Giovanni Volpi

Count Giovanni Volpi di Misurata (born 1938 in Venice) was an automobile racing manager. He inherited a fortune, at the age of 24, from his father, Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata, a politician financier and founder of the renowned Venice Film Festival. Giovanni Volpi started a racing team, Scuderia Serenissima, and quickly became one of Ferrari's best customers. Following the great walkout, Volpi felt the wrath of Enzo Ferrari who refused to sell him the two 250 GTOs he requested. Volpi aligned himself with ATS, providing the financing for the ex-Ferrari company. During World War II, Giovanni Volpi's father served in Mussolini's cabinet as the minister of Finance and one of his chief advisors. He designed several of Mussolini's austerity measures and escaped prosecution after the war. His father also acquired and restored Villa Barbaro at Maser, Italy, built originally for the Barbaro family.