[1] His father, Luigi Perdisa [it], was an agronomist from Ravenna and the editor of one of Italy's most popular magazines on agriculture, Terra e Vita [it];[a] he was also a professor and faculty dean at the University of Bologna, founder of the publishing house Edagricole [it], and was appointed a Knight of the Order of Merit for Labour in 1976.

Perdisa's older brother, Sergio, was to follow his father footsteps and join a publishing house specialized in books on farming but Cesare was more interested in a racing career.

[3] In January 1957 at the Argentine Grand Prix Perdisa gave his Ferrari to Wolfgang von Trips first and then to Peter Collins in an attempt to stop Juan-Manuel Fangio's dominance on his Maserati.

Although Perdisa initially declared his decision to be of a temporary nature, his inability to overcome the shock for the loss of Castellotti eventually brought him to permanently retire from racing.

The magazine, initially published by Rizzoli, was eventually purchased by Calderini Agricole, the largest agricultural company in Italy, and switch its focus on farming regulations and technological development.