32 replies to this topic

[Hans Etzrodt]

I am working presently on a comprehensive story about Luigi Arcangeli. I have reached the end of my rope and am asking for help here on the Nostalgia Forum. As far as I can determine, Luigi was born in the Romagna region near Forli in Savignano at the Rubicone River in May of 1902. But can anybody tell me the exact day when he was born?

Secondly, does anybody have more details of his first start with the Amilcar in 1924? I found this information on the Ferrari Club Forli web site: http://www.cervia.co...rlixferrari.htm

Lastly, can anybody add information about his crash, which would shed more light on the accident? He died in a crash practicing for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza on Saturday, 23 May 1931 with the 12-cylinder Tipo A Alfa Romeo Monoposto. In the fast left hand ‘Curva del Vialone’ after the underpass following Lesmo, Arcangeli must have gone into a high-speed skid. The car then brushed against a tree at high speed and Arcangeli completely lost control. In a collision with a second tree, he was hurled out of his seat and probably died instantly with severe head injuries. My main source is “Alfa Romeo The Type A Single Seater of 1931” by Luigi Fusi.

I will appreciate YOUR help very much and when you come up with answers, please reveal your sources.

[Don Capps]

Hans,

I am off the road for a few days and will poke around my collection for anything I can on Arcangeli. Indeed, several months ago I recall reading something about the race and his accident and now can't recall where I saw it! Remind me to organize my notes one of these days....

[Hans Etzrodt]

I guess nobody knows the birth date. We have to find an Italian to drive to the burrial ground and get the date from the tombstone, and just let us know.

[Ray Bell]

While you await the news from Italy, Hans, why not post in the introductions thread? ...come on, don't be shy!

[Dennis David]

This may seem like a stupin question but have you tried to contact someone at The Ferrari Club Forli?

[Hans Etzrodt]

Ray,
there are lots of others whose introduction is long overdue. Some are even Members and I cannot find them on the thread. They should have precedence. What is your opinion on that? Probably by Sunday I have time to reveal myself, kind of jumping out of the closet.

[Hans Etzrodt]

Dennis,
Thank you for the tip. I was assuming that the Forli Club did not know the birthdate since it is not published on their site. I agree, it would be a smart thing to ask them first, which I shall do.

[Ray Bell]

Hans... I think there are actually two separate threads... one went to about 120 posts. They make interesting reading when you find them.

[Barry Lake]

Hans
I have been compiling lists of grand prix drivers, including their birth dates and date of death, for decades but I only have the year of Arcangeli's birth, not the day nor the month.
It seems odd, considering that he was a very good driver.
I hope you can track it down and let us know.
This is the kind of thing for which this forum should be very useful. Obviously, it is easier for someone in the country of the driver's birth to learn these things.
As we build up a truly international group, we should have access to some good research opportunities.

[Dennis David]

From what I understand the car was hardly damaged and was actually driven by Nuvolari in the race after having been forced to continue by the Fascist authorities.

I also assume that you are covering his career on two wheels as well as four?

[Barry Lake]

Arcangeli, Luigi
Born in 1902, this talented driver from Forli, Italy began his racing career on bicycles, and then proceeded to motorcycles and cars. In his first year of racing, 1928, he drove a 2-litre Bugatti and a sports Itala, and in 1929 he joined the Scuderia Materassi, driving a 1.5-litre Talbot Darracq in which he won the circuit of Cremona, defeating Nuvolari. His best year was 1930 when he joined the Maserati team and, among other successes, won the Rome GP in the new 2.5-litre car. He also drove a sports Alfa Romeo 1750 with considerable success that season. In 1931 he gained a place in the Alfa Romeo team, but was killed at Monza when practising for the Italian GP. In trying to out-do Campari's lap speed he crashed the big twin-engined 3.5-litre Tipo A Alfa Romeo on the Lesmo curve, at the same spot where in earlier years Zborowski and Sivocci had lost their lives.
CP (Cyril Posthumus)
The Encyclopaedia of Motorsport – Edited by G N Georgano

[Dennis David]

Unfortunatly, all reports say he was a man in a hurry.

