NBC doing a special on Mario Andretti Childhood Home

Place where Mario Andretti was born (Motovun) and then where his family moved (near Lucca)

Motovun (Croatian pronunciation, Italian: Montona or Montona d'Istria) is a village in central Istria, Croatia. About 1/3 of the residents speak Italian as their mother language.

Montona was the birthplace of race car driver Mario Andretti and his twin brother Aldo in 1940. The brothers raced hand-crafted wooden cars through the steep streets. Originally part of Italy, after World War II Istria became a part of Croatia, a sovereign constituent unit of Yugoslavia. His family, like many other ethnic Italians, emigrated.

They lived in a camp near Lucca from 1948 to 1955.

The famous driver was born in 1940 in Motovun, and there are many stories of how this could be the place where he started his successful career since he, as a young boy, could be seen in a wooden cartwheel going down the steep streets of Motovun. Later his family moved to Italy, and then to America.