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Medieval architecture and Baroque frescoes, castles and churches. And a bouquet of international festivals blending art and creativity, set against the romantic and sophisticated lake backdrop Words Alessandro Giudice Photography Alessandro Barteletti Video Andrea Ruggeri Swiss Grand Tour is a project to discover itineraries driving classic Alfa Romeo cars, in partnership with Astara, the distributor and importer of the Brand in Switzerland. Canton Ticino Route from Bellinzona to Ascona and back Distance 80 km Travel time 2h Driving pleasure 3/5 Panorama 4/5 With its distinctive personality, so different and yet complementary to those of the other large towns in the canton, Lugano is a cosmopolitan crossroads of international business. Set against the sparkling background of the lake of the same name, Bellinzona is peaceful and reserved, nestling in the green hills. The capital of Ticino is defined by its splendid architectural features: three spectacular castles and medieval walls that make it a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000, as well as the characteristic network of narrow pedestrian streets leading to small and large squares. [click to watch the video] (Map by Sansai Zappini) Also for these reasons, we chose Bellinzona as the starting point for an itinerary through some of the most interesting areas of Canton Ticino, as far as the northern banks of Lake Maggiore, which Switzerland shares with Italy. Accompanying us, two cars representing Alfa Romeo’s past and future: a 1957 Giulia Spider Veloce and a modern Junior in the Special Sport Tech version, progenitor of the Biscione’s electric generation.   Driving the splendid convertible is its proud owner Edwin Navez, manager and businessman, who went as far as Mexico City to buy his Giulia: “I was looking for one of the last spiders made, and I’ve always had a soft spot for the combination of anthracite grey/red bodywork and interiors. As soon as I saw that it had these features, I couldn't let it go." Edwin comes in the Giulia to meet us in Bellinzona on a tepid, early spring day, confirming the extraordinarily mild climate in this part of Switzerland, where the thermometer rarely falls below zero even during the winter.   Due to traffic limitations, it is best to drive round the outer ring of the town, leaving the more characteristic parts of the centre for a pleasurable stroll. For practical reasons, the first stop up a hill passing near the hospital, is at the smallest of the three castles, Sasso Corbaro, at an altitude of 600 metres a.s.l., once used as a prison. Driving down a few bends towards the town, Montebello castle stands on the peak of the hill of the same name, protected by its two drawbridges and castellated walls. From its strategic and panoramic position, it dominates not only the town but also the River Ticino valley to the north-west of Bellinzona. Close to the centre on a rocky ridge, Castelgrande is a fine example of the fortifications that controlled the mountain passes towards Northern Europe, the Nufenen, St. Gotthard and San Bernardino. This control was also assured by the walls, an impressive 800-metre-long bastion connecting the western side of the castle to the gates where the goods passing through were taxed. Returning to the town centre, a stroll towards Piazza Collegiata takes you down Viale Stazione, Bellinzona’s busiest and most famous road, from where you can admire the church and the attractive buildings. From here we continue to the nearby Piazza Noceto and Palazzo Civico, and, passing by the obelisk in Piazza Indipendenza and Via Dogana, we reach Piazza del Governo. Leaving the centre, towards the cemetery, you can admire Santa Maria delle Grazie, a fifteenth century church adorned with colourful frescoes, the most important of which is a “Crucifixion” by an unknown artist and others partly attributed to the schools of Jacques Courtois and Ferrari. From here, we head out along Via Cantonale towards Giubiasco, not a particularly interesting main road but perfect for reaching the tip of Lake Maggiore in Minusio and, from there, on to Locarno.   Not only an attractive holiday spot, Locarno also offers an interesting range of cultural events and recreational activities. One of these is the renowned International Film Festival, calling directors and actors from all over the world to one of Switzerland's most important happenings. In July, the festival is preceded by Moon&Stars, a series of musical events with concerts by some of the most famous musicians on the international scene today. These two events are both hosted in the same place in the town, the renaissance-style Piazza Grande, Locarno's beating heart surrounded by buildings and arcades with a selection of bars, restaurants and shops with alleys leading through the historical centre, to Visconti Castle and other sites. In addition, the Camellia Park is home to the exhibition that brings fragrances and colours to the lake with its magnificent flowers in the spring. Just a few miles separate Locarno from Ascona, which is “the place to be”, according to Edwin Navez. A small yet picturesque town with a lakeside promenade edged with lush plants and pastel-coloured houses, with its mild climate Ascona is a refined, highbrow tourist destination, as well as the home to one of Europe’s major jazz festivals, held between June and July of each year. To reach our next destination, we return to Locarno and from there climb up Via ai Monti to the peak of the Sanctuary of the Madonna del Sasso, a famous religious complex renowned for its visiting pilgrims. Parking here, it takes just a few minutes to walk down to the monastery and the sanctuary which, built on a rocky outcrop, offer a breath-taking view of the lake, before visiting the Baroque church with its frescoes and wood and terracotta statues.   