[Hans Etzrodt]

Barry,
During a lengthy study about Arcangeli, I also read the Cyril Posthumus account. However, the crash occured in Curva del Vialone, see my opening post above.

[Hans Etzrodt]

Dennis,
I have not yet figured out, who started the rumor that the Tipo A, cashed by Arcangeli on Saturday, was indeed driven by Nuvolari the following morning at 8:00 AM in the race. According to Luigi Fusi, the most knowledgeable historian about Alfa Romeo, this was not the case. ("Alfa Romeo Tipo A" by L. Fusi.) Besides numerous dents, the crashed car had a distorted chassis. Even if the crash-car would have been driveable, it seems very unlikely that Vittorio Jano would have made such a poor decision, knowing that the other Tipo A was in the factory nearby. Actually, they made this multicolered first car race-ready over night, including a complete paint job. Fusi's statements are much clearer and more believable. To eliminate controversy is not an easy job. It all boils down to whom you want to believe.

[Dennis David]

I'll believe you!;) I was refering to a book by William Court but I also have the Alfa Romeo book you refer to. Were you able to find information on his two wheel exploits? I get the impression that he had quite a career there.

I also can't imagine Nuvolari getting in the same car if there were any questions regarding it's safety.

[Ray Bell]

I can't imagine Nuvolari not saying: "No way, get the straight one from the factory!" if this was ever put to him. I'll go with Fusi and logic.

[Felix Muelas]

David Venables, in his recent "First among champions" confirms (if at all needed) Hans' statements, with regards to the Vialone, on the first place, and to the second car : "...the crashed Tipo A was too damaged to race, so the mechanics worked through the night to prepare the first test car. It was driven to the track at 7:00am" (page 60)
Of course, no sign of the birth date...
fm

[Hans Etzrodt]

I had sent a short note to the Ferrari Forli Club in English and Italian with help of my Italian dictionary. I received an answer in Italian, which I understand says as much as "there is no exact day of birth known." Maybe somebody else could translate that Italian text:

"purtroppo non sono riuscito a sapere neppure io la data di nascita se in futuro ci riusciro' ve la comunichero' saluti ferrari club forli"

I then sent another e-mail in Italian, saying that the birthday is perhaps on the gravestone. But I have not yet received a response for the last three days.

[Felix Muelas]

Originally posted by Hans Etzrodt

"purtroppo non sono riuscito a sapere neppure io la data di nascita se in futuro ci riusciro' ve la comunichero' saluti ferrari club forli"

I have not succeeded in discovering the birthdate, but should I sometime in the future get it, I will be delighted to tell you. Regards.

On the other hand, I found yesterday a nice picture of Canestrini with Arcangeli in the book that GC wrote in the sixties. Curiously enough, references to Arcangeli are scarce in this book -I was expecting to find many more- so the overall contribution of this source could be that picture. No car on the photo, but maybe of interest...

On a different source, I also found a picture that claims Luigi Arcangeli at the wheel of an Amilcar, posing before a race. It claims it should be from the Garda race in 1924 (it even claims that was his debut race), and another Amilcar, with driver unidentified, is parked by his side. Numbers are 23 and 24 (I think, maybe 24 and 25).
Not having found confirmation of LA on the entry list of the Garda race that year (but 3 Amilcars were there), and also quite unable to identify the face of the man -at that stage-, I just want to let you know that I will have the picture (and the GC one) available just in case you are interested.

Aloha,
Felix Muelas

[Hans Etzrodt]

Felix,
You are just the greatest. Thank you for the translation. It is just so much better than my own rhyme. According to Paul Sheldon’s book Vol.1 on page 228 for the 1924 Garda race, there were two CGS Amilcars, driven by C. Conelli and E. Silvani. Startingnumbers were not known. Arcangeli was not shown on the entry list. What is your source showing 3 Amilcars at the start? Thanks for the picture offer, but they won’t help me at this stage. Do you think L.A. was at the 1924 Garda start? What is your opinion?

