The man at the wheel of the 2.8-liter, six-cylinder, Ford Sierra XR4i may have been a schoolmaster, but he certainly did not drive like one. In fact, beads of sweat were breaking out on my forehead as he stylishly doorhandled the winged Ford along the narrow roads of the Targa Florio at speeds that would never even enter my head. As you may have guessed, he was a schoolmaster with a difference. Not many of them have won the Targa…

NinoVaccarella’s almost God-like status in Sicily stems from his two Targa Florio victories—Vaccarella being the only Sicilian to win the famed road race. Here, Vaccarella is en route to his second victory, in 1971, at the wheel of an Alfa Romeo Tipo 33.
Photo: Ed McDonough Collection