STORY OF THE DAY: Sixth After Sixteen Hundred Kilometres

Luigi Scarfiotti and Piero Bucci brought the number 117 Scuderia Ferrari Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GS home sixth in the 1931 Mille Miglia. They covered the roughly 1,635-kilometre Brescia–Rome–Brescia route in 17 hours 27 minutes 36.4 seconds. Rudolf Caracciola and Wilhelm Sebastian won for Mercedes-Benz, while Scarfiotti and Bucci formed part of a strong group of Alfa Romeos following the leading cars.

Their achievement came through consistency in an event that punished even small errors. The crew finished behind Campari and Marinoni’s second-placed Scuderia Ferrari Alfa but ahead of many more powerful or factory-supported entries. Completing the course in the leading six demonstrated how effectively the young Scuderia could prepare and support several cars through an exceptionally long road race.

The 6C 1750 Gran Sport used Vittorio Jano’s twin-overhead-camshaft inline-six and a supercharger in its competition form. Its separate chassis carried light spider bodywork, producing a car with an advantageous balance of acceleration, braking and controllability. Those characteristics were particularly valuable through the Mille Miglia’s rapid changes from open straights to mountain bends and confined streets.

Luigi Scarfiotti was an Italian gentleman driver and industrialist with enduring family links to racing; his grandson Ludovico later became a Ferrari works driver. Piero Bucci was an Italian competitor active in road and sports-car events, often in the demanding co-driving role required by the Mille Miglia. Together they secured one of the solid finishing results on which Scuderia Ferrari built its early reputation.