14 years old at the time. He averaged in a Lancia 3300. Taruffi and Harry Schell placed fifth overall in the 1955 Florida Grand Prix, driving a Ferrari. Taruffi claimed first place in a Ferrari, at the 1955 Tour of Sicily, with an overall time of 10 hours 11 minutes 19.4 seconds, with an average speed of . Taruffi dropped out of the 1955 Mille Miglia, when he encountered a broken oil pump on the course north of Rome. He and eventual winner, Stirling Moss, were vying for the lead in the early stages of the race. Cesare Perdisa won by 22 seconds in the 1955 Grand Prix of Imola, driving a two-litre Maserati. Taruffi spun his car into a straw bale at the edge of the track on the first lap. He was uninjured, though his car was damaged, and he was forced to retire from the race. Jean Behra and Taruffi teamed to secure a fifth-place finish in a Maserati at the 1956 12 Hours of Sebring. Taruffi established a world record for Class E cars in June 1956. He raced in 46 minutes 27.2 seconds, an average of 129.9 miles per hour (209.04 km/h). Also at Monza, Taruffi broke the one-hour mark of 212.543 kilometres per hour (132.074 mph). A third record he performed was for 200 kilometres. His time was 53 minutes 14.5 seconds. In the 17th running of the Tour of Sicily, in 1957, Taruffi had a small crash while in pursuit of leader Olivier Gendebien. He touched the wall in Gioiosa Marea but continued in his Maserati. Gendebien won in a Ferrari. The event was marred by the death of J. Olivari who was burned to death when his Maserati hit a wall in one of the course's 11,000 curves. Taruffi's final triumph was at the 1957 Mille Miglia, the last competitive edition of the famous Italian race. At this tragic race, Alfonso de Portago crashed his car into the crowd, with great loss of life. Taruffi won in a Ferrari 315 S. Following the race he pledged to his wife, Isabella, that he would never race again. He was 50 years of age. Author and patent holder Taruffi was the author of the book, The Technique of Motor Racing. In November 1957 the Saturday Evening Post published Taruffi's article, Stop us before we kill again. The former racer discussed the 1955 Le Mans