Antonio Ascari #2

Antonio Ascari Biography

Antonio Ascari was born on the 15th of September 1988 in Bonferraro, Italy, the son of a corn dealer and one of three brothers and a sister. Link many young men his age he loved machinery and driving and after a spell at maintaining agricultural machines he took a job in Milan as mechanic with Officine Meccaniche De Vecchi builders of sound but not very exciting four-cylinder cars in the via Peschiera. In 1909, Antonio and his brother Amedeo emigrated to Para, in Brazil, to work on cars, but his brother died from yellow fever and Antonio returned to Italy and to de Vecchi, where he became a service manager.

The firm’s chief tester, Ugo Sivocci, arranged for Ascari to drive one of their touring cars in the 1911 six-day Criterium of Regularity at Modena and he did well before having to retire. No further chance came to drive before World War I when he was busily engaged on aircraft repair work with a firm called Falco, but with the return of peace Ascari set up an Alfa agency in Milan.