Augustus Cesare Bertelli (1890-1979)
1890 Born in Italy. Brother to Enrico Bertelli
1894 His father moved his family to Cardiff, Wales.
1911 Motor fitter, boarding in Cardiff[1]
1920 Married in King's Norton[2]
Bertelli is a pivotal figure in early British motor racing, both as a driver and designer. He came to Aston Martin after a formidable post-war driving career, notably in modified Enfield-Allday cars that culminated in a light roadster with a SOHC that Bertelli designed with a partner, W. S. Renwick - see Renwick and Bertelli. Renwick and Bertelli became two of the four directors of Aston Martin Motors as it was reconstituted in 1926 by the Charnwood family, who had pulled it from receivership.
Bertelli left Aston Martin in 1937, replaced as design chief by Gordon Sutherland, famed for the 2.0-liter cars with dry-sump lubrication.
While Bertelli's cars were expensive, especially when their modest weight and displacement were considered, an admirable percentage of them have survived today and are icons of British motoring.
1979 Died in Henley[3]