Returning towards Bellinzona, at Gordola we take a left turn towards Lavertezzo. Climbing a few miles, we reach the Contra dam, built in 1960 to close the river Verzasca, which gives its name to the valley. An interesting fact: the dam starred in one of the first scenes of the 1995 007 film “Golden Eye”.   The road running along the artificial Vogorno lake is pure driving pleasure, with a succession of fast stretches and tunnels. This is more than enough reason to take a diversion off the main route, also considering the nature and architecture to be admired in Lavertezzo, with its famous two-arched Medieval Roman bridge crossing the river Verzasca, where its waters are an extraordinary shade of emerald. Returning to Gordola, the road to Bellinzona crosses the vineyards where excellent Terre di Gudo wines are made in this municipality which was annexed to the town in 2017. A perfect opportunity for a “wine cellar fuel stop”, for once without having to choose between thermal and electric fuel. THE COLLECTOR: Edwin Navez The "Giulia Spider 1600 Veloce" The Giulia Spider has always been the car of my dreams: it has all the charm of a convertible Alfa Romeo but with spectacular engine performance. The one I bought fits that dream perfectly. A Giulia, so the second series after the Giulietta; in the Veloce version, with a 113 HP engine, disc brakes on the front wheels, anthracite grey bodywork and red seats. I had been looking for one all over the place, then I found one at a dealer in New York. When I got in touch to make an appointment, he told me that the car was actually in Mexico City. Thinking that it really didn't make much difference between that and the States, I set off for Mexico. The car was perfect, it had already been registered as a historical car in Mexico (and I left the “veiculo historico” sticker on the right-hand deflector) and had it shipped to Europe in a container.  The Modern Alfas What I like about modern Alfa Romeos is their character, which expresses a clean line, a chassis that lives up to the expectations of any Alfa fan and excellent engines, especially the Quadrifoglio versions. Moving into the electric world seems to me to be more to meet regulatory needs than the wish of Alfa Romeo. I have been driving electric cars for years, with great pleasure, and I hope that, no longer driven by combustion engines, the new Alfas can maintain the style and performance that created the Biscione legend.

From Dafs to Ferraris, passing through microcars and futuristic prototypes: his pencil moved in all the car fields you can possibly imagine, with unmatched creative flair. He drew so many cars that still today it’s impossible to draw up a detailed list of them all, as many of his designs were not signed. His son Edgardo has been trying to put some order into the huge heritage of his father’s works since 1989, firstly by setting up a Historical Register and then creating an archive, which however is still incomplete. Out of the around 30,000 drawings Giovanni Michelotti is thought to have done in over 30 years of activity, he has kept and catalogued almost six thousand. For now Words & Photography Gilberto Milano Archive Courtesy of Archivio Storico Michelotti Giovanni Michelotti in the 1950s at his desk in the company. “He drew, drew, drew, all the time. Day and night. Ultimately, I don't think my father ever actually worked, I think he just really enjoyed drawing cars.” These are the words of Edgardo Michelotti, Giovanni’s seventy-one-year-old son, who opened the doors to his father’s precious archives kept in a former workshop just outside the centre of Turin. Edgardo was completing a degree in architecture when Giovanni died in January 1980, and since then his son has been trying to assure the fair recognition of his father’s work by saving as much of it as possible. The story of Giovanni Michelotti is indeed unique in the history of car design, in Italy and beyond. No other stylist whose genius has illuminated this sector thus far can boast such a broad and varied production of designs as those created by Giovanni Michelotti from 1949 onwards, until his premature death aged 58. Yet at the same time, nobody has ever suffered the kind of “oblivion” that has afflicted the work of this humble and prolific car creator. Still today he is unknown to most people and little celebrated compared to other legends who have – rightly so – been awarded with prizes and honorary degrees. How can a stylist who, in his short career, drew over one thousand cars, working with all the coachbuilders in Turin (aside from one), the only person to hold the record of 40 cars on show at a motor show (Turin 1954, most of which undeclared) still be considered a minor stylist? 1962 Triumph Conrero TRS “set” on the Le Mans track. 