I've been very hesitant to post this and have very much gone back and forth as to whether or not I should. I present this as a very unique bit of Ferrari history and just a need to not let the story vanish. This will a somewhat lengthy and picture-intense thread. Thank you in advance for your indulgence. So, after a very brief exchange with a moderator, here goes...... My linkage to Ferrari goes back to 1974 (at the age of 16). I had always been interested in cars and thought some designs were somewhat limited and tried my hand at some alternatives as well as some new design directions. I had a high school guidance counselor Mr. Kerr (former auto shop teacher and drag racer). I showed him my designs and he was positive. I was thinking about engineering/automotive design as a career choice and decided to send out letters to many car companies (Ford, GM, Toyota, Honda, Lotus, McLaren, Lamborghini, Porsche......), asking if they would be willing to look at my designs. Only one car company responded – Ferrari. Image Unavailable, Please Login I'll post the starting point of the relationship and the various progression points over the next little while. Thanks for looking. Gary.
Thanks for the reply tomc. No, I don't know who signed the letter, but the progression as I sent my drawings becomes more interesting. Given the culture of Ferrari at the time (having read the biography "Enzo Ferrari" by Luca Dal Monte), there would have had to been approval from a higher level for the engineers to review my drawings. Read into it what you will.
Okay, here goes..... The car was named "Gila" after the southwestern lizard. Yes, I know it is slow and the bite, though poisonous is not fatal. Nevertheless, there is a lot of mythology regarding the lizard and what the heck in 2017 didn't the NHL Las Vegas Golden Knights adopt it as their mascot? LOL. Below is the design concept. I'll post a few drawings next. I did have a colour three-dimensional, but I can't seem to locate it (no surprise after 46 years I guess).
Here are some of the intial drawings. I had loved the design of the DeTomaso Mangusta and the work of Ital Design. Image Unavailable, Please Login View attachment 3855738
It looks like I only able to post one drawing at a time. So, here is the side rendering of Design Phase 2. I'll also attach front and rear views in subsequent posts. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Here is the front view up to Design Phase 6 where Ferrari suggested I put in a hidden headlight (although I had originally wanted to go with a glass covering). I had read somewhere that the "pop-up" headlights would reduce car velocity significantly due to increased drag. Image Unavailable, Please Login
You can see that I had gone with the "kammback" design for the rest of the design period. Anyway, here is the rear view of the cars. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I'm now getting ahead of myself. It was at the Design Phase 3 that I submitted my drawings to Ferrari as well as the aforementioned missing 3-D rendering. I know that I misplaced it somewhere as Ferrari was very meticulous in returning all materials to me.
Yes. I also should mention that if you think the drawings look like they were done on a drafting table - that's because they were. In fact, I would be remiss to forget my high school drafting teacher, Mr. Clark. He was the one who suggested I talk to the guidance counsellor (mentioned above). The drawings are also to scale (1/16).
Hi Tom: Just to follow up, attached is the first response to my drawings - from Ing. Luigi Marmiroli. There is a wikipedia page on him: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=it&u=https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luigi_Marmiroli&prev=search&pto=aue The letter is below:
Here is the translation: "The sketches and data attached to your kind letter are sufficient to convey the maximum idea of the car designed by you, but above all, and the thing that comforts us most, reveals the passion that you have for the world of 'car. However, the next step of developing the idea by putting it into construction drawings will undoubtedly be fraught with difficulties. Please accept the best regards. Ing. L. Marmiroli Attached we return all the material sent to us with your letter dated 4 / XI / 74. (Package with drawings sent separately)". This became the starting point for the next two years.
Wow..... this is like a dream from another life..... how very cool! Who owns the movie rights? ;-) Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk
.....and clay tablets. Yeah, like there was a time before computers and Solidworks. LOL Thank you for the compliment.
Hate to leave you in suspense, but I need to take a slight detour. My desire was to not only do the bodywork, but also the entire car - chassis, suspension, even engine. Therefore I needed to do some research over and above just reading some magazine articles. So, I went to the local exotic car dealerships - Checkered Flag (they represented Lotus and raced a Lotus 49 and Europa) as well as Carter GM (who at that time represented Lamborghini and I believe Ferrari). So, now at the age of 17, I could approach these dealerships with my drawings and the letters from Ferrari and essentially be given Carte Blanche with the exotics!!!! I didn't have a driver's license (and coming from a large family, my parents insisted that I take a driver's ed course and that I also had to pay for it). On the other hand, I could show up at the dealerships, explain what I wanted to do, show some provinence and ....... Afternoons with, just to name a few: Jaguar E-type coupe, Lotus Europa, Lamborghini Espada, Lamborghini Jarama, LAMBORGHINI MIURA, FERRARI 365 GTB/4 DAYTONA!!! There was no time limit. The salesman would unlock the car and leave with the keys. So I could never start the cars (and in hindsight it was unfortunate that I was never offered a ride). On the other hand, the cars were pretty packed in and to adjust and move them about would have been problematic. But I could sit inside, sketch and when I was done, just let the salesman know so he could lock up the car. One other car to add to the list: At the Vancouver International Auto Show (I think 1974, but it was probably 1975), a, orange, white leather interior, LP400 Lamborghini Countach (although for that one I couldn't get too close). Still got a lot of good sketches and it helped with the progression of the design.
So, from his bio, Ing. Marmiroli was just starting out @ the time your letters arrived. Cool to see him paying it forward, encouraging a passionate youngster. Molto bene! Have you thought to try and contact Ing. Marmiroli to thank him for his early encouragement. T