[Felix Muelas]

Hans,
I do not know where I took the figure "3" for the Amilcars present at Garda. I see Sheldon mentions two, and Conelli and Silvani might be the gentlemen on my pic. Also at first I had my doubts about the Amilcars shown being CGS, but I solved that comparing the aspect with some other shots (I was basically disorientated by the different windscreen and spare wheel position, but those were features on the basic street model, and the pic I got from a hillclimb in Italy 1924 solved that).
I do not have an opinion made on wether LA was or was not the "third" Amilcar at Garda, although his "square" face (but with a moustache) looks extremelly like the driver of the Amilcar number 21. As I do not know how Conelli or Silvani looked like, you see...I´m caught in an impossible deduction!
Regards
fm

[Hans Etzrodt]

Felix,
Thank you for your research. Dead end street. It happens all the time. I will make a reference to 1924 in my story, but it was not an important situation in L.A's career.[p][Edited by Hans Etzrodt on 08-03-2000]

[Hans Etzrodt]

I undug another of those old threads, which might be of interest to the new members. I am sure we now have a larger pool of knowledge assembled here at TNF. Mind you, the birthdate is still unknown. Or is it not?

[alessandro silva]

Hans,
I looked for Arcangeli's birth date and could not find it in what I have at home.
So I am posting about the Amilcars in 1924 Garda.
A recent "local" book about the Garda races, Cavallini "Il Circuito del Garda" gives two Amilcars at the start with numbers 1 (Silvani) 4 ("Caberto" Conelli).
Besides being a lovely book, it is usually well-researched using as sources the local contemporary newspapers. No mention of Arcangeli.
That is in contradiction with Felix's photograph as taken in Garda.

[Patrick Italiano]

I just found that Luigi Arcangeli was at the start of the 1926 Tourist Trophy on a Guzzi (motorbike race).

Also from

http://www.silhouet....Luigi Arcangeli

Arcangeli, Luigi (I)

b 5/1902 (Forli) - d 23/5/1931 (Monza)

Started racing bicycles and motorbikes.

1924 - First race in an Amilcar
1928 - Raced a 2-litre Bugatti and a sports Itala.
1929 - Joined Scuderia Materassi, driving a 1.5 litre Talbot Darracq. Won the Circuit of Cremona.
1930 - Joined Maserati. Won the Rome GP (Maserati 26M). Also drove a sports Alfa Romeo 1850.
1931 - Died practicing for the Italian GP in an Alfa Romeo Tipo A, leaving the circuit at the Curva del Vialone and hitting a tree.

From the previous messages in the thread, the 1924 entry is questionable, but we at least know he was born in May...

[William Hunt]

Hi Hans. Where will your Luigi Arcangelli story be published ? On a website (Atlas?) ?, in book ?, a magazine ?

I'm really interested in this racing era and would love to read it.

Regards,
William.

[Hans Etzrodt]

Arcangeli, Luigi (I)
* May, 1902 in Savignano at the Rubicone, Romagna region, Italy
† 23. May, 1931 in Monza, Italy

Luigi was born in the Romagna region near Forli in Savignano at the Rubicone in May of 1902. The little, stocky Italian began racing bicycles, then at age 20 changed to motorcycles. He raced with a Motosacoche, which he bought himself, followed by an Indian, a Harley Davidson, a Calthorp and Garelli. His great success and victories led to a drive for Moto Guzzi and later he joined Bianchi. 1926 was a great year for Luigi when he won the especially difficult Milan-Napels race, then the similar pompous Giro d’Italia again in the saddle of a 350 cc Bianchi Bialbero. With a 500 cc Norton he came first at the Infinito- and Versilia circuit race, while he was second with the Moto Guzzi 500 C4V at the important Grand Prix des Nations in Monza. In 1927, another great season, he won with the 500 cc Sunbeam at Helvia Recina, Stradella, Imola and Vercelli. Now a very good, exuberant driver, he made himself a name by winning the extremely demanding circuit race of Lario and the Grand Prix des Nations in Monza, all with the 500 cc Sunbeam.