1952 Triumph Italia. Michelotti drew many Triumphs, and his work contributed to the international success of the British brand. There are many reasons. Michelotti was first and foremost a great car enthusiast, and then a businessman. “I’m not a good speaker, but if they make me draw I’m happy to do so,” he said, talking about his work at an Italian Coachbuilding conference in 1978. “For me, what counts in a car is style, and style is also what brings it all together for sales. The stylist’s task is a very delicate one. They have to dress up a car, and a car is always made of four wheels, a steering wheel and an engine. You have to know what goes round these parts to create a car that must be acceptable to the general public, the retailers and the technicians.” And he went round these parts a lot. “He never said no to anyone, and never pulled out when faced with difficulties. And yet he only ever put his name on a design when the client said he could. And above all, he never had anyone to promote his image, a “service” that other coachbuilders had,” his son Edgardo explains. It’s impossible to say how many cars Michelotti actually designed. Edgardo reckons around 1,200-1,300 cars that were actually produced and many others that weren't, perhaps around 30,000 drawings and designs. Quite an incredible number. Edgardo Michelotti in the archive that contains thousands of his father’s drawings. “Dad was very prolific, but also incredibly fast. In one night, with a sandwich, some good wine, a pack of cigarettes and the radio blasting, he could produce a 1:1 scale drawing of a new model, showing all the measurements and details, ready to be made,” Edgardo recalls. “Apparently he made a thousand models from the early Fifties to 1961. For Vignale alone he drew 311 cars, of which 150 Ferraris, which all went into production. He didn’t feel the need to sign off on them all, he loved his work: he was paid just for the design, and even then not much. Perhaps even just the full-size drawing.” Zanellato Archive - 1949 rendering for the production of a Ferrari Spyder Super Sport, which was never built. The egg-shaped frame with a square grille appears for the first time, later to become a distinguishing feature of the 1950s’ Ferraris. Design for the OSCA 1500 Coupé. The car was presented at the 1961 Geneva Motor Show. It was the first car to use the “pagoda-style roof”, one of Michelotti’s inventions. Michelotti began drawing at a young age, seven or eight years old, passing the time he spent in bed – six months – suffering from a chronic inflammatory disease affecting both hip joints, bilateral coxarthrosis. At the time, the only cure was quinine and absolute rest. That was when he realised he could draw. He drew everything. And this disease revealed a talent. His father gave him the idea of cars, when he saw that a coachbuilder was looking for an apprentice. Not just any old coachbuilder, but Stabilimenti Farina, the largest coachbuilder in Turin. It was run by Giovanni Farina and his two sons: Nino, a future Formula 1 world champion with Alfa Romeo in 1950, and Attilio (Giovanni Battista was Giovanni’s younger brother, who set up Pininfarina). Rendering of the Démon Rouge, the model built in 1954 on a Fiat 8V chassis, perhaps the most famous concept car designed by Michelotti. To appreciate its “overwhelming beauty” and the amazing stylistic boldness, we should always consider the historical period in which it was presented. Study of the Maserati A6G 2000 Gran Turismo built by Allemano (1955). Michelotti was 16 when he was hired. At first he worked under Pietro Frua, a style manager with a tough character. Indeed, Frua was sacked on the spot after an argument with Attilio, and Giovanni Michelotti took his place. He was just 17. And that was when he began to surprise everyone with his creativity. Michelotti stayed at Stabilimenti Farina until 1949, when he opened the first professional car design firm in Italy. A powerhouse of ideas, he drew everything: in particular, small Fiats and Abarths, as well as microcars, beach cars, sports cars, super sports cars (the two Ferraris that won the Mille Miglia in 1951 and 1952 were his), advertising vehicles, buses, tractors, motorboats, scooters and dream prototypes. He worked for many famous coachbuilders, including Allemano, Balbo, Bertone, Vignale, Ghia and Moretti. But never for Pininfarina. “I suppose he had some kind of verbal commitment with Attilio to never work for Pinin,” Edgardo imagines. Two of the many 1962 renderings created to study the four-headlight front of the new BMW 1800/2000. Michelotti’s contribution to the Bavarian car manufacturer's new image was significant. Rendering from the late 1960s for the study of the new BMW 1600 Coupé. Although his cars become famous worldwide, little is known of him. Indeed, very few people know that he was the man behind the most original Ferraris of the early Fifties, all the Vignale cars, especially the Ferraris, like the beautiful Vignale Barchetta 166 and 212 Spider, as well as the 1952 Ferrari Berlinetta 340 Mexico Tuboscocca Vignale. Or the 1953 Maserati A6 GCS Spider Vignale; the 1953 Fiat 8V Vignale and 8V Siata; the 1953 Cunningham C3, considered “one of the ten most beautiful contemporary cars”; the Renault Alpine built by Allemano in 1954 based on one of his drawings. And also, the spectacular Demon Rouge built on a Fiat 8V chassis in 1955, the first to use a hidden handle in the door pillar; the 1958 Lotus Eleven Ghia Eagle; the futuristic Lancia Nardi Raggio Azzurro of 1955 and 1958; the 1961 Giulietta SV Conrero Goccia and many others besides. In 1958 he was