Motorsport Memorial -

Umberto Maglioli

Complete name: Umberto Maglioli

Birth date: 05.Jun.1928

Birth Place: Bioglio (BI), Italy

Death date: 07.Feb.1999

Death Place: Monza, Italy

Nationality: Italy

Gender: male

Notes:
Umberto Maglioli was one of the foremost long-distance drivers of the 1950s and 1960s. A native of Bioglio, province of Vercelli - now province of Biella - north-western Italy, he was the elder brother of Claudio Maglioli, also a talented racing driver, car tuner and manfacturer. The brothers spent almost their whole lives in Biella, a Piemonte region town from which also came a number of Italian motorsport aces, such as Antonio Brivio, Carlo Felice Trossi, Emilio Giletti and Giovanni Bracco. The latter was Umberto Maglioli's mentor.

Umberto Maglioli was a three-time winner of the Targa Florio, first in 1953 with a Lancia Aurelia B20, then in 1956 in a works Porsche 550A RS Spyder, partnered with Huschke von Hanstein, and lastly in 1968 in a Porsche 907, with Vic Elford as team mate.

His greatest triumph came in 1954 when he won outright the tough Carrera Panamericana in Mexico, driving a Ferrari 375 Plus, at the average speed of 173.692 km/h (some 108 mi/h). During the race, Maglioli lived a sort of "miracle", when his car began to fail due to an oil leak through a hole in the carter, while leading the fourth leg of the race. Without a spare part, he lost any hope of finishing the race during the subsequent fifth and final leg, when the car was about to stop working in the middle of nowhere. But Umberto Maglioli found a small workshop called "El Milagro" in an isolated and ruined building, where he met Renato Martínez, owner and sole mechanic of the small garage, who confirmed the oil leak from the crankcase. Martínez had a "creative" solution to repair the Ferrari by using a bar of soap. He dismantled the engine and using the bar of soap began to gradually rub the carter with it. By friction the soap melted and created a paste that sealed the leak hole. Soap "cut" the oil and adhered to the metal in the crankcase and when solidified it became hard as a rock. Umberto Maglioli took a photograph of Martínez and the Ferrari under repair, with his small Rolleiflex camera. Minutes later he restarted and managed to finish the fifth stage in first place, winner of the race. Some time later, the Mexican mechanic received by mail the photograph which was signed by Umberto Maglioli. And the photograph came along with a letter which read: "Renato Martínez, the Mexican Miracle that helped Ferrari" and the letter was signed by Enzo Ferrari in person.

The Ferrari 166MM Barchetta Touring of Giovanni Bracco-Umberto Maglioli at Rieti checkpoint during the 1950 Mille Miglia in which they finished first in class, fourth place overall.
Photo by Franco Allegri, courtesy of Manlio Dante. Reproduced under kind permission, all rights reserved.

Umberto Maglioli started ten Formula 1 Grands Prix, earning two podium finishes. At the wheel of a works Ferrari 625, he finished third in the 1954 Italian Grand Prix at Monza, sharing the car with José Froilan González, and third again in the 1955 Argentine Grand Prix at Buenos Aires, sharing once again the car with González and Maurice Trintignant.

In 1956 Maglioli left the Scuderia Ferrari and joined Porsche for a seven years, successful relationship, competing in endurance races. In 1963 he returned to Maranello scoring a fine third in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, paired with Mike Parkes in a Ferrari 250P. And one year later, the two won the 12 Hours of Sebring, sharing a Ferrari 275P.

His last outright win came in 1968, then aged 40, and was an astonishing victory. Maglioli was hired by the Porsche System Engineering sport manager, his old chum von Hanstein, to drive along with Britain's road racing star Elford one of the four factory 2.2-litre, 8-cylinder Porsche 907 sportscars in the Targa Florio, fifth round of the 1968 World Sportscar Championship. The pair recorded an epic victory on the harrowing 72-kilometer (44.7-mile) Madonie Circuito Corto, despite suffering a first-lap puncture, winning by three minutes over the Alfa Romeo 33/2 of Nanni Galli-Ignazio Giunti, the veteran Umberto Maglioli driving only three of the ten laps.

Almost two months later, Maglioli accepted the invitation by the Écurie Filipinetti to join Henri Greder at the wheel of a 7.0-litre V8 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray in the 24 Hour of Le Mans. He replaced the original entry of skier Jean-Claude Killy, triple Olympic champion at the 1968 Winter Olympics at Grenoble, who at the last minute was vetoed to drive and Maglioli stepped into the breach. In the 1968 24-hour classic, Greder and Maglioli dominated the Porsche competition and led the GT class until the sixth hour of race, when a carburetion problem melted a piston.

Umberto Maglioli teamed up once again with Elford finishing second in the Targa Florio a year later, in what was Maglioli’s penultimate season in the sport. Maglioli's very last race came in 1970, when he shared a factory Alfa Romeo 33/3 with Nanni Galli in his beloved Targa Florio. Maglioli crashed on the opening lap and later the unassuming and charming driver never raced again.

Following a long illness, Umberto Maglioli passed away on Sunday, 07 February 1999, at Monza, at the age of 70.

Career Summary:

Sources:

Book "Piloti Biellesi - Giovanni Bracco, Umberto Maglioli" by Enzo Russo with Massimo Fila, Sidmi, Milano 1997.
Book "Piloti, che gente" by Enzo Ferrari, Conti Editore, Bologna 1985.
Book "Settant'anni di gare automobilistiche in Italia" by Emanuele Alberto Carli, Automobile Club d'Italia-L'Editrice dell'Automobile, Italy, 1967.
Magazine Autosprint, issue of 16 February 1999.
Magazine MotorSport, issue of April 1999.
Website Grandprix.com, page http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/drv-magumb.html .
Website Targa Florio, page http://www.targaflorio.info/83.HTM .
Website Facebook - Stephen Tunick, page https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=5856031044479455&set=a.1303060243109914 .
Website Barchetta, page http://www.barchetta.cc/english/all.ferraris/whatsnew/990207.e.maglioli.dead.htm .
Website Racing Sports Cars, page https://www.racingsportscars.com/driver/archive/Umberto-Maglioli-I.html .