The Michael Mann motion picture ‘Ferrari’ is not a feel good film. It is really hard to like many of the characters, and even Enzo is shown as a ruthless competitor whom the Italian media described as Saturn eating his children. But if there is a hero in the movie, it is the Silver Fox, Piero Taruffi. The scenes between Enzo (Adam Driver) and Piero (Patrick Dempsey) are the funniest and most entertaining in the movie.
Taruffi was nearing the end of his racing career in 1957. He’d set a land speed record in 1937, won the 1951 Carrera Panamericana in Mexico, and even took victory in Formula 1 at the Swiss Grand Prix in 1952. But at the age of 51, Piero was selected by Enzo Ferrari to be part of his five-car assault on the Mille Miglia in Ferrari 315 S. That event in 1957 was the last race and last victory to Tarrufi. It’s satisfying that an actual racer like Dempsey, who competes at Le Mans and the 24 Hours of Daytona, got to play a real life racing hero.
Beyond the driver’s seat, Piero Taruffi wrote a noted book ‘The Technique of Motor Racing’ and was an advocate for motorsports safety during one of its most dangerous eras. He was also an inventor with several patents to his name.
The Tarf II was designed and constructed in 1951 for a shot at fastest car in the 2.0-liter class, was a Maserati four-powered bisiluro (“twin torpedo” in Italian). The driver sat in one fuselage, with engine beside him in the other. It was as fast as it was fanciful: In 1952, his 185 mph two-way average speed was enough to earn him a spot in the record books.
In 1952, a US Patent was approved for Taruffi’s concept car called the Trisiluro Tarf III. The bizarre three-pod concept resembles a wingless airplane on floats.
The patent filing cites another patent for an aircraft of vaguely similar design. It’s quite possible that Taruffi took some inspiration from the fighting aircraft of WWII. As per the filing, one of the main advantages of the design was centralized weight as the two engines could be mounted in the center of each of the pods, with no driver to get in the way. Another key goal was the reduction of aerodynamic resistance via minimization of frontal area.
Wow, the guy was truly amazing, not only a talented race driver but also an imaginative engineer. I didn’t know anything about him, thanks for sharing.
I did t know anything about him either. But in the movie, he was my favourite character because I like Patrick Dempsey.
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I knew there was more to his story…but land speed record holder, author and wildly imaginative automobile designer? That quite a CV!