Thursday, June 7, 2012

Part II - Fiamma Breschi Talks About Enzo Ferrari, The Man, The Myth, The Marque And The Machine - Think Design Magazine Special Feature and Exclusive Interview



Words and Interview: Stephen Hadden

Continued from Part 1: 

Fiamma continues; Enzo, for whatever his reasons, took a shine to me, and pursued me relentlessly. He could never stop apologizing about Musso and would send me letters everyday written with his signature in violet ink professing his undying love. He invited me everywhere and I was soon to become a permanent fixture within the Ferrari inner circle.

Enzo was very intrigued with Fiamma, not only was she beautiful and incredibly knowledgeable, she also added another angle to the sport. She could see things from a women’s perspective, something Enzo believed would be necessary in making his road cars (Gran Turismo’s) more widely acceptable and sexier. Up until this time, the cars were seen as wealthy playboy toys and not something the wife quite liked or for that matter, a respectable addition to the garage. They were essentially fast engines wrapped inside an aluminum chassis, totally designed for speed alone.

Ever the strong willed and determined woman, Fiamma was to constantly give her truthful opinions when Enzo asked her what she thought of everything, from designs to ride quality and performance.
Maybe it was from my love of engines as a young girl, or perhaps because of being constantly involved in the sport with Luigi, I could understand the concept and design of cars better than most. Unlike men, who were only after speed, I wanted more. I wanted, speed, comfort and good looks. Enzo would listen, then argue and then finally agree.

I remember we were in his office in Modena one day discussing colors of all things. You see, Enzo was never a fan of the color red, but it stuck because of red being the racing colors of the Italian teams. Since the 1920s, Italian race cars have all been painted in ‘racing red’ or ‘Rosso Corsa’. This was the national racing color of Italy, as recommended between the organizations that later would eventually become the FIA. It is a reference to the nationality of the competing teams, not that of the car manufacturer or driver. Enzo always drove a pastel blue car. Even his personal Ferrari cars were always pastel blue, never red.

I was horrified when at the Paris Motor Show in 1962 Enzo debuted the 250 Berlina Lusso in a white wine yellow! It was insipid I thought. As we discussed this, outside waiting was none other than Ferrucio Lamborghini who had made an appointment about getting himself a sports car. His wealth was born from manufacturing tractors and agricultural equipment from abandoned and used war time tanks and vehicles. Three hours later, he was still waiting. You can imagine, he was not pleased at what seemed a deliberate snub and stormed out yelling, “No one, not even The Drake (Enzo’s nick name) keeps me waiting, Forget it, I will build my own!”

And in 1963, the Lamborghini Sports Car Division was born in direct competition to Ferrari in the road car market. Interestingly the meeting that kept him waiting was also when the idea for a striking yellow Ferrari was conceived and also in 1963, the first bright yellow Ferrari rolled off the production line, the original GTB 275 fondly called “Fiamma Giallo” (fiamma means flame in Italian) later to be renamed “Giallo FLY”, as Fly was easier for marketing and denoted ‘airborne’. Enzo only chose the name because he wanted to keep the “F”.

During this time, Fiamma took to testing every new model that came out of the Maranello stable and is widely known as the first female test driver of sports cars and during her time in Modena clocked up an astonishing 67,000 kilometers of test driving per year right across Italy. An incredible feat. It is no wonder Enzo was so endeared.

In 1964 Ferrari debuted the 275 GTB. As with most Ferraris, the design was outsourced to Pininfarina who basically refined and modified the bodywork and Scaglietti constructed them based on the final designs produced by the Ferrari engineers. Fiamma once again was not impressed and after some heated exchange with Enzo got him to agree to a design rethink.
Fiamma elaborates…


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