Luigi Taramazzo

Born : May 5 1932
Deceased  : February 15 2004

Biography Luigi Taramazzo

Luigi ‘Gigi’  Taramazzo was born in Ceva in the province of Cuneo, Italy. Later he moved to Bordighera where he grew up. He started racing in the early 1950s the so-called “Scuola Genovese”, around the town of San Remo. In 1951 he participated in the Mille Miglia in a Fiat 500 Topolino and finished the rally in 168th place. In 1953 he scored the first outright victory of his career in the Rally delle Palme, at the wheel of an Alfa Romeo 1900. One year later he finished 6th in the Coppa InterEuropa at Monza, in an Alfa Romeo 1900 Super Sprint Zagato. In that same car, Tamarazzo achieved an impressive victory in the 1954 Giro Automobilistico d’Italia, a gruesome race of about 5,700 kilometers.

Luigi Taramazzo took the start in the 1955 Mille Miglia at the wheel of a Ferrari 500 Mondial (chassis #0536MD). Due to a mechanical breakdown, he had to retire from the race, while he was leading his class and driving 4th overall. The best season in the racing career of Taramazzo was 1958. He raced a  Ferrari 250 GT LWB in which he eventually captured the big class of the Italian GT Championship, scoring a number of victories. On top of that, he won the Mille Miglia, then a reliability run. That was the year that Paul-Ernst Strähle and Heini Walter took 3rd place in a Porsche 356 Carrera.

Later in the season, Taramazzo scored outright wins in the Coppa InterEuropa at Monza and once again in the Garessio-San Bernardo hill climb, class wins in the Trento-Bondone and Pontedecimo-Giovi hill climbs and a 2nd place in the Coppa Sant’Ambroeus at Monza. 1958 had another career milestone for Taramazzo with his F1 debut.  Mimmo Dei invited him to test one of the Scuderia Centro-Sud racing school’s Maserati 250F single-seaters at Modena Aerautodromo. After just a few laps and Taramazzo decided to be included in the entry list of the 1958 Monaco Grand Prix, as a Scuderia Centro-Sud driver. However, they did fail to qualify.

In the following years Taramazzo raced mainly in rallies and hill climbs at the wheel of Italian cars like Alfa Romeo and Abarths. In 1967 he entered the World Championship for Sports Cars racing a Porsche 906 with Giulio Bona. They finished 10th (2nd in class) in the 1000 km Monza, failed to finish in the Targa Florio due to a broken driveshaft, and also retired from the GP Mugello. Luigi Taramazzo only drove the Porsche 906 for one season, to switch back to Italian cars in 1968. 

At the end of the 1972 season, after winning the Garessio-San Bernardo hill-climb for the 7th time, Taramazzo retired from racing. In his announcement, he told that at the age of 40, it was about time to retire and to watch the races on television.

Luigi ‘Gigi’ Taramazzo passed away at home in Vallecrosia, Bordighera, Italy, on 15 February 2004 after a long illness. He was 71.

Pictures courtesy unknown