Little Tony - the boy of the tuft and the Ferrari

Little Tony died surrounded by "his" Ferraris. He was a simple boy who had made it with music.

He had not forgotten his origins and he loved life, which he lived in a light-hearted way, following his passions.

Little Tony in the workshop fine-tunes his Ferrari.

Little Tony in a street in Rome with his Ferrari.

Music first and foremost and engines. Outside of his career as an artist, in fact, in his private life he was a great car enthusiast and collector. In addition to his passion for cars, Little Tony was also very fond of the two wheels. He liked Harley-Davidson motorcycles and choppers, to the point that many of his album covers portrayed him riding some of them.

A great passion that of Little Tony for beautiful cars. And, judging by the wonders kept in his garage, it could be defined as just as important as the love for music. The Lazio singer, one of the most famous Italian rock artists, as well as an actor, has in fact collected real masterpieces on four wheels in his life, but his mad heart beat above all for Ferraris. Being born in 1941, moreover, he had the good fortune of owning new models that still today are points of reference among vintage cars and, thanks to his fame, he had the privilege of meeting in person both Enzo Ferrari and Ferruccio Lamborghini. Among the many dream cars owned by the artist, we wanted to recall the most significant. His boundless passion was mainly focused on Italian cars: in addition to Ferraris and Lamborghinis, there is no shortage of Alfa Romeos in Little Tony’s car fleet.

The one between Little Tony and Ferrari was an intense love story: we could talk about a real marriage. The famous Italian singer had a genuine passion for the cars of the "prancing horse", which he treated with great affection. He had a successful career. Little Tony's glory peaked in the sixties and beyond. With the earnings obtained, he had the opportunity to fulfill many four-wheeled dreams, buying models of great charm, most of which made in Maranello. The most exclusive cars of his collection are the following.

One of the many Prancing Horse cars owned by Little Tony is the 1964 Ferrari 330 GT 2 + 2, a car with a front-mounted 4-liter V12 engine and, of course, combined with rear-wheel drive. Unlike the Ferrari 330, 330 America and 330 GTC / GTS, the “2 seats + 2” version that belonged to Little Tony was completely new, not deriving from an existing model. The body had a more squared front and tail and the external appearance was characterized by the 4 front headlights.

Another Red owned by the rock singer was the Ferrari 365 GTB / 4 Daytona. This is one of the most popular sports cars for those who love classic models. Produced between 1968 and 1974, it bears the name of the American location in honor of the success achieved on the Florida circuit by the 330 P4 in 1947, when the domination of the Maranello company was expressed with a spectacular arrival in a parade, fixed in a photo that has gone down in history as a symbol of the glory of the "reds". The splendid line designed by Pininfarina houses a powerful 4.4-liter V12, with 352 horsepower, which are expressed with the notes of a sublime melody, a worthy seal of an eternal masterpiece, always ready to excite.

In Little Tony's garage there is also room for a black Ferrari, the 275 GTB. It was a Berlinetta - as the letter B in the model abbreviation suggests - and the bodywork was made by Scaglietti of Modena in steel with aluminum elements or entirely in aluminum. The Ferrari 275 GTB was also the last berlinetta produced by the Prancing Horse with a single overhead camshaft per bank engine. A car of unrepeatable charm, it has been able to win the hearts of enthusiasts. The thrust comes from an engine born from the refinement of the original idea of Gioacchino Colombo. It is a 3.3-liter V12, delivering 280 hp at 7600 rpm. The sound that accompanies its dances is formidable. The line, signed by Pininfarina, is an admirable synthesis of class and aggressiveness. In it you can breathe a hint of the stylistic atmosphere of the 250 GTO (of which it is an ideal descendant). It is characterized by a long hood and slits behind the wheel arches. The marked curvature of the windshield accentuates the compact proportions of the roof. The faired headlights blend harmoniously into the flowing profile. The unitary displacement is indicated in the numerical code, while Gtb is the acronym for Gran Turismo Berlinetta. The neutral set-up guarantees excellent road holding, with a slight tendency to understeer which facilitates the perception of limits. The brake discs counteract the energy of its pace, which goes up to 270 km / h.

Ferrari 250 California SWB. This is one of the most beautiful cars ever built in history. Its perfectly balanced lines deliver to the eye a masterpiece, which reveals itself as such also in the mechanics and in the emotions bestowed on the lucky passengers. The idea of the Maranello factory was translated into form and material by Sergio Scaglietti, who deserves the credit for an extraordinary expressive balance, where nothing is out of place and where everything is harmoniously placed in the precious general graphic canvas. The thrust is ensured by a three-liter V12 engine, capable of developing 280 horsepower, expressed melodically and with great determination, according to the tradition of the "prancing horse". The short wheelbase chassis has a wheelbase of 2400 mm, as on the other Short Wheel Base “reds”. The Ferrari 250 California is a true icon, a legend within a legend.

