Aldo and Mario were born in Montona, Kingdom of Italy, now Motovun, Croatia, where their father, Gigi, managed a 2,300-acre (930 ha) farm.

In 1954 Aldo and Mario befriended Sergio Seggiolini and Beppe Biagini, who ran an auto-repair shop across the street.

The boys would soon perform menial jobs for them, including parking customer cars although they were both underage and did not have a driving license.

In 1954 Seggiolini and Biagini expressed their gratitude by taking Aldo and Mario to a trip to the Monza, where they saw Alberto Ascari racing.

[3] In 1956, the family decided to move to the United States and settled in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, where the brothers were able to rekindle their interest in motorsports, when they discovered an oval track in their home town.