Count Carlo Felice Trossi di Pian Villar (27 April 1908 – 9 May 1949) was an Italian racing driver and auto constructor.
During Trossi's career, he raced for three different teams: Mercedes-Benz, Alfa Romeo and, briefly, Maserati. He won the 1947 Italian Grand Prix and the 1948 Swiss Grand Prix. He relieved playboy-driver Frederick McEvoy for 51 laps of the 75-lap 1936 Vanderbilt Cup;[1] while the Australian started and finished the race, Trossi earned more points than him under the mileage-based AAA points system.[2]
Trossi backed one of the most unusual Grand Prix cars, the Trossi-Monaco of 1935. It featured a 16-cylinder, two-stroke cycle, two-row radial, air-cooled engine and an aircraft-like body designed by Augusto Monaco. The car was a spectacular failure and never raced in a Grand Prix event.[3]
Trossi had many exciting hobbies: racing boats and airplanes in addition to cars. He was also the president of the Scuderia Ferrari in 1932.
Enzo Ferrari said of Trossi: "He was a great racer but never wanted to make the effort to reach a dominant position and I remember him with emotion since he was one of the first to believe in my scuderia of which he was a part".[4][better source needed]
Trossi was born in Gaglianico, Italy. He died of a brain tumor in Milan at 41 years of age.[5]
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