Little Tony and his Lamborghini Miura.

We mentioned at the beginning that Little Tony also owned Lamborghinis, including three specimens of perhaps the most iconic car of the Toro brand: the Miura. And then, of course, someone like Little Tony couldn't miss a pink Cadillac like Elvis Presley's one: it was a Fleetwood.

Little Tony with Giorgio D’Antonio and Adriano Vicari, respectively president and vice-president of SFC Appia Antica.

Little Tony was so passionate about Ferrari that he founded a club of Red fans, the Scuderia Ferrari Club Appia Antica. "Our club, the current Roman leaders point out, was established 25 years ago - on February 24, 1994 - together with our friend Little Tony, with the name" Ferrari Club Appia Antica Little Tony". Today we are an official Ferrari club”.

Little Tony and the Ferrari California left to his friends. May 26, 2014.

Little Tony bequeathed his wonderful and precious Ferrari California license plate San Marino “Tony 1” to five of his dearest friends.

One of these is Professor Ivo Pulcini, an internationally renowned cardiologist, owner of other Ferraris and of the legendary Bianchi license plate Rome 1 that belonged to Benito Mussolini. And just last Sunday in our meeting in Piazza Mazzini, our friend Ivo showed up riding a splendid Bianchi 500, newly restored. This 1941 motorcycle had been buried underground for 50 years, since it was hidden from German troops during the Second World War. Behind the European license plate, used by Ivo to circulate, it still retains the original “M. di S. 2323” of the then Milizia di Strada.

Little Tony wanted Enzo Ferrari house. A passionate about the reds and amazed at the state of neglect of the building, he was the first to try to buy it to make it into a museum. 29 May 2013. By Nicola Calicchio.

Modena also remembers Little Tony. The singer from Tivoli, struck down by a tumor at the age of 72, had a strong bond with our city where he had several friends. An artistic bond but also a sporting one since the “boy with the tuft” has always had Ferraris and Maseratis in his garage.

He often came to have his sporting cars checked because, he once said, he only trusted the mechanics of the Maranello area. «The last time I saw him a few months ago - Lello Apicella of the Lo Smeraldo restaurant in Pozza explains - he had gone to Maranello to see Tony, his trusted mechanic, to have one of his cars checked. We met five or six years ago and have talked a lot ever since. When he came to eat he was very careful, given his health problems. He always ordered the double zero Gragnano pasta, topped with cherry tomatoes. He was a sunny person». Little Tony was also passionate. About thirteen years ago, when there was still no talk of “Casa Natale Enzo Ferrari”, he wanted to see for himself in what conditions was the house of the Engineer. Seeing the building in that state he made a statement to our newspaper. Little Tony (honorary president of the Ferrari Club Appia Antica) and his friends were willing to buy the house. «I am amazed, he said, that Modena has not yet redeveloped a building so full of history and so important for the city. Now I have come to know that everything is still on hold. That's why we want to try to buy the house to make it a place of worship for the legendary Rossa and its founder». Thirteen years later, the Casa Natale Enzo Ferrari is a beautiful reality and, probably, the king of rock'n'roll has never been able to visit it.

The singer was also linked to the city and its province artistically. There have been dozens of his concerts on our territory. The Mac 2, Soliera, Pavullo, Maranello. Every time he came back he felt at home. To Carpi, on the other hand, he did not return only to sing but also to find his friends, including Vincenzo Nappa, a guest at some family celebrations. He met with the various Bobby Solo, Michele, Dino to laugh and sing together.

Little Tony (born Antonio Ciacci; 9 February 1941 – 27 May 2013) was a Sammarinese pop singer and actor, who achieved success in Britain in the late 1950s and early 1960s, as the lead singer of Little Tony & His Brothers, before returning to Italy where he continued a successful career as a singer and film actor.

Little Tony was born in Tivoli, Italy, but was a citizen of San Marino, where his parents were born and never applied for Italian citizenship. He formed a rock and roll group with his two brothers, Alberto and Enrico, in 1957, naming himself Little Tony in emulation of Little Richard. The following year, the group were signed by Durium Records, who released a series of covers of American rock and roll songs by them in Italy.

In 1959, the Italian singer Marino Marini, when in London, recommended the group to TV pop show producer Jack Good. Good visited Italy to meet the group, was impressed and signed them up to appear in his British TV show Boy Meets Girls. They made their first appearance on the programme in September 1959, and released their first single in the UK, "I can't help it" - the 11th single of their career in Italy - on the Decca label soon afterwards. For their third British single, Good recorded the group in London for the first time and the resulting single, "Too good", written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, reached # 19 on the UK singles chart in January 1960, their only chart success in Britain. The group continued to appear regularly on TV shows in Britain until 1962.