During his motorcycle years, he also raced in 1927 at Tripoli with a Derby cycle car and retired early on. But his first contacts with automobiles had come around 1924 when he drove a few races with an 1100 cc Amilcar CG. In 1928 he alternated between two and four wheels. With a Bugatti T35C, he came first at the Circuito di Senigallia and achieved the best time at the coast of Rimini. Then the Scuderia Materassi called him to drive the 1.5-liter Talbot 700 grand prix car while still racing on two wheels. At Tripoli the Talbots were withdrawn but at Alessandria he stayed second behind Nuvolari before spinning against a bridge and later in the race he ran out of fuel. His first victory came two months later at Cremona, beating Nuvolari and Campari with the Talbot. At the Coppa Acerbo he came second with Materassi who had taken over his car. After Materassi’s fatal crash in Monza, Arcangeli withdrew in mourning from the race, as did Brivio and Brilli-Peri. In 1929, he carried on driving for the Scuderia Materassi, retired at Tripolis and Alessandria but came fourth in the Royal Prize of Rome, winning the 1.5-liter class. At Mugello, he drove a 1.5-liter Bugatti when a broken oil pipe ended his race. In the Coppa Ciano, he came fourth again with the Talbot behind Varzi, Nuvolari and Campari. At the Monza Grand Prix, his Talbot won Heat 1 but retired with ignition problems in the Final. In Cremona, he was fourth overall with the Talbot, but won the 1.5-liter class.

For 1930, he signed up with Maserati to drive their 2.5-liter 26M grand prix car. He came second at Tripoli, retired at Monaco and crashed in the Targa Florio. His greatest victory came three weeks later at the Royal Prize of Rome where he won a fierce battle against Nuvolari’s Alfa Romeo P2 and an exciting final neck-to-neck race against Chiron’s Bugatti T51. At the Coppa Ciano, he retired with clutch problems and crashed his Maserati V4 at the Coppa Acerbo. Arcangeli drove a good race at the Monza Grand Prix, where he won Heat 2, beating all the aces. In the Final he looked like the winner but came second when a storming Varzi caught up with him on the last lap, beating him by a fraction of a second to the finish. From June onwards he began his collaboration with the Scuderia Ferrari, driving an Alfa Romeo 1750GS in several sports car events. Arcangeli came third at the Colle della Maddalena mountain climb, fourth at Circuito Principe di Piemonte and Vittorio Veneto Cansiglio climb. He then had four first place finishes at the Circuito delle Tre Provincie, Circuito di Senigallia, Coppa Sila and with Carraroli at Circuito del Sud. In 1931 the fast Arcangeli drove grand prix and sports cars for the Scuderia Ferrari. After missing the Monaco Grand Prix, he came fifth in Alessandria and retired at the Mille Miglia.

Now also driving for Alfa Corse, the factory team, he came sixth at the Targa Florio and the team had him entered for the Ten-Hour Italian Grand Prix. Arcangeli was always prepared to give the last without consideration for himself or his car. At the practice for the Italian Grand Prix, he tried to better Campari’s lap time at the wheel of the Alfa Romeo Tipo A monoposto and in doing so, he gave too much, unable to recover his sliding car. He died practicing for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza on Saturday, 23. May, 1931 with the new incredibly fast 12-cylinder Tipo A Alfa Romeo. The circumstances of the accident could only be reconstructed with the help of some marks on the track and trees. There were no eyewitnesses. In the fast left hand Curva del Vialone after the underpass following Lesmo, the flamboyant Arcangeli must have gone into a high-speed skid. By accelerating, Arcangeli tried to regain control over the car but failed to do so. The Alfa then brushed against a tree at high speed. Arcangeli completely lost control and in a collision with a second tree (Armco was not yet invented) was hurled out of his seat and probably died instantly with severe head injuries. Thereafter the car must have flipped over and was found resting on its side, apparently only slightly damaged. In Luigi Arcangeli, Italy had lost another of their great upcoming drivers after Gastone Brilli-Peri had perished in 1930, Pietro Bordino and Emilio Materassi in 1928. Great grief surrounded his funeral trip during the transport of his body from Monza to Savignano with a compassionate crowd at every place it passed through. This showed how popular he already had become. He was called with affection “Gigione” (meaning boaster, braggart) or also “E leon d’Rumagna” (The lion of the Romagna region). Luigi Arcangeli, an outgoing person who regularly was surrounded by beautiful women, always dressed in a sporting style of elegance. In the course of his brief career, he succeeded to fulfill his beloved activity splendidly and arouse the enthusiasm of his many tifosi.

