Edoardo Lualdi Gabardi

Edoardo Lualdi Gabardi (13 May 1931 – 18 April 2026) was an Italian auto racer, who specialised in hillclimbing, as well as a textile businessman. He almost always raced in Ferraris that he had purchased himself, but in order not to squander his fortune, he would sell the car, before buying another one.

Early life

Edoardo Lualdi Gabardi was born in Busto Arsizio, Lombardy on 13 May 1931, the son of Angelo Battista Lualdi, an engineer, and Edvige Gabardi. He was named after his maternal grandfather, Edoardo Gabardi, a prominent industrialist and philanthropist from Busto Arsizio who owned a textile factory. He lost his mother when he was 6 years old after she died in a car crash coming back from the 1936 Summer Olympics. His father died just 2 years later. Subsequently he was raised by his grandparents.

Career Gabardi's career began in 1950 at age of nineteen, participating in the Mille Miglia with a Fiat 500 C. He then participated in the Coppa d'Oro delle Dolomiti with the same car, winning. In 1951, he participated in some of the most important national hill climbs with a Dagrada Sport, achieving four victories. In 1953, he purchased a Ferrari 166 MM, which allowed him to achieve his first victory in the Coppa Vi-Va, a race organized on the Monza circuit.

Later life and death Lualdi Gabardi was married to Nalda Colombo for over 60 years. She died just two weeks before her husband's death.

Edoardo Lualdi Gabardi died at his home in Busto Arsizio, on 18 April 2026, at the age of 94.