Driving the automobiles of more than one manufacturer, Luigi Chinetti competed in every Le Mans Motorsport race held between 1932 and 1953, and he also entered an automobile in the 1954 race although he was not the driver.
Luigi Chinetti made a deal with Enzo Ferrari (Enzo Anselmo "the Commendatore" Ferrari Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian race driver and entrepreneur, the founder of Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team, and subsequently the Ferrari car manufacturer.) to be Ferrari factory agent in the United States. He was the first-and for a while the only- Ferrari dealership in the country. Later his territory became east of the Mississippi River amounting to half the country. The tradition associated with Chinetti continued to draw clients from all areas throughout his career. The showroom of his business- which still is open- is located in Greenwich, Connecticut which is Ferrari Greenwich.
The first sale, Chinetti made hrough his American dealership was a Ferrari sold to Briggs Cunningham (Briggs Swift Cunningham was an American sportsman who raced cars and yachts. He was a racing car constructor, driver and team owner, also a sports car manufacturer
and automobile collector.) for racing. The first automobile sold by Chinetti eventually went into the famous personal automobile
collection that Briggs exhibited publicly when he founded his museum
but most of sales Chinetti made were kept as close secrets to protect the privacy of his wealthly clients.
Luigi Chinetti also founded the North American Racing Team, official arm of Ferrari. It became the team that established the high ranking of Ferraris in American racing circuits, and largely, was responsible for Ferrari's survival as a retailer of cars through the quantity he sold to wealthy individuals in North America. The team sometimes abbreviated N.A.R.T., also had a very successful endurance racing program at Le Mans, right into the 1970s. In addition to the racing cars, the team commissioned many limited-run special variants of Ferrari road cars, most notably, the spyder version of the Ferrari 275GTB4.
The Chinetti International Motors emblem has been reproduced in aluminum ( 7 1/4 " diameter) with vinyl. If you have a vintage Ferrari (or want one), this sign would make a perfect addition to your garage.
The Chinetti plate is priced at $19.99.