the first Italian designer to work with the Japanese (Hino Contessa) and in 1959 his first BMW and Triumph creations, further developed in the ‘60s, were produced. The lines were completely different even though they were all designed by the same person in the same period. study of the Abarth 850 Scorpione built by Carrozzeria Allemano. Michelotti did these drawings in just a few minutes (1959). Edgardo Michelotti mimes his father’s use of these French curves to draw the design of an Aston Martin DB3 for Vignale in 1953. The French curves Giovanni Michelotti used to produce his drawings. Every stylist has their own: they are the fingerprints of their style. Among his many stylistic innovations, we may recall the 1960 “pagoda-style roof”, which added greater side visibility (the sides are higher in the centre) on a more compact car. This solution was later adopted by Mercedes for the 230 SL and Lancia for the Fulvia HF. Or the egg-shaped frame with a square grille, which became a style feature of Ferraris in the 1950s. “He had clear ideas, when he drew he rarely rubbed anything out and corrected it. Sometimes he didn't even do the 1:10 scale drawings. He didn't do any sketches, he just started creating the car he had in mind in scale 1:1,” Edgardo states. “His speciality was three-quarter views, which were the most spectacular and effective for impressing the clients, and these took him just a few minutes. He was also a maniac for safety, and his technical and marketing background allowed him to understand the needs of the clientele according to their origin: French, English, German, Japanese. He thought of everything in advance, and delivered projects that were 90% feasible.” Design for the 1955 Bugatti Tipo 252 Gran Sport. Study of a 2+2 coupé on a Cadillac chassis for Vignale in 1956. Design for the 1959 Cisitalia 750 Spider. “He had learned that aerodynamics is important in the first two thirds of the car, safety is fundamental for the people in the centre and once you get to the back you can concentrate on saving weight,” the journalist Gianni Rogliatti said of him in 1964. Of his production in the 1970s, we should remember the Matra Laser (1971) with its wedge-shaped profile; the Fiat 128 Pulsar (1972), the world’s first car to adopt impact-absorbing polyurethane bumpers; the Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Nart commissioned by Luigi Chinetti in 1978, with a far more streamlined front than the Pininfarina Daytona; the Lancia Mizar, still today the only car built with four gull-wing doors, and the BMW 2002 Turbo, all between 1972 and 1974. “He was a man of contradictions: a classically trained designer who became an iconoclastic stylist, a great car communicator in the sense of the poetic metaphor of escapism. But when appropriate, he was perfectly able to work with more restrained models. This is demonstrated by the Triumph TR4 and Spitfire spiders, evergreen forms of majestic simplicity,” the car historian Angelo Tito Anselmi wrote. Design of the DAF Siluro. The top view highlights the wedge shape. The Siluro was presented at the 1967 Geneva Motor Show. 1975 study of the Ferrari 365 GTB/4 commissioned by Luigi Chinetti’s NART. Pininfarina built the Daytona Spider on the same chassis. Edgardo took over the company when he was just 26, with little experience. He studied architecture, and in the company he was just one of the draughtsmen, an employee like all the others. With twenty or so staff, draughtsmen and workers, he continued until 1991 when he was forced to surrender to the new reality of the car manufacturers’ in-house style centres. “Other coachbuilders had closed, and the atmosphere in Turin had already become tainted. I was 39 years old. We just closed it down, we weren’t even bankrupt,” Edgardo recalls. And the closure was also fatal for setting up the archive. During the final move, many of the drawings that had been kept in the company were stolen overnight. “The person who took them later said they did it to stop them from being destroyed. But then they gave them to collectors or sold them at international auctions,” Edgardo states. “Many of those drawings were certainly the ones of the Triumphs, because I have very few of the Triumph Spitfire, the TR4. The Victoria and Albert Museum bought a lot of them and luckily they at least gave me some high-definition digital copies. I’m still missing a lot of the ones done for the Turin coachbuilders, though I think I have all of the ones for Moretti. And I have lots of the Ghia Aigle ones.” Giovanni Michelotti in the early years of his career as a freelance stylist. The study was set up in one of the two rooms of his home in Turin (the other was the bedroom). To the right, his son Edgardo, today the curator of his father’s Archive. Edgardo has no idea of how many drawings his father did throughout his career. “I have six thousand of them, but I reckon there are between 25 and 30 thousand drawings. Perhaps even more". "Of course, he didn't take away the ones he did when he was at Stabilimenti Farina, and I guess they’ve all been thrown away. That’s what they did at the time. Vignale threw loads of material away, and so did Balbo and Ghia. When they didn't need the drawings any more, they burned them: nobody thought of saving them for posterity at the time. But I think my archive contains the world’s most varied collection of my father’s work. He worked all the time, doing research