Collectors & Aficionados
Unforgettable Car Geniuses: Giampaolo Dallara. The Quiet Genius of Motorsport
From Ferrari to Lamborghini to his own brand, Giampaolo Dallara shaped motorsport with innovation, passion, and race-bred cars.
Racing was everything to him. Freshly graduated in engineering from Milan Polytechnic, he sought someone who would hire him and send him to the race tracks. Giampaolo Dallara had talent: in 1959, Ferrari hired him. But there was no racing. So he went to Maserati, where he worked on a few races assisting driver clients, but the company was struggling. He saw no future there. Ferruccio Lamborghini offered him a job. To lure him in, he sent him to Le Mans to see how to prepare a car for the 24-hour race. It was a clever ploy. Ferruccio had no intention of going to Le Mans, but when he arrived at the company, he asked him to design the new GT. It would be the Miura.
The young engineer, not yet thirty, proves to have talent. A lot of it. But the races don't come and he leaves again. This time to De Tomaso, who is in Formula 1 with Frank Williams. A new uphill struggle: few resources to hope for victory. Respected and now experienced, Giampaolo decides that he will enter the world of racing through his own company, which he sets up in his hometown of Varano de Melegari, near Parma, Italy. He discovers rallying and collaborates with Lancia on the development of the Stratos and then all the Lancia world champions.
