Marcello Vittorio Volare was born in the small Italian twin villages of Cacare-Bomba on June 19th, 1900. Growing up in a poor family, he worked as child laborer in what was one of Italy’s first automotive factories, Cacare-Bomba Anonima Costruzione Automobili (CACA). The Cacare-Bomba car essentially signaled the start of Italy’s long, proud automotive history. Even today, mention of the word CACA is almost synonymous with Italian car reliability and build quality.
As an unskilled child laborer, one of Marcello’s jobs was to test drive finished vehicles at the company’s dirt track. He was required to do a certain number of laps to “run-in” the engine and he was paid per number of vehicles completed. It was here he probably developed his love of racing – either that or he was afraid his Italian mother would beat the hell out of him if he didn’t bring back enough money for the day’s work. Either way, he became a highly skilled driver.
As an unskilled child laborer, one of Marcello’s jobs was to test drive finished vehicles at the company’s dirt track. He was required to do a certain number of laps to “run-in” the engine and he was paid per number of vehicles completed. It was here he probably developed his love of racing – either that or he was afraid his Italian mother would beat the hell out of him if he didn’t bring back enough money for the day’s work. Either way, he became a highly skilled driver.
In 1916, CACA ceased producing automobiles to tool-up in a joint venture with Fiat to produce Italy’s first armored tank, the Fiat model 2000. The first prototype was delivered in 1917 and by the end of the war only six tanks were produced. The Fiat 2000 never saw combat; it turns out the transmission only worked in reverse gear. The Cacare-Bomba factory sold its tooling to Fiat and went out of business due to its long absence from the automobile market.
Meanwhile, Marcello was hired by Alfa Romeo as a test driver. Even though he was only 16 at the time, his experience, combined with a lack of adult males (due to World War I conscription), made him an easy choice for Alfa’s first race team. Also, with his swarthy, southern Italian appearance (he started shaving at 11 years of age), most people assumed he was in his 20’s.
In 1917, Alfa Romeo was ready to enter its first ever race, which coincidentally, was also the first 24 hours of LeMons. Marcello was scheduled to be the team’s only driver in what turned out to be one of the most tragic days in racing history.
The race started well with Alfa Romeo leaping out to an early lead. After 30 minutes, the car was black-flagged due to rusty rocker panels. This was quickly patched with the best material available of that era – a substance which roughly translates to “vulcanized vermicelli”. It was the same material the Italian team used to patch their tires. At +47 minutes, the second gear synchro was completely gone, forcing Marcello to run in third gear for the rest of the race. At +53 minutes, the fan blade grenaded as a result of sagging motor mounts. Unfortunately, this knocked a hole in the oil pan, allowing all 16 quarts to leak out onto the track. The Alfa Romeo team was caught flat-footed – due to the war time shortages, they had no additional engine oil. Frantic for an oil substitute, a young mechanic, Nino Ferrari (younger brother of Enzo), was sent out to the local market to procure some type of suitable lubricant. His first thought was olive oil, but this being war time, it was in short supply and very expensive. The next best thing he could find was mustard oil, of which he purchased all he could carry and rushed back to the track.
This turned out to be a tragic mistake. Once the mustard oil reached operating temperature, it started blowing by the worn valve guides in the Alfa engine. This in turn resulted in mustard gas being spewed out of the exhaust. By the time Marcello realized what was happening, all the other cars had dropped out of the race due to the toxic gas cloud he was producing. With the spectators now gagging and fleeing in panic, Marcello had a difficult decision to make: stop his car and risk being overcome by the deadly fumes, or keep driving until the engine was out of oil.
As we all know, despite the chance of certain death, Marcello did stop his engine. Several soldiers who were watching the race donned gas masks and succeeded in pulling him from his car. Unfortunately for Marcello, it was too late – he succumbed to his injuries on the very next day, his 17th birthday. In honor of his selfless deed, (technically Alfa Romeo’s first win), all Alfas have a gold engine cap bearing the inscription 0170. It signifies the both the birth date of Alfa’s first race car driver, born on the 170th day of 1900 (0-170), and the fact that he died on his 17th birthday (0-17-0). Interestingly, to this day all Alfa Romeo models seem to develop rusty rocker panels and have second gear synchro failures. Alfa Romeo refuses to comment on why they haven't been able to correct these particular deficiencies after almost 100 years in business.
Anyway, that’s how the story goes.
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