Scuderia Centro Sud was a privateer racing team founded in

Modena Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...

by Guglielmo "Mimmo" Dei and active in

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

and

sports car racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing is ...

between 1956 and 1965. Dei had been an amateur driver in the 1930s. In the early 1950s he opened a

Maserati Maserati S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914, in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. The company has been owned by Stellantis since 2021. Ma ...

dealership in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. Keen on maintaining a relationship with motorsport, in 1956 he founded his own team. The name "Centro Sud" refers to the parts of Italy where his adoptive and native cities are (Modena and Rome). Over the course of nine seasons, Scuderia Centro Sud entered a total of 49 World Championship rounds, with cars such as the

Maserati 250F The Maserati 250F was a racing car made by Maserati of Italy used in '2.5 litre' Formula One racing between January 1954 and November 1960. Twenty-six examples were made. Mechanical details The 250F principally used the SSG 220 bhp (@ 7400 rpm) 2 ...

, various Maserati-powered Coopers and, in the 1960s, a

BRM P57 The BRM P57 (originally referred in 1961 as the BRM P48/57 and in 1962 as the BRM P578) was a Formula One racing car built to race in Formula One from 1962 to 1965. Development 1961 Like the other British teams, BRM was caught off-guard by new r ...

. After a very promising start (they scored their first points at their debut with

Luigi Villoresi Luigi Villoresi (16 May 1909 – 24 August 1997) was an Italian Grand Prix motor racing driver who continued racing on the Formula One circuit at the time of its inception. Biography Born in Milan, Lombardy, and nicknamed "Gigi", he was the older ...

), Centro Sud went on to earn a further total of 24 points, mostly with

Masten Gregory Masten Gregory (February 29, 1932 − November 8, 1985) was an American racing driver. He raced in Formula One between and , participating in 43 World Championship races, and numerous non-Championship races. He was also a successful sports car r ...

and

Tony Maggs Anthony Francis O'Connell Maggs (9 February 1937 in Pretoria, South Africa – 2 June 2009) was a racing driver from South Africa. He participated in 27 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 15 July 1961. He achieved three pod ...

. But they never won a race: Gregory's third place at the

1957 Monaco Grand Prix The 1957 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 19 May 1957 at Monaco. It was race 2 of 8 in the 1957 World Championship of Drivers. Race report Despite a hesitant start, Moss led away on the first lap from Collins, Fangio, ...

was the team's best result. Centro Sud was the only

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

racing team that took part in the '' Tasman'' races in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

during the winter of 1961-1962. One of their most notable feats was to be the first team in the history of Formula One to run a female driver, when

Maria Teresa de Filippis Maria Teresa de Filippis (11 November 1926 – 8 January 2016) was an Italian racing driver, and the first woman to race in Formula One. She participated in five World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 18 May 1958, but scored no championship ...

(who had already raced as a

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

in the

1958 Belgian Grand Prix The 1958 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 15 June 1958 at Spa-Francorchamps. It was race 5 of 11 in the 1958 World Championship of Drivers and race 4 of 10 in the 1958 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The r ...

a few weeks earlier) competed in the 1958 Portuguese Grand Prix as a Centro Sud team driver. Future

1963 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1963 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 31st Grand Prix of Endurance in the 24 Hours of Le Mans series and took place on 15 and 16 June 1963. It was also the tenth round of the 1963 World Sportscar Championship season. Despite good weather througho ...

) and 1967

24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layou ...

winner

Lorenzo Bandini Lorenzo Bandini (21 December 193510 May 1967) was an Italian motor racing driver who raced in Formula One for the Scuderia Centro Sud and Ferrari teams. Career Bandini was born in Barce in Cyrenaica, Libya,"Hulme Takes Monaco Race; Bandini S ...

made his Formula One debut with the team at the

1961 Belgian Grand Prix The 1961 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 18 June 1961 at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Spa-Francorchamps. It was race 3 of 8 in both the 1961 World Championship of Drivers and the 1961 International Cup for Formula One Manu ...

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) * After retiring his Scuderia Centro Sud-entered car, Shelby subsequently took over Masten Gregory's car, entered by Temple Buell, finishing fourth.

References

{{Reflist
Italy's Maserati privateer

Bibliography

*Mimmo Dei, ''Dei ex Machina: La storia della Scuderia Centro-Sud'',

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, Fucina Editore, 2008. (IT) Formula One entrants Italian auto racing teams