[William Hunt]

Thanks Hans for sharing this with us . Great piece of work.

[Hans Etzrodt]

Originally posted by Hans Etzrodt
.....He was called with affection “Gigione” (meaning boaster, braggart) or also “E leon d’Rumagna” (The lion of the Romagna region).....

Please accept my apologies. A correction is in place. It has been brought to my attention, that the above is an unfortunate translation and that "Gigione" in truth stays for "Big Gigi" where "Gigi" is familiar for "Luigi" (same as with Villoresi). "Gigione" can also mean "braggart" but it has a derogatory meaning, which makes its use highly unlikely as a public nick-name.

[hil-nice]

You can write to the Mayor of Monza and ask for a death act.
This official paper probably carries the exact date & place of the birth of Gigione.
If not, you can then write to the Mayor of the village where he was born, asking for a birth act.
That's quite easy.

[dretceterini]

According to the book Circuito del Garda by Cavallini, there were only 2 Amilcars at the race in 1924, and he wasn't in them. The book is fairly new, and the publisher can be reached at www.negri.it

[Marcor]

I think I've resolved the mystery about the participation of Luigi Arcangeli in the 1924 Circuito del Garda. I've found this information in LE FIGARO (French newspaper), dated end of January 1924.

From January 19 to January 21 1924 there was a "race"* called in French "La Coupe du Lac de Garde" (Garda Lake Cup). The "race" was divided in three stages:
19 January: Milano to Padoua
20 January: Padoua to Parma
21 January: Parma to Gardone-Riviera near the Garda Lake.

35 entries, 28 starters and about 15 classified.

1100 cc class
1- Arcangeli (Amilcar)
2- Corbella (Salmson)

1500 cc class
1- Sandonnino (OM)

2000 cc class
1- Cattaneo (Ceirano)

* It seems that it was a rally or a regularity event.

So conclude by yourself. Arcangeli was really at the Garda Lake in 1924 but now I understand why Paul Sheldon and Cavallini" didn't mention him.

[Hans Etzrodt]

Thanks Marc.

This is what I found in my recently acquired ALLGEMEINE AUTOMOBIL-ZEITUNG NO. 3, PG. 32, FEBRUARY 1, 1924.
The Coppa di Garda
The competition for the fourth Coppa di Garda, thought of as a regularity contest, developed into a tough winter evaluation trial due to the severe winter weather and the intensive fog formation. First, the participants had to complete a touring drive from Milano and Padova to Desenzano at the Southern Lake Garda (about 120 km). Then followed a round trip from Desenzano over Riva and Ala to Desenzano, divided into four sectors. Whoever had to show the least total time in the four sectors against the required average, was declared victor of the Coppa di Garda. Besides this circular tour, a mountain test from Gagnano to Tignale (10 km) had then also to be completed. Following are the results of the Circular Tour and the Mountain Climb:
Coppa di Garda
1. – Sandonnino (O.M.) 2. category up to 1500 cc, difference 853;
2. – Cattaneo (Ceirano) 3. category up to 3000 cc, difference 1484;
3. – Arcangeli (Amilcar) 1. category up to 1100 cc, difference 3134.

Mountain Climb Gargnano-Tignale:
1. category –1100 cc- 1. Buzio (G.A.R.);
2. category – 1500 cc 1. Coffaro (O.M.);
3. category – 3000 cc 1. Ferrari (Alfa Romeo) FTD at the Mountain Climb.

This third (10 km) Gargnano-Tignale Climb (Lake Garda) took place on January 21, 1924 and was indeed won by the now deceased and famous Enzo Ferrari in an Alfa Romeo RL SS in 13m29.6s.