Giorgio Giusti Biography
Giorgio Giusti (1913 - 1992) was an Italian entrepreneur, racing driver, painter and manufacturer of engines and racing cars. Giusti was born in Bologna in 1913 into a family of entrepreneurs, who moved to Turin in 1930. Passionate about cars and racing, after the Second World War, Giusti chose to use the "Casa dell'Auto" company to bring his invention into production, the Testadoro cylinder head to be applied to Fiat engines, also meeting the favor of Eng Arnaldo Roselli. The subsequent Testadoros will be characterized by a tubular chassis built by Gilco di Colombo and a bodywork created by the Zagato body shop thanks to the collaboration with Elio Zagato and Gilberto Colombo. The partnership of the three friends allows them to take part in the revival of racing vehicle production after the Second World War. Giusti is one of the promoters of the creation of the Racing Club 19 of Turin, of which he will soon be elected president. The members of the group include some of the most famous figures in the subalpine automotive world, including Umberto Agnelli and his cousins Nasi, Gianni Lancia, Giorgio Actis, Nuccio Bertone, Gianni Nardi and Carlo Biscaretti di Ruffia, as well as internationally renowned drivers like the Formula 1 world champions Nino Farina and Alberto Ascari. Giusti left the world of cars and closed his "Casa dell'Auto" in 1949, after having built a total of 9 Testadoro cars in 3 years of activity. He then dedicated himself to the family businesses and then became an internationally renowned painter in the last part of his life. In the artistic field he received, among others, recognition from Peggy Guggenheim, who coined the name “Giusti's dreams” for a series of abstract paintings by the Turin artist. Giusti died in Turin in November 1992 at the age of 79, after a short illness.