and designing new things. Some of them were later literally copied by other designers, as Piero Castagnero did at Lancia, he stole some ideas from the Osca 1600, presented in Geneva in 1959, and he made the Fulvia HF, with the pagoda-style roof that was criticised at the time. My archive contains some patents and some contracts he signed with BMW, Triumph, with Siata. And I’ve got tons of correspondence. I think we can say that it’s possible to reconstruct a significant part of motoring history, from the 1950s to the ‘70s.” SpeedHolics would like to thank the Archivio Storico Michelotti for allowing us to publish the drawings illustrating this article - http://www.archiviostoricomichelotti.it/ -- Gilberto Milano , class of 1949, professional journalist, began writing about economics and industry and later turned to motoring. Especially historical motoring, specialising in the investigation of all aspects of collecting. He has written for all major Italian magazines. This is his first article for SpeedHolics.

For over forty years, this was the man who developed - and personally drove - the Ferrari prototypes that went on to become the Prancing Horse’s most iconic models. The story of Ferrari’s historical chief test driver, with some legendary characters, road and racing cars, special series and some unique vehicles, also with an eye on the Formula 1 single-seaters Words Alessandro Giudice Photography Alessandro Barteletti Video Andrea Ruggeri Archive Courtesy of Dario Benuzzi and Ferrari Archives The colour red is very much at home in Vignola. In early summer, the pale pink of the cherry blossom painting the orchards surrounding the town for miles is replaced by the bright red of the Mora cherry, which crown's Vignola’s European reputation for its high-quality fruit crops. Yet despite his family’s farming origins and working the land, it was another shade of red that charmed the young Dario Benuzzi: that of the Ferraris that shot through town every day, before climbing up into the Apennine hills along the route that the “Cavallino” test drivers used to test the Gran Turismo cars. The young man’s career was, at least at first, also a bit of an uphill climb, that classic apprenticeship that started with the decision to leave the fields and the family tradition in a place where agriculture is sacred, to work in a small local workshop training as a mechanic. Not just cars, but also motorbikes, trucks and a few tractors. And then, the turning point: a friend started to work as a test driver at Ferrari, they spent their evenings together talking about engines, until one day fate winked an eye at the plane and the Panaro River, and this was his chance. Not to be missed, because precisely in Maranello they were looking for young new test drivers, and Dario Benuzzi (who got his “D” licence during his military service, on the icy bends around the barracks in Pontebba, Friuli, between Austria and Slovenia) applied. This was the start of the most extraordinary, incredible, thrilling and engaging forty-seven years that a 25-year-old from Vignola could hope for. “Just to say, training us to drive to a certain level, during the course we practised in some serious cars, a Dino 246 and a Daytona.” Curiously, Benuzzi uses the male “il” pronoun to talk about the Ferraris, and not the female “she” that is usually used when talking about cars. [click to watch the video] The selection was tough, and the trainer Roberto Lippi, who had a weak spot for racing, and even took a Ferrari 275 GTB on the snow-covered roads of the 1966 Monte-Carlo Rally, chose a couple of the would-be test drivers: one was Benuzzi, the only one of the two who could drive the Daytona sideways round the big bend at the Modena Aerautodromo, which was still open in 1971. “The first two years were spent mostly focusing on duration, at least 5-600 kilometres a day and perhaps even more, from early morning to late at night, testing the cars for the US market. When we weren’t driving, we spent time in the workshop, working on the engine carburation, and in the test room.” For Dario, working in the ‘Esperienze’ department, everything revolved around Giorgio Enrico, chief test driver, the man who decided who did what. In this situation, Benuzzi made his mark: for his professionalism and dedication, of course, but especially for his innate driving sensitivity, which allowed him to sense even the slightest sign of a malfunction, even suggesting potential solutions to the engineers. When Enrico’s health began to prevent him from personally testing the cars, Benuzzi was called in by the management and moved from the “duration” tasks to “development”, putting him in charge of a new model. The project that crowned his new role at Ferrari was for the Testarossa, directed by the engineer Stefano Govoni.  “At that point, my whole world changed. I had to decide if an engine, a gearbox, a set-up was right for that type of car or if they had to be changed.” They started from the “mulotipo” - a curious blend of the word “muletto”, used by the drivers to define a car on which solutions are tested, and “prototipo” - prototype, and then created the actual prototype, the most advanced version of the car under development. Model by model, in an average of three years, this process led to the much-hoped-for “approval”, the final thumbs up from the test driver to the company so that serial production could begin. A huge responsibility… “Certainly, but also a very thrilling process. When you got to the end you wanted to start all over again, especially with some of the more particular models.” Like the 288 GTO, which followed on from the Testarossa. Initially designed to take Ferrari back into the Group B competitions, it was developed by the engineers in the GES (acronym of Gestione Sportiva, sporting management, the racing department in Maranello), and Dario was always in pole position for the tests. “It was a beautiful car, only visually related to the 308. It has a 400 HP engine, supercharged with two turbos and an intercooler and had some great but at times surprising thrust, it was a car to be driven with great attention.” And then came the F40. “After the GTO, we didn't think we could do anything more, and yet this project came along and we all fell in love with it. I think it is the car that I had most fun working on in my whole career. Not the best performing, but certainly the truest: a prototype style, no electronics, twin-turbo, light and powerful. It’s the Ferrari that, if I could, I would have in the garage.” Back then some people called him “prof” (professor), because all it took him was a quick drive round to understand what was wrong, but it wasn't always hunky dory. The historic entrance to Ferrari at Via Abetone Inferiore 4 in Maranello, which has remained virtually unchanged since its origins; BELOW Dario Benuzzi “at work”, exiting the sweeping corner of the Fiorano track with smoking tires, of course behind the wheel of a Ferrari: the F40 was the car he felt most attached to. “For the F40, for example, I wanted the brake to be harder than normal, so you needed a pressure of 50 kg and not the usual 30. This was to prevent the driver, reacting quickly in an emergency situation, from blocking the wheels and consequently swerving. A choice that apparently went against driving comfort, but was necessary for a car packed with power but without a vacuum servo or ABS, or even power steering.” A delicate topic, this, as Benuzzi, being on the side of those who had to put powerful cars on the market, personally experienced the transition from analogue to electronic, passing through some of the major mechanical facilitations. “Like the hydraulic steering (Benuzzi never calls it power steering…) which marked a major turning point, for Ferrari and for all high-performance cars.” And not only those, we might say. “Sure, but in terms of speed, precision and sensitivity, the driveability hydraulic steering adds to super-sports cars can’t be compared to the advantages it offers normal cars.” Prior to electronics, which help, prevent and correct, everything was in the hands of the driver.   What is the secret for approving the perfect car? “You have to start from the assumption that the car isn’t built around you personally and your skills and habits, but must be suited to everyone. So if you're not sensitive enough to understand this, you’re in the wrong job. And then you need driving skill. When you take out a prototype car, you never know how it will behave and you need not the cunning but the intelligence to not overdo things, always calculating what could happen. Over the years I’ve seen a lot of things happen, even on approved cars. There’s always even a minimal warning that something’s not right, and you have to be able to capture that.” The Fiorano track, an operational hub of excellence for drivers, testers, and technicians at Ferrari; BELOW After the F40, Benuzzi continued developing several special limited-edition models, such as the 660 hp Enzo, produced from 2002 to 2004 in just 399 units to celebrate the 55th anniversary of the Prancing Horse. This was preceded in the 1995-1997 period by the 349 units of the 520 hp F50 (pictured on the far right), which marked the company's 50th anniversary. Like the time when, in Fiorano, out on a demonstration run with a Chinese journalist, he felt something rough in the brakes and, two laps later, one of the front carbon discs exploded: “I was doing 230 km/hour, and the car skidded, I managed to hold her and get to the gravel on the side of the track. I looked at my passenger, who was clapping in delight. He had really enjoyed it, far more than I did.” Electronics didn't change the testing methods. Every car is approved in “Race” mode, so without the interference of the electronic controls, the ABS or ASR: “The car must be perfect on its own without any electronic assistance, as this cuts in only when drivers find themselves in trouble on normal roads and choose to enable it.” For Benuzzi, the work was always very hard going. Three or four models were developed at any one time, in addition to special cars, as happened with the F50, Enzo and LaFerrari, as well as racing cars, like the F40 LeMans and the 333 SP, with their ventures into the F1 world: “I always tested the single-seaters before they set off for a Grand Prix, a final check to make sure everything was OK.” Benuzzi explains, and adds: “The Formula 1 is a perfect car: it brakes more and quicker than you expect, and its road holding and power are extraordinary. And what is great is that when you stop, there are twenty people all over you asking what’s wrong, and in just a few minutes they make the changes and you’re off again checking them. Fantastic! Drivers don't only need the ‘physique du role’, they also have to have quick reactions and clear-headedness. I remember I was