Vintage 1919 (!) Enzo Ferrari Targa Florio CMN Advertisement.
This is an incredibly rare and VERY early Enzo Ferrari item!
Being born in 1898, Enzo took up an interest in cars at a very early age and after the death of both his father and his brother had to provide for himself and his widowed mother. After some mechanical jobs and having been declined a job at FIAT, due to lack of qualifications, he met Ugo Sivocci in 1919 who was a test driver at the Milanese car manufacturer CMN (Construzioni Meccaniche Nazionale) who were converting ex-WW1 militairy vehicles for civilian use but were planning to venture into more sporting cars.
Sivocci got Enzo a job at CMN as a test driver and it was here that Enzo ventured into his first automobile race, the Parma Poggio di Bercetta hillclimb on October 5th, 1919 where he came in 4th.
On November 23, 1919 both Sivocci and Enzo entered the grueling Targa Florio and drove their CMN race cars through the wind, rain & snow (!) on Sicily eventually finishing 2nd & 3rd in their class.
This vintage 1919 (possibly early 1920) advertisement was placed by CMN to promote their cars and the stunning results of their drivers in that race.
It proudly announces that they came in 2nd & 3rd in their class and that of the 21 starters, only 9 made it to the finish... they conveniently "forgot" to mention that Enzo's 3rd in class was actually 9th overall and therewith last...
In 1920 Enzo would switch to Alfa Romeo and the rest is history...
In this advertisement we see Ugo Sivocci proudly posing in the CMN of... Enzo!
This is the oldest vintage item that we have ever unearthed in which Enzo is actually mentioned as a racing driver!
A little bit more can be told about Ugo Sivocci as when Enzo moved to Alfa Romeo in 1920, Sivocci followed suit and he was hired to participate in the three-men Alfa Corse team (Enzo, Antonio Ascari & Sivocci). In 1923 he won the Targa Florio outright in an Alfa Romeo RL. He died on September 8, 1923 while testing the new Alfa Romeo P1 at Monza. His car carried race number 17 and following his accident, the # 17 would never again be assigned to an Italian racing car...
A FANTASTIC period piece that is exceptionally well suited for framing!
It measures approximately 29 x 39 cm or 11.5 x 15.5 inches.
Only 1 available.