Fourteen Past Five: The Story of an Italian Sports Car Jewel

Inspired by the Parma-Poggio di Berceto, a road race that went past his family home, Fabrizio Lorenzoni desired from an early age to experience the same rush of speed that a racing driver does. With a Fiat 1100 by Stanguellini in the garage, few classics can give the same open air excitement as Lorenzoni’s unique machine.

Starting life as a race car in 1948, when Lorenzoni’s father bought the car in 1955 its history changed completely, Lorenzoni says. “We've kept this car at home since 1955 when my father bought it, but he never raced it,” he says. “He bought it exclusively for the pleasure of having a sports car at home, and it was kept in the garage for a long time.”

From 1977, however, a chance to commemorate the Parma-Poggio di Berceto race led the family to participate with the car in competition once again; this former racer had been used in several events in period, including the Targa Florio, Grand Prix of Naples, Grand Prix of Rome, and the Giro di Toscana.

Automobile Stanguellini began life as a Fiat tuner, eventually moving to produce its own coachbuilt models for racing purposes. The first owner of this special car named it “Micia”, after his wife allowed him to compete in the Mille Miglia.

After Lorenzoni’s first race outing with the car in 1977, he’s tried to research and piece together his car’s history from those early days of racing…when he’s not driving it, of course.

“Once the driver is inside the cockpit he finds himself inside a little jewel,” Lorenzoni says, “…by which I mean that it's very comfortable and you can experience the same thrill the drivers experienced in the ‘50s and ‘60s.”

“When I race, dressing the way drivers did in those days, I feel like I'm one of them, he says, “…although they were crazy and I'm a bit more calm.”

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