[circuittaps]

It is now or never. I will now build an Arzani-Volpini Special for my 1955 Monza GP starting grid.

Team: Scuderia Volpini
Car: Arzani-Volpini Special
Driver: Luigi Piotti
Race no.: 46

This very special car was only seen twice in the international race world in 1955 and on the entire internet there only - to my knowledge - exists three different photos of this car.

The Arzani-Volpini Special made its debut at the non-championship race at Pau in 1955. With race number 28 it was driven by Mario Alborghetti. Alborghetti was a most inexperienced driver, and sadly he crashed and died during the race.

The car was rebuild and entered for the Italian GP at Monza the same year. With race number 46 it was driven by Luigi Piotti. But according to different sources, it either "failed to appear" or "non-started due to engine problems".

I know this car can never be 100% correct, due to the lack of photo material, so I do need to use a lot of fantasy and imagination.

Many different shells were considered as donor bodies, among them:

Ferrari 553 Squalo and 555 Supersqualo
Maserati 250F (1954 + 57)
Mercedes W196
Connaught B-Type
Vanwall (1955) front + Mercedes W196 end
BRM (1958) front - Vanwall (1957) end

My final descission is an A2M 15143 Lancia-Ferrari 801 shell. Smarter guys as me would probarbly have choses another shell, but in my humble opinion this will have to do the job. As soon as I have sanded of the air intake, the fuel filler cap and the existing exhaust pipes the shape is not that bad.

During the progress of my project I hope to finally figure out how to place photos on this media, so that I can invite you to see the final outcome.

My Arzani-Volpini Special project starts NOW!

Happy New Year.

Holger

 

[Rob J]

Congratulations, Holger, on finding a shell you like. From two of your earlier threads, we know you've put a lot of time and effort into this already.
It's probably a good choice. The Lancia pannier tanks (and much else) had vanished by the time the car became the 801.
As I contributed to your historical info, I'll suggest you drop the possibility that it "failed to appear". One book does use that term but two indicate that the car was at Monza. Besides the book that said it "non-started due to engine problems", I've found another saying "dns.... mechanical problems - no time [i.e. in practice]".
Rob J

 

[Diogenes]

Rob,

I have one of these shells which I don't want. PM me if you want a freebie.

Dio

 

[circuittaps]

Rob J - thank you for your encouraging words. And glad you don´t think my choice of Juan´s 801 shell as a total flop.

I am also of the opinion that the Arzani-Volpini Special did appear at Monza that weekend. Only sad thing is, that the race report in Autosport of September 16, 1955, doesn´t mention the car with a single word. And this report was probably written during race weekend.

But let us stick to the term: DNS - mechanical problems - no time.

I´ll keep you updated.

/Holger

 

[Diogenes]

OOps I meant Holger not Rob.

Want a free shell Holger as I have two 501s from A2M.

Dio

 

[circuittaps]

Dio - no problem, no offence.

PM should be in your mail box by now.

/Holger

 

[circuittaps]

Gentlemen - almost precisely at the same time as I finally - with a huge help from www.mtr32.com - included my version of the Arzani-Volpini Special in my collection, I came across this from the Pau GP 1955:

Please look at the minutes 03:20, 05:10, and 07:35. Great! And if nothing else it proves that the car was indeed Italian red

/Holger

NB! As a side bonus this video also shows some great cuts of the 750 cc supercharged Deutsch & Bonnet (DB) cars driven by Claude Storez (#24)and Paul Armagnac (#26) at the same race. New project???? Hmmm...