A gift?
Luigi Villoresi, born in Milan in 1909, came from a wealthy family. His father supported his racing career, which he began in 1931 in a Lancia Lambda. In 1936 he was hired by Maserati, and in 1939 and 1940 he won the Targa Florio for the team from Modena. During World War II, he met Alberto Ascari, and the two drivers shared a deep friendship throughout their lives, always driving in the same team until Ascari’s tragic death in 1955. And so Villoresi was part of the Scuderia Ferrari team from the very beginning, when it entered the F1 World Championship in 1950. However, he never managed to win a Grand Prix, but in 1951 he came in third three times in a row, finishing fifth in the World Championship. And yet 1951 was a very good year for Luigi Villoresi, as he won the Mille Miglia in a Ferrari 340 America. Shortly afterwards, he also became the owner of the Ferrari 195 Inter with a Ghia body shown here – it is unclear whether it was a gift for his victory in the most important race in Italy or whether he bought it himself. In 1955, this Ferrari, painted in Avorio Antico, came to Switzerland, then to the USA in the early 1960s. After that, the information about the further owners differs quite a bit. What is certain, however, is that it was offered by Gooding & Co. on Amelia Island as early as 2022, at the time with an estimated price of 900,000 to 1,200,000 dollars; however, it did not find a buyer. In March 2025, #0129S will be auctioned again by Gooding and again at Amelia Island, with an estimated price of 700,000 to 900,000 dollars.
We are really good at the Ferrari 195s, see: here. In fact, we are really good at the early Ferraris, see here. For everything else: archive.
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