a mess after ten laps in Fiorano, my neck hurt because of the G force that pushed my head outwards on every bend: it was such an effort keeping it straight!” In addition to the control tests, for the F1 Benuzzi also developed the electro-actuated gearbox, which was an innovation for the time but not something the drivers were happy with. “One day, Piero Ferrari called me and told me that I had to test something very secret. He made me do a few laps in a single-seater with a manual gearbox, and immediately afterwards as many again in one with an electro-actuated gearbox. Aside from the initial difficulties in developing the mechanism, I really liked this system straight away: changing gear without having to take your hands off the wheel and holding it firmly made everything much quicker and more effective, as well as much safer.” Sitting in the living room of his home, Benuzzi flips through the photos that tell the story of his career; BELOW Dario Benuzzi's career was defined by significant relationships, both personal and professional. With Piero Ferrari (left), with whom he shared a passion for cars and mechanics, and with Michael Schumacher (right), during a driving session at Mugello with engineer Petrotta and the yellow Enzo from the Experience Department A life spent working with some of the world’s most beautiful and exclusive cars meant that Dario Benuzzi had to deal with some very extraordinary characters, including the chairmen who over time held the reins of the Prancing Horse. According to him, they all had one thing in common: a heavy foot, i.e., the tendency to drive very fast. Starting from Enzo Ferrari, of whom Benuzzi was particularly in awe. “One day I got a call from Dino Tagliazzucchi, his historical chauffeur, who asked me to drop into the office in Fiorano because the Commendatore wanted to speak to me. I went in all worried, thinking that I had done something wrong, but he said that the brakes on his grey Ferrari 412 were hissing: ‘I already have to put up with the hissing fans because we're not winning the Formula 1, at least help me get rid of these hissing brakes!” I did the job, took the car back and, to my surprise, Ferrari wanted to do a lap round the track to check that everything was OK. He was already 87 years old, he got in and set off. When he screeched to the end of the straight, I didn't think he would make it. He hit the bend, braking at the last second, then accelerated out and along the track. At the end, he said: ‘Good job, they don't hiss anymore’, then he called Dino and had the 412 put in the garage. He never used it again.” Benuzzi always appreciated Luca di Montezemolo’s enthusiasm and managerial skill. “He literally changed Ferrari in terms of development, prototypes and the working environment. He was one of those who said ‘Benuzzi said so’ and this became the official approval for any change.” And did he have a heavy foot? “If I had to go out with him the next day, I always had a sleepless night. He was fast, nothing ever happened, but for me, sitting next to someone who drives fast has always been a problem.” Benuzzi also has a fond memory of Sergio Marchionne, underlined by that touch of sadness because of his unexpected and premature death. “He was a gentleman. I remember one weekend he had booked the track in Fiorano for a meeting with the managers of the American group. I sent 2-3 cars with the test drivers, and during the coffee breaks he had the guests do a few laps. On the Saturday morning, his secretary called me and asked me why I wasn't on the track. ‘Because nobody told me to be there’, I replied. ‘Mr Marchionne needs you - she said - are you available?’ I tell her no, I have a prior engagement with my wife, but if he wanted, I could be there the next day, on Sunday. ‘That could be tough, tomorrow morning he has a meeting at 7 and is leaving for Detroit straight afterwards, but I’ll ask’. She came back to the phone and told me, OK, he would be waiting for me on the track the next day at 9. I went in the next morning, he apologised for forcing me to work on a Sunday, and then had me on the track with a manager he had promised the thrill of driving round Fiorano with me to. ‘Show him how you drive’, then he got in the helicopter and left”. A double corner along the road frequently used by testers, leading from Maranello to Serramazzoni, in the province of Modena. Benuzzi behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car. For the Team, Dario was responsible for the development of the electro-actuated gearbox and also tested the cars before each World Championship race. Another fundamental character for Ferrari was Amedeo Felisa, the engineer who graduated from Milan Polytechnic, who worked in Maranello for 26 years, as Technical Director, then General Director and finally as CEO. He was first and foremost a huge fan, and sometimes would drive for miles in the cars being developed, just for his own personal and professional pleasure. Benuzzi worked with him practically all the time. “He called me Ben, he would phone me and say: ‘Come down here to the machine and buy me a coffee, and there we would talk about cars, he would ask me about the problems, we would discuss possible solutions. On a couple of occasions, he would shout down the technical department, to get things done that I had suggested and that hadn’t been done. He was another one who said ‘Benuzzi said so’.”   