Piero Taruffi (12 October 1906 – 12 January 1988) was an Italian racing driver, motorcycle road racer, motorsport executive and engineer, who competed in Formula One from 1950 to 1956.

In Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Taruffi won the 1932 European Championship in the premier 500cc class with Norton.

Born and raised in Rome, Taruffi started his career in motorcycle racing, winning the 500cc European Championship in 1932 with Norton.

He also held the motorcycle land-speed record for 38 days in 1937, reaching a speed of 274.18 km/h on the Autostrada Serenissima whilst riding a 492cc Gilera.

Outside of Formula One, Taruffi competed extensively in sportscar racing, winning the final edition of the Mille Miglia with Ferrari, driving the 315 S and retiring upon his victory.

Taruffi drove a newly introduced 2-litre, 4-cylinder Ferrari in the 1951 Bari Grand Prix, finishing third behind Juan Manuel Fangio and Froilán González.

[4] Taruffi set a world record for 50 miles (80 km) in an auto of 22[citation needed] cubic centimetre (1.3 in3) displacement in January 1952.

His time of 10 hours 24 minutes 37 seconds established a record for an event which opened Italy's sports car racing season.

[11] Taruffi dropped out of the 1955 Mille Miglia, when he suffered a broken oil pump on the course north of Rome.

[17] Taruffi's last victory was at the 1957 Mille Miglia, the last competitive edition of the Italian race, where he won in a Ferrari 315 S.[18] At the race, Alfonso de Portago suffered a tire failure and crashed his car into the crowd, killing himself, his co-driver Edmund Nelson, and nine spectators.

Taruffi drove a Ford stock car owned by Floyd Clymer of Los Angeles in the 2,000-mile (3,200 km) Pan-American race held in November 1954.

In November 1957 the Saturday Evening Post published Taruffi's article, Stop us before we kill again, where he discussed the 1955 Le Mans and 1957 Mille Miglia races where drivers and numerous spectators lost their lives.

The Piero Taruffi Museum is located in Bagnoregio, a small town between Viterbo and Orvieto in Central Italy.

The museum collection includes a selection of vintage cars and motorbikes from Taruffi's racing career.

In the 2023 biographical sports drama film Ferrari, Taruffi is portrayed by American actor Patrick Dempsey.