Luigi Chinetti (July 17, 1901 – August 17, 1994) was an Italian-born racecar driver, who emigrated to the United States during World War II.

[3] In 1917, at age 16, he went to work for Alfa Romeo as a mechanic, where he met another young hire named Enzo Ferrari.

[4] The rise to power of Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party in his native country prompted a move to Paris where he worked for Alfa Romeo as a salesman.

He also began to race sports cars as a driver, earning a reputation in endurance events, the 24 Hours of Le Mans in particular.

Driving cars from Alfa Romeo, Talbot, and Ferrari, Chinetti competed in every Le Mans race held between 1932 and 1953.

He traveled as part of the Lucy O'Reilly Schell Écurie Bleue team, that also included driver René Dreyfus, for an appearance at the 1940 Indianapolis 500.

[7]: 16  From there he carried on to Modena for a meeting with Enzo Ferrari, whose car factory had been converted to making machine tools for wartime production.

It is also pointed out that, while Chinetti had been selling cars such as pre-war Alfas and Talbots to American customers from as early as 1946, he would not have then been in a position to commit to an order of the rumored magnitude.

In either case, it seems that Chinetti left the meeting with an agreement to be Ferrari's agent in France and the United States.

As both an individual team owner and through N.A.R.T., Chinetti not only left a legacy of fielding some of the best drivers of the era, but of cultivating some of the highest quality up-and-coming talent, the two groups including names such as Stirling Moss, Mario Andretti, Phil Hill, Pedro and Ricardo Rodríguez, Graham Hill, and Jean-Pierre Jarier.

The third car was Tipo 166 MM Barchetta 0010 M sold to Kimberly-Clark tissue-paper fortune heir Jim Kimberly.

In 1952 Chinetti sold 1951 Ferrari 212 Export Barchetta 0078E to Phil Hill near the beginning of the future World Champion's career.

[11][7]: 26  Chinetti's reputation and existing relationship with Ferrari guaranteed a supply of former works cars and support for many years.

The following year, with Louis Chiron as co-driver, he won the Spa 24 Hours endurance race in Belgium.

In 1951, he was the riding mechanic in the Ferrari 212 that won the grueling Carrera Panamericana race, a 2,100-mile (3,400 km), five-day competition across Mexico.

Chinetti appeared in the Carrera Panamericana three more times in subsequent years, with the highest finish being a third place in 1952.