Hey!
The famous Giancarlo Minardi, founder of the Minardi F1 team, had an father called Giovanni Minardi. I heard that Giovanni Minardi also had an racing team and bought cars himself. Had someone more infos about Giovanni Minardi and his involvement in motorsport?
Thank you for answering!!!
Giovanni Minardi
Started by
HistoryFan
, May 17 2008 19:06
7 replies to this topic
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#2
HistoryFan
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Posted 22 May 2008 - 11:16
Giancarlo's son also calls Giovanni Minardi. He was sport director at Minardi and now is sport direktor at Scuderia Playteam, which drives in the FIA GT series and Formula Superleague. In Formula Superleague they worked together with AC Mailand. Robert Doornbos, former Minardi-F1-driver, will drive for AC Mailand and Playteam. At Playteam Gabriele Tredozi is technical direktor as he was at Minardi in Formula One.
#4
Alexander M
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Posted 27 January 2010 - 22:48
The book 'La Sport e i Suoi Artigiani' has something on Giovanni Minardi (senior). The information is from that book (sorry for a poor summary - Italian is not what I'm good in, and I hope I didn't loose anything in translation).
The Minardi 750 was built in 1948 and had an own design 750cc 6 cylinder engine, which resembled a halved Ferrari 125S unit, but was not that in fact - it had different cylinder dimensions and own DOHC mechanism. The tube frame was designed by Gioachino Colombo. and participated in 1948 XIX Gran Premio d'Italia at Circuito del Valentino. The book reads that it is not clear whether the driver was Giovanni Minardi himself or Antonio Lotti. Later the same year it retired at Circuito del Garda driven by Rino Fernarini.
In 1949 it was redesigned and renamed GM75. This version had 46hp and weighed around 350kg. At 1949 Circuito del Tigullio it retired driven by Pietro Ghersi, and with Carlo Pesci at the wheel finished sixth at Circuito di Ferrara. After that the car was abandoned and sold, together with three engines built, to Berardo Taraschi.
Maybe someone among TNF's Italian experts could tell more or correct me if I was wrong (hope I wasn't).
The Minardi 750 was built in 1948 and had an own design 750cc 6 cylinder engine, which resembled a halved Ferrari 125S unit, but was not that in fact - it had different cylinder dimensions and own DOHC mechanism. The tube frame was designed by Gioachino Colombo. and participated in 1948 XIX Gran Premio d'Italia at Circuito del Valentino. The book reads that it is not clear whether the driver was Giovanni Minardi himself or Antonio Lotti. Later the same year it retired at Circuito del Garda driven by Rino Fernarini.
In 1949 it was redesigned and renamed GM75. This version had 46hp and weighed around 350kg. At 1949 Circuito del Tigullio it retired driven by Pietro Ghersi, and with Carlo Pesci at the wheel finished sixth at Circuito di Ferrara. After that the car was abandoned and sold, together with three engines built, to Berardo Taraschi.
Maybe someone among TNF's Italian experts could tell more or correct me if I was wrong (hope I wasn't).
Edited by Alexander M, 28 January 2010 - 08:47.
#5
HistoryFan
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Posted 28 January 2010 - 08:45
Thank you.
Hadn't Giancarlo Minardi also written a book with something about his father?
Hadn't Giancarlo Minardi also written a book with something about his father?
#6
Paolo
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Posted 28 January 2010 - 09:50
Thank you.
Hadn't Giancarlo Minardi also written a book with something about his father?
Yes, there is a celebrative book about Minardi (italian and english text) which recounts Giovanni Minardi's story and even has sketches of that 750cc engine.
I own the book (don't remember the title) but cannot access it right now. Will post info when I retrieve it, but will take weeks.
#7
Joblo
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Posted 12 February 2010 - 03:34
From 1991 book "Minardi F1 Team"
1946:
Giovanni went off to do his military service in Piedmont as an official in the Alpine Artillery. While he was away he met his wife, Elena Marina, at Cuneo, whom he married in 1946 (who became Elena Minardi Marina) and on his return home he immediately set to work alongside his father in the Fiat dealership, which was fast expending during the post-war period of reconstruction.
1948:
Faenza has consistently produced a fine crop of gentlemen drivers, from Rino Ferniani to Federico Zanotti, who snatched up many laurels at that time, and Giovanni Minardi was eager to compete. However, several more or less seccessful races did not satisfy him much, and the simple Fiat engines pleased him not at all, which is why he thought that it should not be impossible to build a far superior and more sophisticated car for the 750cc. class.
Thus, 1948 saw the birth of the « G.M. 75 », its engine was nevertheless a very interesting piece of engineering, a fine 750 cc. 6 cylinder inline unit with twin cams and narrow V valves, designed by Oberdan Golfieri (former colleague of Aurelio Lampredi, the man behind one of the most celebrated Ferrari dynasties). This 750 cc. engine, built, after Golfieri had finished the design, by Antonio Lotti, workshop manager at Minardi-Fiat, was based on a cast iron block with a silumin head; the casting were made by outside specialists including Calzoni in Bologna, while most of the finishing, turning and milling work was done in-house at the workshop in Via Oberdan. It looked like nothing so much as the exact half, cut lengthways, of the 12 cylinder Ferrari « 125 », which, considering its designers, is hardly surprising. In its more evolved version, fitted with three Weber single-body carburettors, it generated a respectable 46 HP at 7,000 rpm. The machine which weighed in at about 3350 kg., was based on a Topolino « short spring » chassis (from which the gearbox and differential were also taken, even though another legendary Ferrari designer, Colombo, wanted to give Golfieri his own chassis design) on which was mounted the sophisticated engine and the classic boat-shaped racing bodywork with open wheels.
