Plaque émaillée Ferrari circa. 1960

Rectangular enamelled Ferrari dealer plate, with Cavallino Rampante decoration on yellow background. Aluminium frame. Good condition. H. 87cm, W. 45cm, D.: 3cm. Provenance: Marc Nicolosi, always presented as coming from Filipinetti. Scuderia Filipinetti, 10 years of automotive passion made in Switzerland! (1962 - 1973): Georges Filipinetti (1903-1973), known as the "Minister" or "the Boss", a motor sport enthusiast, is the man behind the eponymous Scuderia, which was born in 1962. Filipinetti's ambition? To showcase the talent of Swiss drivers and represent Switzerland on international circuits, both in Formula 1 and in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. A strategy implemented through his private racing team, independent of any factory. The Swiss National Team was quickly renamed after its charismatic founder: Scuderia (Georges) Filipinetti. Minister of the Republic of San Marino in 1967, a shrewd businessman and a man of unparalleled character, Filipinetti liked to define himself as a condottiero, wanting to live for his passions and ideas. In the early 1950s he became a Ferrari dealer in Switzerland and created SAVAF (Société Anonyme pour la Vente des Automobiles Ferrari). This was the beginning of a long history between the prancing horse brand and Filipinetti... Georges Filipinetti was a perfect gentleman, living in the Grandson castle, on the banks of the Neuchâtel lake in Switzerland, surrounded by his medieval armours on the one hand, and his tubular bodies on the other hand, it is there that he receives and gives his instructions to his team before the sporting events like Le Mans 1967. Caroll Shelby said of him: "He was not only a perfect gentleman of the 'old school', he was also a man who spent a large part of his life giving to others. Indeed, according to legend, Filipinetti gave Shelby a 57 Bugatti as a token of friendship! Scuderia Filipinetti is one of the most popular private Scuderia in the history of Ferrari at Le Mans, just like Luigi Chinetti's N.A.R.T: North American Racing Team, or Jacques Swaters' Ecurie Nationale Belge - Francorchamps. Between 1962 and 1973, the coat of arms of Scuderia Filipinetti was displayed on a number of vehicles entered in official competitions: Ferrari, Ford, Porsche, Serenessima, Lola, Chevrolet, etc. As for the Ferraris, in 1963, two Ferrari 250 GTOs were ordered new for the Grand Touring World Championship with Jo Siffert and Herbert Muller as drivers. For the 1965 Le Mans 24 Hours, the Scuderia entered the 250 LM s/n 5899. After an accident, it was "repaired" with a Porsche 906 body! It should also be noted that Henri Pescarolo raced for the Scuderia at the wheel of a 512F - "F" for Filipinetti - prepared by Parkes, during the 1971 Le Mans 24 Hours. It was in 1972 that the team obtained one of its best results - still at Le Mans - with a seventh place - obtained thanks to the Ferrari 365 GTB/4 "Daytona" of Mikel Parkes, Jean-Louis Lafosse and Jean-Jacques Cochet. A fantastic decade during which many homeric races followed one another, source of sensational successes, sometimes marred by tragic accidents. It was the death of the "boss" - in 1973 - that sounded the death knell for this epic Swiss racing team. This enamelled plaque is an opportunity to relive the Ferrari myth of the 1960s, that of Filipinetti and his drivers.