That'll Do (Ferrari 315 S)

Two distributors, 3.8 liters 4 cams, 12 cyclinders, 12 carb throats, 24 plugs, 350+ horses.  Ferrari's big 4-cam V-12 sports cars (from 3.8 to 4.5 liters) had massive power but poor handling.  They disappeared after 1957, partly because of Alfonso de Portago's crash in the Mille Miglia, which killed 13 people including him and his co-driver.  For 1958, the FIA limited racing sports cars to 3 liters.  This change launched the careers of the most memorable front-engined sports racing cars like the Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa, the Aston Martin DBR-1, and the Maserati Tipo 61 "Birdcage." 

In 1957, Piero Taruffi won the last Mille Miglia in this Ferrari 315 S and retired from racing.  Two years later his daughter Prisca was born.  She has had a career in motor sports and journalism in Italy.  Taruffi's Mille 315 S is owned by John McCaw, the U.S. cell phone billionaire.  On the 50th anniversary of Taruffi's win, he invited Prisca to drive it in the modern Mille rally.

Prisca Taruffi with her father's helmet and goggles.

"I have found the silicone spray, Giuseppe, but where is the guest driver?"

Two months after the Mille, Enzo Ferrari shipped Taruffi's car to his Man In America, Luigi Chinetti, who entered it in the Road America 500 at Elkhart Lake.  Phil Hill drove the race solo, and led from flag to flag.  This drive launched his international career by getting him a Ferrari factory drive for 1958.

Piero Taruffi with Prisca's mother, probably after a Mille Miglia, but not his 1957 overall win.  He was one of those  drivers who's career was shortened by World War Two (another was the acknowledged pre-war "master," Tazio Nuvolari).  By 1952, when Taruffi won the British Grand Prix, his hair was white.  He was also the type of  driver who liked to see how the race developed before making his move.  Thus his nickname, "The Silver Fox."