Completed in 1948, it was raced by various drivers of that day, including the above-mentioned Rino Ferniani who achieved the best practice time at the Garda Circuit that same year, though a mechanical failure forced him to retire when he might have won a surprise victory in this prestigious race. The GM75 was unable to repeat such sterling feats since extensive development work was naturally required, and this was not possible for Minardi, who was obliged to think first and foremost about his business.
So it was that this grand idea of Giovanni Minardi’s, the 750 cc., was destined to remain a beautiful rarity. Rebuilt after the race at Garda, and fitted with a different and more streamlined nose, it was then virtually abandoned. Some time later the car was moved to the workshop of the constructor Taraschi, who modified it in part and used its engine (three had been built) to power one of his own cars, installing six single-body carburettors to generate some 55 hp. It was then resolt, returned to Faenza and stood forgotten on the Minardi-Fiat premises in Via Oberdan, where it was crushed by a bulldozer when the building was demolished. Saved as a family relic, it was then recovered and restore with singular passion and skill by the well-known Romagnolo enthusiast G. Brusa, who – amazingly – even managed to recover the third engine that had been built. Commitment to the job of selling Fiats thus forced Minardi to abandon his creation in order to devote his energies to the unabated expension of the firm.
1960:
In 1960 a pall fell over the family due to the sudden and tragic death of Giovanni Minardi (April 5th), resulting from anaesthesiological complications during a surgical operation in Milan.
1946:
Giovanni went off to do his military service in Piedmont as an official in the Alpine Artillery. While he was away he met his wife, Elena Marina, at Cuneo, whom he married in 1946 (who became Elena Minardi Marina) and on his return home he immediately set to work alongside his father in the Fiat dealership, which was fast expending during the post-war period of reconstruction.
1948:
Faenza has consistently produced a fine crop of gentlemen drivers, from Rino Ferniani to Federico Zanotti, who snatched up many laurels at that time, and Giovanni Minardi was eager to compete. However, several more or less seccessful races did not satisfy him much, and the simple Fiat engines pleased him not at all, which is why he thought that it should not be impossible to build a far superior and more sophisticated car for the 750cc. class.
Thus, 1948 saw the birth of the « G.M. 75 », its engine was nevertheless a very interesting piece of engineering, a fine 750 cc. 6 cylinder inline unit with twin cams and narrow V valves, designed by Oberdan Golfieri (former colleague of Aurelio Lampredi, the man behind one of the most celebrated Ferrari dynasties). This 750 cc. engine, built, after Golfieri had finished the design, by Antonio Lotti, workshop manager at Minardi-Fiat, was based on a cast iron block with a silumin head; the casting were made by outside specialists including Calzoni in Bologna, while most of the finishing, turning and milling work was done in-house at the workshop in Via Oberdan. It looked like nothing so much as the exact half, cut lengthways, of the 12 cylinder Ferrari « 125 », which, considering its designers, is hardly surprising. In its more evolved version, fitted with three Weber single-body carburettors, it generated a respectable 46 HP at 7,000 rpm. The machine which weighed in at about 3350 kg., was based on a Topolino « short spring » chassis (from which the gearbox and differential were also taken, even though another legendary Ferrari designer, Colombo, wanted to give Golfieri his own chassis design) on which was mounted the sophisticated engine and the classic boat-shaped racing bodywork with open wheels.
Completed in 1948, it was raced by various drivers of that day, including the above-mentioned Rino Ferniani who achieved the best practice time at the Garda Circuit that same year, though a mechanical failure forced him to retire when he might have won a surprise victory in this prestigious race. The GM75 was unable to repeat such sterling feats since extensive development work was naturally required, and this was not possible for Minardi, who was obliged to think first and foremost about his business.
So it was that this grand idea of Giovanni Minardi’s, the 750 cc., was destined to remain a beautiful rarity. Rebuilt after the race at Garda, and fitted with a different and more streamlined nose, it was then virtually abandoned. Some time later the car was moved to the workshop of the constructor Taraschi, who modified it in part and used its engine (three had been built) to power one of his own cars, installing six single-body carburettors to generate some 55 hp. It was then resolt, returned to Faenza and stood forgotten on the Minardi-Fiat premises in Via Oberdan, where it was crushed by a bulldozer when the building was demolished. Saved as a family relic, it was then recovered and restore with singular passion and skill by the well-known Romagnolo enthusiast G. Brusa, who – amazingly – even managed to recover the third engine that had been built. Commitment to the job of selling Fiats thus forced Minardi to abandon his creation in order to devote his energies to the unabated expension of the firm.
1960:
In 1960 a pall fell over the family due to the sudden and tragic death of Giovanni Minardi (April 5th), resulting from anaesthesiological complications during a surgical operation in Milan.
#8
HistoryFan
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Posted 12 February 2010 - 13:09
Thank you very much! 
