Alma Cacciandra

Alma Cacciandra was an Italian driver who competed in sportscars in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Like her contemporary and one-time team-mate Anna Maria Peduzzi, she raced almost exclusively in her home country and always in Italian cars, mostly Alfa Romeos.

It is not clear when she started racing. A CSAI document from 1956 lists her as a driver in the second category, restricted to certain cars and races, but gives no indication of where she competed. She is known to have owned an Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Veloce in 1956, one of the first 100 to be produced.

She first appears on a major entry list in 1959, driving an 1100cc Fiat Zagato in the Coppa Ambroeus for 1100cc GT cars. She was sixth. She did better in the 1300cc race at the same meeting, finishing eighth out of ten drivers in an Alfa Romeo Giulietta SV. Later in the year, she drove a Giulietta SS in the Coppa Inter-Europa 1300cc race. She was fifth, from twelve finishers. All of these races took place at Monza, her local circuit and her usual haunt.

The Coppa Ascari was her first race of the 1960s, held at Monza. This was a race for small cars and she shared a Fiat 500 with Vittoria Maffi. They were 31st and ninth in the T500 class. After that, her relationship with the Scuderia Sant Ambroeus begins.

The Scuderia was an Italian team that aimed to help mostly Italian drivers get into a position to enter Formula One races. It was founded by a group including Alberto della Beffa and Elio Zagato, who also raced its cars. Alma’s first finish of them seems to be an 18th place in the Coppa Inter-Europa, driving a Giulietta SZ. She was later eleventh in the Coppa FISA at Monza in the same car.

She used an Alfa Romeo Giulietta SZ for the 1961 season, and was fifth in the Coppa Sant Ambroeus race for 1300cc cars. 

She also teamed up with Anna Maria Peduzzi for one of her last races, the Coppa Ascari, but they did not finish. The pair had raced against each other in the previous year’s Coppa.

The race had more non-finishers than finishers and was marred by a fatal accident to Glicerio Barbolini, who was driving another Alfa. Alma was entered for at least two more races that year, including the Monza  GT Grand Prix, but she did not make the start. Whether this was due to car damage, personal or financial reasons is unclear.

Although she was usually entered by Scuderia Sant Ambroeus, she normally owned the cars she raced herself and had done since her first Giulietta, the SS, in 1959.

In 1962, she was fourth in the 1300cc GT Trophy Monza and 17th in the Coppa d’Autumno. The SZ was obviously the car to have in the GT Trophy as five of the top eight finishers drove one. The Coppa d’Automno was also held at Monza and Alma finished one place above a 19-year-old Arturo Merzario, driving a Giulietta Spider.

It appears that she then took a break from motorsport for a season, before returning in 1964. Driving a Giulia TZ this time, she was tenth in the 2000cc Coppa Inter-Europa race, with Alberto della Beffa of Sant Ambroeus. This was a round of the World Sportscar Championship and even the more powerful TZ was no match for the Porsches this year.

She was also tenth in the Trofeo Bettoia, held at Monza. This was a non-championship race, but it ran as a three-hour enduro and Alma drove solo like everyone else.

Monza appears to be the only circuit where she raced, but she seems to have competed in hillclimbs too. She entered the Trieste-Opicina climb in 1964 in the TZ but did not finish. Earlier, she is recorded as having finished 94th in the 1962 Trento Bondone hillclimb, in the SV.

In 1965, she continued to compete in the TZ, which she had bought new from the manufacturer in 1964. She drove again in the World Sportscar Championship, entering the Monza 1000km with Alberto Della Beffa. The car only made it to 24 laps before the engine blew, with Alma at the wheel. She disappears from the entry lists after that and the TZ did not appear again until it was bought by Austrian driver “Udo” in 1970.

Like her team-mate Anna-Maria Peduzzi, Alma was somewhat of an enigma and faded very quickly from what public life she had had. Despite her membership of the Ambroeus team, she kept a low profile and was very selective in what events she entered. Few pictures exist of her, and the best-known one, used here, shows her approaching her car in a knee-length skirt along with her crash helmet and racing jacket, carrying a handbag.

She is known to have lived in Milan and was sometimes referred to as Alma Cacciandra Bordoni. She was likely born Alma Bordoni in 1909 and married Giuseppe Cacciandra in 1929. There were drivers racing at the same time as her called Franco and Domenico Bordoni, who may have been relatives.

The reasons for her retirement from motorsport are unknown, although she was well into her fifties by the time 1965 came round.

(Image copyright zagato-cars.com)