Tom Gonnella

Working with Sam Caronia

September 22, 2025 By pete

Sam in his Intermeccanica Formula Jr. Photographer unknown, courtesy Same Caronia collection.

By Tom Gonnella

After my mother impressed Sam, anything she wanted he gave her, including a job for me. I worked for Sam for three summers and he was a great friend for the rest of his life.

I had discovered road racing at 14 through a friend whose father ran a Triumph Spitfire in the SCCA and we were his ‘crew.’ I also told Sam I had now started autocrossing my Alfa and asked Sam if I could get his rare Intermeccanica Formula Junior running to drive as I thought it would be more competitive.

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Sam Caronia, Abarth Dealer Part 1

September 1, 2025 By pete

Sam Caronia. Obituary photo, photographer unknown

By Pete Vack and Tom Gonnella

Sam Caronia was not famous and more irascible than most. But he was an unforgettable person, the owner of a foreign car repair shop and sometime race driver, who helped and encouraged a younger generation to maintain and race the Italian cars we all loved. And though he died many years ago, he is still remembered.

A Navy Veteran, an Abarth Dealer, a Race Driver

Tom Gonnella, a fellow Ferrari owner and Tidewater, Virginia, resident, worked for Sam as a teenager, and was a long-time friend. Recently Tom sent me his well-written reflections on Sam which provided the basis for a belated biography, and allowed us to make use of an interview I had with Sam in 2014 and never published. I too, had known Sam for many years, and Tom’s recollections mirrored my own.

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