Nino Vaccarella and Ferrari won the 49th Targa Florio in 1965

Nino Vaccarella, the Sicilian driver, runs his first local races on board of the Fiat 1100 inherited from his father, and he places in fifth position in the Passo of Rigano-Bellolampo race. He participates with a Lancia Aurelia 2500 to the uphill races of the 1957-58 seasons. In 1959 he began to participate in the "" Sport 2000 "category after purchasing a Maserati and obtained significant results, including the Monte Erice hill climber, which brought him to the attention of Count Giovanni Volpi, son of a well-known political figure and owner of a prestigious team of racing cars for F1, Sport and Gran Turismo competitions. In Formula 1 he competed four grand prizes in three different championships: the Italian GP of 1961, 1962 and 1965 respectively with the De Tomaso, Lotus and Ferrari teams, and the 1962 German GP with the Porsche team. Loved by his Sicilian fans, he participated regularly and with particular effort to the Targa Florio winner in 1965 paired with Lorenzo Bandini, (Ferrari 275 P), in 1971 with Toine Hezemans (Alfa Romeo 33/3 Sport Prototype) and in 1975 with Arturo Merzario (Alfa Romeo 33TT12 spyder). In the 1962 and 1970 editions he ranked third. Vaccarella won the Sport Prototype world championship in 1964. In the racing world he is known with the nickname “ flying headmaster “ due to his activity as headmaster in a private school in Palermo owned by his family