a scrap metal dealer in Modena and many of the cars had been retrieved from the wrecker at a time when they were just old cars not amazing pieces of history. An unrestored Model-T Ford, complete with cloth upholstery, was of particular interest to Phil as a similar vehicle had been his first car. An extraordinary three-wheeled motorbike carried a label stating it was the first vehicle to be built by Ettore Bugatti rubbing shoulders with a pre-WWI 75-litre Fiat GP car. And then there was the Auto Avio 815 you see in Vincent’s wonderful pictures. This is the very car a young Alberto Ascari raced in the 1940 Mille Miglia. Alongside it was an ex-Nuvolari Alfa bearing the Cavallino Rampante of Scuderia Ferrari.

Vincent, thanks for sharing your pictures and bringing back some wonderful memories!

Jonathan

 

Fantastic photos - the condition of the vehicles is stunning, let alone the contents!

 

Vince,
Nice little story and great pics. Love the oldtimers. Its like a trip back in time when you're with them.

Johnathon, thanks for sharing your story too. These great memories people hold are something to be cherished.
I had a nice evening with John Surtees and others last year, and i will never forget sharing their fond memories of their racing days.
I sat with Patty Mclaren, discussing her husbands driving abilities. She was great company, and even signed my photo from herself and on behalf of her good friend Chris Amon who couldnt be there.
heres a few photos of myself with some of my great heroes. John Surtees, Tony Brooks, Tim Parnell, Roy Salvadori, Phil Read(Manx & Norton Champion) etc.
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Hi Vincent,

Do you perhaps also have a picture of that white Lamborghini 350 GT,
standing next to the blue Lancia Stratos?
Would be highly appreciated!

Ciao,
Marcello

 

On the left of the first picture, and the right of the last one, is Cliff Allison, who sadly passed away a few months ago.

He was a works Ferrari driver in 1959-60 and with Lotus before that, but a couple of crashes in 1960 and '61 put him out of the sport.

Paul M

 

This is a great thread. Thanks for posting.

I found some nice pictures of the 815 here:
http://www.righinimario.it/millemiglia.htm

I also learned that some of Righini's cars are for sale (though not the great ones):
http://64.233.179.104/translate_c?hl=en&u=http://www.righinimario.it/E-commerce/E-commerce_cgi/ricerche.pl%3FAuto_Storiche&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%2Bsite:www.righinimario.it%2Bmario%2BRighini%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-USfficial%26hs%3DWMC