#Luca di Montezemolo

[christiangeistdorfer]

NIKI LAUDA celebrating his first win with LUCA DI MONTEZEMOLO at the 1974 SPANISH GRAND PRIX

[petit-papillion]

[diabolus1exmachina]

Ferrari GG50 by Giorgetto Giugiaro 

Concept cars are usually made before those who go straight into production. That is the reason why they are called so. Concepts do not limit the imagination of designers, but when the car comes into production, engineers take a more important role. As a result, a lovely concept of a car can sometimes become an ugly duck.However, that is the case about Hyundai, Nissan, Opel and other manufacturers that are producing millions of cars per year. It does not include the exclusive ones – Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren, etc.This is a story about a car which life has been turned upside down. The production model came at first and the concept was shown off just a year after. This is a story about Ferrari GG50 – the concept car that Giorgetto Giugiaro made himself in 2005 while celebrating the 50th anniversary of creating stunning car designs.

The GG50 is based on Ferrari 612 Scaglietti series production car  – a four-seater with a front engine and rear wheel drive - a true Italian prancing horse. It has a twelve-cylinder, 5,7-liter engine under the hood, which generates 540 bhp and 588 Nm. At the time, turbochargers became extremely popular, but Ferrari tried to remain as traditional as possible. However, most engines manufactured in Modena were still highly revolutionary.

Like the original 612 Scaglietti, the following concept has the same 6-speed sequential rear-mounted gearbox, Brembo brakes, and other equipment. The main difference hides is design – the place where Giorgetto feels best.

Giugiaro took the idea a year before official presentation of GG50 and received all the support from Ferrari President at that time, Luca di Montezemolo. He gave the designer just one condition: no restrictions on creativity, but the concept must keep up with Ferrari tradition. Giugiaro started working on the concept half a year after. He did everything just like 50 years ago: sketched every detail entirely by hand, with a pencil. Finally, he created a 1:10 scale concept from four views: side, nose, tail and bird’s view. Later, the concepts were rendered in a 3D project. In April, a full-scale plaster model has been made. In June, a running prototype has been completed already! The concept has made its way from a scratch to running car in less than just five months. That’s the spirit when you’re in a hurry for your own birthday present.

Almost all technical details mentioned above remained the same except for some minor exceptions. The prototype’s wheelbase is the same, but overall length is shorter by 9 centimetres than the original 612 Scaglietti (4.81 meters vs. 4.9). The concept car is also lower – Giugiaro cut 2 centimetres of front overhang and nipped the rear by 7. There are more differences that we cannot see from outside. For example, a modified position of the 95-litre fuel tank that created a larger boot (270 vs. 240 litres). Also, a flat platform when rear seats are lowered (and a total capacity of 500 litres). The concept is more practical, no matter how funny the word “practical” sounds when we are talking about Ferrari.

Nevertheless, there are many stories about the concept’s appeal and originality. Ferrari GG50 is a true masterpiece because of the story of its creation. A very few production cars in history can boast that they have been a base for a concept car, but 612 Scaglietti is one of them.

[alexjcrowley]

New dad lore unlocked, what the fuck do you mean your friend knew Luca di Montezemolo so you did a test drive with a Ferrari once

[f1yogurt]

Niki Lauda crosses the line for his first Formula One victory as Ferrari team manager Luca di Montezemolo jumps for joy

- Spain, 1974

[gonnaupdatethisrandomly]

[changing-my-username]

Seeing Montezemolo say that Brawn must have cheated in the Brawn documentary

[feraltwinkseb]

Pope John Paul II receives as a gift from Ferrari President Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, Michael Schumacher, Rubens Barrichello, Jean Todt and mechanics a 1:5 scale model of the car that won Ferrari both the championship and constructor title in 2004 during a meeting at the Clementina Hall January 17, 2005, in Vatican City Source: Arturo Mari-Vatican Pool/Getty Images

[christiangeistdorfer]

LUCA DI MONTEZEMOLO celebrating his boyfriend NIKI LAUDA crossing the finish line in 1st place at the 1974 SPANISH GRAND PRIX

[petit-papillion]

"[Michael Schumacher] and [Niki] Lauda had one thing in common: when you win, you all win together. When you lost, you all lost together. Often, there are drivers who think it is their merit when they win. When they don't win, it is the fault of the team or the car."

"[Charles] Leclerc is very good. He is a very fast driver, especially on the flying lap. He is a driver who is experiencing a very delicate moment in his career. He is still very young, but the years go by, and he has to try to win. To do that, he needs a competitive car… "

Former Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo on Piazzapulita | 30 March 2023

[prettybeatup]

Niki and Luca

[alexjcrowley]

I am all against the "social" social media (that's why I almost esclusively used tumblr) but I think TikTok should have existed in 2009 to make very shirt aesthetic edit of Jenson Button at Brawn being sad during the entire second half of the season + montage of various people Luca di Montezemolo saying he's not world champion material/he doesn't have that one extra bit with the audio "There's really no way of winning/ If in their eyes you'll always be a dumb blonde"

[f1yogurt]

Niki and Luca read a magazine

[cazzyf1]

Some facts about Niki Lauda

Five years since he left us today 💔

As a kid, he was bullied for coming from a well-off family and for having an overbite. He and his brother would be chauffeured to school, and Niki would beg to be dropped off around the corner so the kids wouldn't see him arriving in the car.

Niki failed his school degree but forged the certificate so his parents wouldn't know he had failed.

Niki's first job was working at a garage, but he was demoted to 'food runner' when he accidentally broke part of an expensive car. All the mechanics would chuck things at him from then.

