Alberto Ascari (July 13, 1918 – May 26, 1955) was an Italian racing driver who competed in the first six Formula 1 seasons from 1950 to 1955. He won world titles in 1952 and 1953 with Ferrari.
Scuderia Ferrari
Ascari drove for Scuderia Ferrari for the first four seasons of his F1 career, taking all 13 of his Grand Prix wins and four additional second place finishes with the Italian team.
Scuderia Lancia
A salary dispute resulted in a switch to Lancia for the 1954 season. The move proved to be ill-fated, with Lancia unable to provide a car for most of the year which meant guest drives in Maserati and Ferrari machinery. As it turned out, Ascari would not finish any world championship Grands Prix with Lancia. 1955 saw a retirement at the Argentine Grand Prix, and crashing into the harbor during the Monaco Grand Prix. Just four days later, Ascari died in a testing accident at Monza.
Zannetti
Rome-based Italian brand Zannetti launched the Time of Drivers collection in 2001, with the first prototypes featuring Ascari and Juan Manuel Fangio. Two versions of Ascari watches were eventually released (ref. TDRA1.C1S-R.A and TDRA1.C1S.A).
Gevril
The revived historical Swiss brand Gevril announced the Alberto Ascari Limited Edition in three different versions (ref. 1100, 1101, and 1102) in 2016. Shared features include a brake disc-inspired dial, “Alberto Ascari” engraved on the bezel, a vintage Ferrari steering wheel-inspired rotor, an an MD3G automatic movement by Ruben & Sons, owned by the Italian world champion’s grandson Massimo Ascari. Included with each was a certificate of authenticity, along with a tribute booklet with images from Ascari’s career.
The original announcement stated a 500-piece limited edition, although details remain unclear if the quantity was per version or a total.
Related Pages
References
https://issuu.com/zannetti.handmadewatches/docs/zannetti_original_watch_catalog_201
https://zannetti.com/time-of-drivers/