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THE 1927 TARGA FLORIO—AT THE CHECKER BUGATTIS ARE 5 FOR 8, ANOTHER BUG IN A GARDEN PART 1
THE TARGA FLORIO WAS THE OLDEST sports car racing event in the world. Established in 1906 by wealthy pioneer race driver and automobile enthusiast Vincenzo Florio, it was part of the World Sportscar Championship between 1955 and 1973 and last run as a race in 1977.
Targa Florio circuits of Sicily. Green, the Grande (originally 148 km); black, Medio (108 km, 1919–1930); and blue, Piccolo (72 km, 1932–1936, 1951–1977.) Image by Hmdwgf from Wikipedia.
The 1927 Targa Florio. The 1927 Targa had two simultaneous races and three classes: one of three laps of the Medio circuit for 1100-cc cyclecars; the other, five laps for Formula Libre cars split at 1500-cc displacement.
Materassi’s Type 35C finished first. This and the following image from Pur Sang.
Bugattis dominated the Formula Libre, with 11 of the 18 starters. A Type 35C driven by Emilio Materassi finished first, a Type 37A making its racing debut finished second driven by Comte Carlo Alberto Conelli.
Wikipedia notes, “Elizabeth Junek, also in a Bugatti, impressed many finishing her first lap in fourth place….” Alas, “However, her impressive run ended abruptly a third of the way into the next lap when the steering gear broke, throwing them off the road. Fortunately, neither [she nor her mechanic-passenger husband] was injured and they were picked up and brought back to the startline pits by fellow driver Saverio Candrilli [in his Steyr tourer]. This performance garnered great respect from her contemporary drivers and the spectators alike.”
Three years later Elizabeth Junek took this Type 44 roadster to Ceylon and India. Image from Bugatti Magnum via SimanaitisSays.
A Bit of Wiki Confusion. Indeed, the primary Wikipedia Targa entry says, “In 1927, Eliska Junkova, one of the great female drivers in Grand Prix motor racing history, became the first woman to ever compete in the race.”
Opps. Of course, Eliska Junkova is Elizabeth Junek, and she wasn’t the first to compete in the Targa.
The Baronessa Avanzo in 1920. In fact, as noted here at SimanaitisSays, Baronessa Maria Antonietta Avanzo née Bellan ran the 1920 Targa Florio—in a Buick Six, which failed on lap two with faulty fuel supply to its 3.9-liter engine.
Avanzo and her stripped Buick in the 1920 Targa Florio. (Seven cars finished that year; coming 2nd in an Alfa Romeo 40/60 was a 22-year-old named Enzo Ferrari.)
Tomorrow in Part 2, we return to the 1927 Targa through a commentary in Pur Sang, a publication of the American Bugatti Club. ds
© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2025
Simanaitis Says 
According to the learned Lawrence Pomeroy, Rolls-Royce’s junior “owner/driver” “small HP” 20 model, launched 1922, was a copy of the 1920 Buick Six, though in the his words and other period observers, “not quite so good.”
Other than once driving a Type 101, have no experience with Bugattis, but have read an account of a longtime, devoted Bugattiast decrying their engine block “porous castings.” With a total Mosheim production, all models, of around 8,000, Bugatti never had the facilities of a major automaker like Alfa, Detroit, even R-R, but wonder if any know about this claim of porous castings.
Build quality and craftsmanship can differ, regardless price.