Scuderia Centro Sud was a privateer racing team founded in Modena by Guglielmo "Mimmo" Dei and active in Formula One and sports car racing between 1956 and 1965.
Dei had been an amateur driver in the 1930s. In the early 1950s he opened a Maserati dealership in Rome. Keen on maintaining a relationship with motorsport, in 1956 he founded his own team. The name "Centro Sud" refers to the parts of Italy where his adoptive and native cities are (Modena and Rome).
Over the course of nine seasons, Scuderia Centro Sud entered a total of 49 World Championship rounds, with cars such as the Maserati 250F, various Maserati-powered Coopers and, in the 1960s, a BRM P57. After a very promising start (they scored their first points at their debut with Luigi Villoresi), Centro Sud went on to earn a further total of 24 points, mostly with Masten Gregory and Tony Maggs. But they never won a race: Gregory's third place at the 1957 Monaco Grand Prix was the team's best result.
Centro Sud was the only Italian racing team that took part in the Tasman races in Australia and New Zealand during the winter of 1961-1962."Lorenzo Bandini", The Times, May 11, 1967, Page 12.
One of their most notable feats was to be the first team in the history of Formula One to run a female driver, when Maria Teresa de Filippis (who had already raced as a privateer in the 1958 Belgian Grand Prix a few weeks earlier) competed in the 1958 Portuguese Grand Prix as a Centro Sud team driver. Future 1963 24 Hours of Le Mans, and 1967 24 Hours of Daytona winner Lorenzo Bandini made his Formula One debut with the team at the 1961 Belgian Grand Prix.
Complete Formula One World Championship results (key) Year Chassis Engine(s) Tyres Driver 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 1956 Maserati 250FMaserati Straight-6 ARG MON 500 BEL FRA GBR GER ITA Louis Chiron DNS Luigi Villoresi 5 Harry Schell Ret Toulo de Graffenried 7 Ferrari 500 Ferrari Straight-4 Giorgio Scarlatti Ret 1957 Maserati 250FMaserati Straight-6 ARG MON 500 FRA GBR GER PES ITA Harry Schell 4 Joakim Bonnier 7 Ret Ret Masten Gregory 3 8 4 4 André Simon DNQ Hans Herrmann Ret Ferrari 500 Ferrari Straight-4 Alejandro de Tomaso 9 1958 Maserati 250F Maserati Straight-6 ARG MON NED 500 BEL FRA GBR GER POR ITA MOR Joakim Bonnier DNA Ret Gerino Gerini DNQ 9 Ret Ret 12 Maurice Trintignant 7 Masten Gregory Ret Wolfgang Seidel Ret Ret Carroll Shelby Ret 9 Ret* Troy Ruttman 10 DNS Hans Herrmann Ret Cliff Allison Ret Maria Teresa de Filippis Ret 1959 Cooper T51 Maserati Straight-4 MON 500 NED FRA GBR GER POR ITA USA Ian Burgess Ret Ret 6 14 Colin Davis Ret 11 Hans Herrmann Ret Mário de Araújo Cabral 10 Maserati 250F Maserati Straight-6 Asdrúbal Fontes Bayardo DNQ Fritz d'Orey 10 Ret 1960 Cooper T51 Maserati Straight-4 ARG MON 500 NED BEL FRA GBR POR ITA USA Roberto Bonomi 11 Carlos Menditeguy 4 Masten Gregory DNQ DNS 9 14 Ret Ian Burgess DNQ 10 Ret Ret Maurice Trintignant Ret Ret Ret 15 Mário de Araújo Cabral Ret Alfonso Thiele Ret Wolfgang von Trips 9 1961 Cooper T53 Maserati Straight-4 MON NED BEL FRA GBR GER ITA USA Lorenzo Bandini Ret 12 Ret 8 Cooper T51 Massimo Natili Ret DNS 1963 BRM P57 BRM V8 MON BEL NED FRA GBR GER ITA USA MEX RSA Lorenzo Bandini 10 5 Ret Maurice Trintignant 9 Moisés Solana 11 Cooper T60 Climax V8 Mário de Araújo Cabral Ret DNQ Cooper T53 Maserati Straight-4 Ernesto Brambilla DNQ 1964 BRM P57 BRM V8 MON NED BEL FRA GBR GER AUT ITA USA MEX Tony Maggs DNS DNS Ret 6 4 Giancarlo Baghetti DNA 10 8 12 Ret 7 8 1965 BRM P57 BRM V8 RSA MON BEL FRA GBR NED GER ITA USA MEX Lucien Bianchi 12 Masten Gregory Ret 12 8 Ret Roberto Bussinello DNQ 13 Giorgio Bassi Ret * After retiring his Scuderia Centro Sud-entered car, Shelby subsequently took over Masten Gregory's car, entered by Temple Buell, finishing fourth.
References
Italy's Maserati privateer
Bibliography Mimmo Dei, Dei ex Machina: La storia della Scuderia Centro-Sud, Milan, Fucina Editore, 2008. (IT)