And while the Ferrari top management all more or less put their efforts and their personality into developing a globally recognised image of dream-car legends, legendary enterprises and champions at the wheel, some of the people in Benuzzi's story had some other roles that were in any case profoundly linked to the company and his work. Such as Piero Ferrari and Franco Gozzi. The Commendatore's son always had a thoughtful attitude and respected people's roles, and over time this brought him charisma and respect, beyond his important name. “A very nice person, polite and competent. He drove very well and was able to understand the car instantly. When I asked him to try a car, he was always very willing and happy to do so. We would head up towards Serramazzoni, and we exchanged opinions on the driving performance and dynamics. I remember at the time he drove a green 308 GT4, a Bertone”. Franco Gozzi was a real character, a highly skilled communicator, Enzo Ferrari's undisputed right-hand man and a key figure in public relations. He would involve Benuzzi in a range of institutional situations, from presentations to the press to meetings with customers, from making videos and brochures of the models to taking VIP guests out on the track. “Gozzi was an incredible person, he could solve any problem. There are many anecdotes about him. For instance, once we took a car to Montefiorino castle, near Modena, for an institutional photo shoot. The photographer wanted to take the car inside the castle, but it was slightly wider than the main entrance door, perhaps just a centimetre. So he asked the photographer which side of the car he wanted to photograph, and he said: “The right.” And he made me squeeze through, sacrificing the left-hand side of the car, which we had repaired later. When he wanted something, he would stop at nothing and nobody. Except for Enzo Ferrari, of course!” Benuzzi met so many famous people that he has trouble thinking of special encounters. He mentions Lucio Dalla - “I often saw him on the Via Emilia, between Modena and Bologna, with his red Gloria, a 48-cc moped. Then Montezemolo brought him to the track and I took him for a spin in the F40” -, Eric Clapton - “when I asked for tickets to one of his concerts for Roberto Fedeli, who was head of the GT Ferrari and also a musician, at the end of the performance he gave him his guitar” - and the astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti - “she wrote me a lovely letter after I took her out on the track. She said that even though she piloted jets, when you fly it feels like you are still, but in a Ferrari you can really feel the speed.” The statue of the Prancing Horse in the center of Maranello, at the intersection of Via Claudia and Via Giardini: standing 3 meters tall, it was crafted from sheet metal by artists Fabrizio Magnani and Alberto Poggioli; BELOW When a famous personality visited Ferrari (left, Italian singer-songwriter Lucio Dalla), Benuzzi's task was to offer them the thrill of a few laps on the track. He also assisted with testing sessions, as he did with multiple MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi (pictured on the right), who also tested a F1 car at Fiorano. Another funny anecdote concerns Gozzi and a special visit. “He told me to get ready, because I had to take a beautiful woman out on the track. A black limousine with Bologna plates turned up and out got Bo Derek, accompanied by a beautiful young girl wearing a very light floral dress. They were testing the Formula 1, and the mechanics all started to comment on the guests in local dialect: ‘I prefer that one, I the other, I would do that, I would do the other’, and so on. Gozzi left them to it as he explained the single-seater to Bo Derek, while the other girl watched on, smiling. Only when they were leaving at the end, Gozzi took the girl by the arm and led her to the wall in front of the pits where the mechanics were working on the car, and in dialect said: ‘Stop a minute, I forgot to tell you something: this young lady is not American, she’s from Bologna, and she perfectly understands ‘Modenese’ and everything you said!’ That's how Gozzi was, he always played the situation down, he had a wonderful spirit.”   Before we finish our chat, please explain one thing: what were the other cars on the market like, the ones you exchanged with the other manufacturers or the ones the “Competition Analysis” department bought with its own budget? “Everyone did a good job. Some were excellent on the track but then maybe out on the road, at the first dip they would jump, the rear would lose its grip and spin out. In the end, I’m sorry to say because I sound like an advert, but there is no one else like Ferrari.” Always frank and precise, this is Dario Benuzzi, with his actor’s face, deep gaze and the awareness of having turned a passion into an extraordinary career. After millions of miles behind the wheel of some of the world’s most beautiful cars, he’s enjoying a life travelling with his beloved Miriam. Do you miss your previous life a little? “There is a time for everything, even though sometimes I have doubts. For example, when I’m driving with my wife sitting next to me and she says ‘watch out there, go that way, take care the road’s wet’. So I get in my Giulia Q4 Turbo and take a drive out in the hills by myself. When I get home, I say, ‘OK, I still know how to drive’.”

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