One of his first cars was a car his friend's dad owned that he went out joyriding in and then crashed. He knew he had to buy the car before his friend's dad found out so ran to his grandma and told her if she didn't give him the money, he would go to jail.

Niki was always at odds with his grandad as he felt his grandad was very hypocritical. His grandad didn't want Niki to be racing and actually stopped one of the banks giving Niki money for his racing career but Niki got around his grandad in the end. Sadly his grandad died before Niki achieved any big success in Formula One.

He met his girlfriend Mariella skiing, when he fell down a slope and ended up lying in a star fish position beside her. As soon as he got up he invited her to a dance. They arrived and found the dance rather boring and left not long after.

As soon as he could, he moved out of his parent's house, determined to try and make his way in life without their help. This meant going into debt to try and fund his racing career. He even took out life insurance on himself.

After driving for March, he was let go and he felt incredibly depressed because he was in a lot of debt with no seat. He knew of a dead end road with a brick wall near to where he was driving and he debated driving into the wall but quickly got rid of those thoughts. He thankfully got a seat with BRM.

Niki would joke with his receptionist, where he would ask if Ferrari had called. One day the receptionist told him they had.

Mariella was popular among the driver wives, and she got along with Helen Stewart and Bette Hill, though she never really liked the sport and believed once Niki had won his world championship, he should retire to focus on things that would actually bring in money. Niki had no intention of retiring. When Niki suddenly broke up with her, the other drivers' wives tried to conspire to get Mariella and Niki back together, though he was now dedicated to Marlene.

Niki got along really well with Luca Cordero di Montezemolo and even named his first son, Lukas, after Luca.

Niki was raised with manners which included kissing a ladies hand. When he won the Monaco gp for the first time he kissed Princess Grace's hand which wasn't allowed. He was very confused as to why everyone was making a fuss about it.

Niki was attempting to dig out ground with a tractor for his own swimming pool when he accidentally flipped it and got crushed under breaking three ribs. From this he was introduced to Willi Dungl who told Niki he would have to travel to Vienna to be treated by him. Willi didn't believe he would but when Niki did turn up he agreed to treat him, and there, their friendship started which would be useful for when Niki had his bad crash at the Nürburgring because Willi helped him recover quickly

Niki has no memory of the crash after he left the pits, but when he was being transported to hospital someone ran up to him with a phone and asked him to give an interview for a Brazilian show. He has no idea what he said.

Niki didn't like the fact that people kept staring at his scars rather than at himself when they spoke to him, and so Willi grabbed a hat and put it on Niki's head. Niki then realised he could earn money by getting sponsors to pay him to wear a hat with their logo.

After 1976, the Ferrari team were trying to push Niki out as they felt after the crash he wouldn't be as good. But he had already signed the contract and made sure he was going to race for 1977, won the world championship and then left as he didn't want to deal with Ferrari's politics. It would take a few years before he and Enzo Ferrari reconciled.

Niki Lauda and James Hunt were friends and had lots of fun together. Niki invited James to a party and then offered to fly James to the GP practise the next day. James almost missed Niki's flight as he was still up partying in the morning.

When Niki Lauda retired, Marlene was so happy that when she found out the first thing she did was call Niki's grandmother to tell her and then went to the local bar where they lived and paid for all drinks to celebrate.

Niki is one of the few drivers that read the new terms for the 1982 super licence and organised to go on strike. He was one of the main leaders and one of the older drivers reassuring everyone else.

He wasn't happy when John Watson was let go and Alain Prost came in for Mclaren. He was suspicious on how nice Alain was and how fast he was but eventually he warmed up to Alain taking a mentor role.

Willi Dungl put Niki on a strict diet for his racing and overall fitness which is where Niki's obsession with having strawberries and yogurt every morning. Niki would try and cheat the diet all the time though including running across fields to his neighbours house to have schnitzel.

Dr Sid Watkins once caught Niki cheating his diet by having an English breakfast. When he confronted Niki, Niki replied 'Do you want me to die hungry?'

It was a close battle between Niki and Alain Prost but eventually Niki won. Niki could see Alain was upset though and told him this was his year and next year would be Alain's year.

Niki didn't care for his trophies and gave them to his local garage for free car washes. He eventually got them back when the man passed away, and his son Lukas sold them on eBay to earn money to fund his younger brother Mathias racing career.

When he first started working at Mercedes, him and Toto Wolff did not get along as there was a power struggle. They were called in to talk to the Mercedes bosses about it, and before the meeting, Niki confronted Toto in the toilets, and they agreed to get along.

Asshole was Niki's favourite word. He became known around Mercedes for saying the catchphrase 'Give it assholes'

During Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg's rivalry, Niki invited them to his home in Ibiza and tried locking them in a room together to discuss their issues.

Niki once went to Toto when they were at a hotel complaing about the pay for view at the hotel not working. Toto had to show Niki how he could get 'action movies' on his phone.

A reporter once asked Niki how he prepared for the film 'Rush' he replied that he had prepared the barbecue.

On my Instagram account dedicated to Niki Lauda, @niki.lauda.tribute, today (20th), on my stories, I am hosting the opposite to submit anonymous messages about Niki Lauda. If you would like, you can send anything, like your thoughts on Niki, what he means to you, what an impact he has had on you, ect.

[petello993]

L'Italia non ha più un'industria automobilistica ed è debole...

[blorbocedes]

"it is pretty fascinating redbull who is unbeatable on track is going through an internal implosion of absolute power corrupting like straight out of a moral fable. lol"

This is what kind of happened to Ferrari too back in the Golden age. 2004 - 2006 somehow Jean Todt and Luca di Montezemolo started colliding about power over the team

I would love to know more!