The group first revisited Italy in 1961 to appear at the Sanremo Festival when they performed the song "24.000 baci" with Adriano Celentano and finished second, returning more permanently the following year. Little Tony then worked as a solo singer, having his first #1 in Italy with "Il ragazzo col ciuffo" in 1962.

Little Tony and Eleonora Brown in a scene from the film Cuore matto … matto da legare in 1967.

Little Tony and Isabella Savona in the movie "Zum Zum Zum – La canzone che mi passa per la testa" in 1969.

Little Tony and Swedish actress Eva Thulin in the film Zum Zum Zum nº 2 in 1969.

Little Tony and Pippo Franco in the movie “W le donne” in 1970.

He began working as a movie actor, appearing in over 20 movies in Italy and becoming a star in the musicarelli film genre.

He also continued to record regularly through the 1960s, one of his biggest hits from Festival di Sanremo '1967 is "Cuore matto" (crazy heart), n. 1 for nine consecutive weeks in 1967. It sold in excess of about six million copies and was awarded a gold disc in May 1967.

Little Tony in June 1966 in Biella, Piedmont, for a stage of the Cantagiro.

Another successful song was "Quando vedrai la mia ragazza", that he performed in Festival di Sanremo '1964 - which sold almost one million copies - and later "Riderà", which sold over a million copies in 1966. He formed his own record label, Little Records, in 1969.

Little Tony and Patty Pravo, presenting the song The sword in the heart, at the 20th Sanremo Festival, February 1970.

Patty Pravo and Little Tony at 1970 Sanremo Festival.

Little Tony, Patty Pravo and Lucio Battisti perform at the 1970 Festivalbar.

Italian singer Patty Pravo, right in the photo.

At 1969 Sanremo Festival Little Tony was singing the swing hit "Bada bambina" (be careful baby) and, in the following year, he participated in Festival di Sanremo '1970 with the hit "La spada nel cuore" (sword in my heart) that became an international hit.

Little Tony has driven a lot of women crazy. Among these Giuliana Brugnoli, flight attendant, who would become his wife in 1972 and mother of his daughter Cristiana in 1974.

In 1975 he recorded the album Tony canta Elvis, which pays tribute to Elvis Presley.

In the 1980s the three singers Rosanna Fratello, Bobby Solo and Little Tony formed the group "Ro Bo T". In the late Eighties Little Tony was in America and recorded several songs with Diana Ross and the Supremes. In the 1990s and 2000s Little Tony participated in dozens of TV shows, particularly in Rai Uno and Canale 5, among others with the Italian superstars Gianni Morandi, Rita Pavone, Adriano Celentano and many others. He continued to record and perform successfully in Italy, despite suffering a heart attack during his show in Canada in 2006.

In 2008 Little Tony participated in the Sanremo Festival for the tenth time, with his hit "Non finisce qui". He also recorded a CD in that year with some other hits such as "Figli di Pitagora".

Little Tony died of lung cancer on May 27, 2013, in Rome, at the age of 72 and was buried in Tivoli.

The Divino Amore greets Little Tony. Crowd, Ferraris, VIPs and notes of "Cuore matto". Thursday, May 30, 2013.

For once, the traditional artists' church in Piazza del Popolo remained closed. A devotee to the Madonna del Divino Amore but also to Ferrari and rock, Little Tony greets on the notes of "cuore matto", among the crowd of Romans who have left home and work to greet him in the most beloved sanctuary in the city. At least 6,000 people wanted to attend the mass of Don Pasquale Silla, the outgoing rector who was able to keep alive a devotion that has taken root in the heart of the city. In the front row Edoardo Vianello, I Cugini di Campagna, Bobby Solo and Rita Pavone, together with Lorella Cuccarini and Gianni Morandi, dried their tears for emotion. In addition to the memory of the man and his battle against disease, the warmth of the Romans also paid tribute to the singer's colorful and bizarre life. The crowd and the VIPs were waited outside by a parade of Ferraris, Little Tony's second passion after the one for the Madonna, a faith shared by many people who attended.

And, among the many red cars, also the “Tony 1”, a symbol of the roaring years. “He was one of our parishioners, the rector of the sanctuary Don Pasquale Silla said, he lived nearby and often even came to mass. When he had a heart attack on the plane he became a fervent devotee. This is why he wanted a mosaic depicting our Madonna on his tomb”.

Then the notes of "Cuore matto” and the sound of the 10 Ferraris that surrounded the coffin that paraded among the cars.

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