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Barchetta. Court records show Lee’s net worth at the time of his death as $7,616,965 ($13
million in 2024 dollars). Just 47 days after Lee jumped, the Federal Communications
Commission application records show “a request for an involuntary transfer of 5,750
shares of Thomas S. Lee Enterprises, Inc., dba Don Lee Broadcasting System, from L. A.
Weiss and W. H. Brown, co-guardians of the Estate of Thomas S. Lee, Incompetent, to
W. H. Brown as Special Administrator of the Estate of Thomas S. Lee, deceased.” It was
granted in May 1950.
The year 1950 saw more positive milestones in Chinetti’s life. Throughout the immediate
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postwar period, one has to marvel at Chinetti’s industriousness—brokering cars, selling
new ones, racing the cars, working with manufacturers, and running his business on two
continents. A January 27, 1950, letter from Luigi’s friend, Italian race driver Felice Bonetto,
provides examples of this.
Bonetto wrote from Rio de Janeiro, where he was on his way home from a series of
races in Argentina that month. He begins with an amusing story about the last race at
Rosario. These races, which attracted European teams, were partially financed by the Perón
government to give Argentine drivers visibility in the Continental press. The home favorite
was Juan Fangio, who would go on to become the dominant figure in grand prix racing in
the early to mid-1950s, winning the World Grand Prix Drivers’ Championship five times.
At Rosario, Fangio and Bonetto were running close together when they almost hit each
other. Bonetto’s avoidance maneuver caused him to crash, leaving the fans in an uproar.
They believed Bonetto had set out to drive Fangio off the track. Bonetto wrote, “This [the
popular story], despite the statement by Fangio himself, who quickly came forward to
apologize to me. The government sent a representative to apologize and our embassy
[Italian] filed a diplomatic complaint with the Argentine Foreign Service.” Only in a Latin
country would motor racing cause an international incident.
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The remainder of Bonetto’s letter covers several proposals Chinetti was working on:
I thank you for your interest in Indianapolis. It would seem that Maserati is
also building three new three-liter, eight-cylinder supercharged, of which two will
be taken by Rol, one to run at Indianapolis and the other for one of his American
friends, and the third Maserati would be placed in the hands of Nino Farina. But if
Wilbur Shaw [president of Indianapolis Motor Speedway] has the intention which
you mentioned, I imagine it will be difficult to draw any conclusions. In any case, I
am convinced that Europeans and Italians taking part in Indianapolis can’t give good
results. Thus, I am counting on your diplomacy and experience.
K I M B E R L Y
J I M A N D C U N N I N G H M A While what Wilbur Shaw and Luigi had discussed is unclear, only two of the Maseratis
that Bonetto mentions were built, and they were not finished in time for the 500. The two
cars did not fit the European formula and were sold to customers in New Zealand.
Bonetto continues: “I am interested to hear that you are in touch with the management
of Cadillac concerning the Mille Miglia. This is very interesting, and I am waiting for your
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