Michael Schumaker, Ayrton Senna, Jimmy Clark, Juan Fangio... if your acquaintance with Grand Prix race drivers is limited to contemporary heroes you may not be aware of Tazio Nuvolari. In the postwar years, and shortly after, Nuvolari was feted as the finest of them all. Dr. Ferdinand Porsche once called Nuvolari "the greatest driver of the past, the present, and the future." In 1932, driving for Alfa-Romeo, he took two wins and a second place in the three European Championship Grands Prix, winning the title. He later won a second Targa Florio and the Monaco Grand Prix for Alfa. A legend in his own time, he was known as "Il Montavano Volante," the Flying Mantuan.

In 1937, after competing for the Ferrari-managed Alfa team, Nuvolari raced an Auto Union in the Swiss Grand Prix before agreeing to compete for the team during the 1938 season. Nuvolari remained at Auto Union until Grand Prix racing was put on hiatus by World War II. The only major European Grand Prix he never won was the Czechoslovakian Grand Prix.

Returning to GP racing after World War II at the age of 54, Nuvolari was in ill-health and yet his final race, in 1950, saw him finish a creditable first in class and fifth overall. On August 11th, 1953, nine months after suffering a stroke he was dead. As was his wish, he was buried in his uniform: yellow jersey and blue trousers. Canadian artist Paul Chenard has chosen to honour the Flying Mantuan in the first of a new series on Targa Florio racers. In this image it is perhaps appropriate that Nuvolari towers over the car, for it was his extraordinary talent that brought victory.