[iicarJohn]

I have done no specific further checking to verify or deny, but I have a note that indicates that, in 1954. "Ivanoe" was the racing pseudonym for Giancarlo Noceti who, like Vincenzo Avorio, was based in Roma. Entry lists and race results can be amazingly imprecise and then the edits created by journalists who might or might not "know better" can inject further imprecisions. Perhaps there was a "Vincenzo Avorio" as well as an "Ivanhoe Avorio"? I've met Ada Pace on a couple of occasions but none of the other folks mentioned. Ada is a very impressive personality! There is a wonderful account that she gave of her seeming slowness in practice runs, for hillclimbs in any case. Her practice times were slow because she said she "new how to go fast in the straight parts" and didn't push at all in those parts during practice. She worked on the turns and any other difficult parts during practice runs. Intentional or not, it gave some of her competitors a false sense of security until race time came! Eventually, some of the other racers learned not to trust her practice times as any kind of benchmark of her capabilities.


Checking for the other names throughout my computer I note the following:

Vincenzo Avorio was an early owner (pre-1954) of the Cisitalia 202L N. 503SC.

An Alfa Romeo 1900 Sprint was apparently raced in 1953 by "Avorio Ivanhoe"

At the 10 Ore Notturna Messinese in July of 1953, "Ivanhoe" and Noceti were entered in "Alfa Romeo 2000" with race #26. That would tend to argue that Noceti (if it was Giancarlo) was not "Ivanhoe" or "Ivanoe".

In 1954, an "Avorio" (we might assume, correctly or incorrectly, that it was Vincenzo Avorio?) shared a Fiat 8V with "Ivanoe" on the Giro di Sicilia. Noceti owned the Fiat 8V N. 000091 at the time, at least on paper. Not yet proof of any kind but this may lead us to some implied possibilities and/or an explanation as to why Noceti might have become confused as Avorio in somebody's mind? I fully acknowledge that it might be only myself who is currently confused.

In May of 1954, Giancarlo Noceti purchased the Alfa Romeo 1900 SSZ N. 01746. One or more "Avorio" did some racing in an Alfa Romeo 1900 Zagato. Do we begin to see a pattern here? In November of 1954, Giancarlo Noceti purchased yet another Alfa Romeo 1900 SSZ, AR1900C*01859. Now he maybe starts to look more like a dealer or middleman, perhaps for the Avorio family?

In April of 1956, Giancarlo Noceti purchased the Alfa Romeo Giulietta SV N. 01631

Late in 1960, Vincenzo Avorio purchased the SZ N. 00050 and it would seem that he very probably entered it in the 1961 Targa Florio either for or as "Ivanhoe" Avorio and Carlo Facetti was apparently listed as co-driver. Other notes indicate it was Buzzetti and Avorio-Sinibaldi in an SZ at the 1961 Targa Florio. There is a photo in The Autocar of 5 May, 1961 which I am not able to dig out of storage for a while to check.


The SVZ in the 1960 Targa Florio photo shared by AlfaRonny is 03907 which was previously owned from new by Sergio Pedretti ("Kim") and was rebodied by Zagato in 1958 for him. He raced it quite a number of times in 1958 and 1959. Data received in the 1980's from Lorenzo Boscarelli indicates that, after the Roma plate shown in the photo, it went on to get re-registered with yet another Roma plate but I have not yet researched it.

More to follow. At a minimum I will share an incomplete listing of Ada Pace racing history that can be built upon with a bit of effort and a bunch of additional time invested. Perhaps also a few other images of her in racing. Not all in Alfa Romeo I'm afraid.

John de Boer
The Italian Car Registry