Coming through folks, mind your feet…
Emilio Materassi and mechanic (above and below) on the way to winning the 3.5-4.5-litre class of the 1920 Coppa della Consuma aboard a Fiat 20-30 HP. Up front it was Fiat as well, Paolo Niccolini won the event in a Fiat 120 HP.
This amazing hillclimb event centred on the village of Consuma, 35km east of Florence, was first held in 1902 and has existed with a few hiccoughs along the way to the present, as an historic meeting since 1990.
It’s said that the alpine pass was created by the Consumi family who were forced into political exile in Florence in 1482 and ten years later founded the town around an ancient spring and a church dedicated to San Domenico di Guzman.
In more modern times, the opening of the Baccelli road transformed the area into a popular holiday resort for poets, writers, journalists, entertainers and racing motorists, via the good graces of the Automobile Club of Florence.
Over many years the hillclimb race hairpins have witnessed heroic deeds and victories by some of the greats including Vincenzo Lancia, Fiat in 1904, Antonio Ascari, Fiat in 1919, Tazio Nuvolari, Alfa Romeo in 1931 and Ludovico Scarfiotti, OSCA S1550 in 1959.
Into the 1960s the event became a round of the European Hillclimb Championship with up to 80,000 spectators lining the roads, but the Automobile Club of Florence shifted its energy to growing Mugello as the closure of the road between Florence and Casentino became increasingly untenable. The last in-period Coppa della Consuma was held in 1964 and was won by Edward Govoni’s Maserati Type 60, he completed the 12.5km course in 6 min 54.170 sec.
Credits…
Pirelli Archive, coppadellaconsuma.com
Tailpiece…
Prince Domenico Cerami Rosso focuses on the job at hand – winning the 2-litre class of the Coppa della Consume in 1930 – while his mechanic is very much enjoying the ride, Maserati 26B MM 2-litre supercharged straight-eight.
Finito…
primotipo... 