Ferrari 458 Italia

The Ferrari 458 convertible.

And the M458T - 670 horsepower behemoth.

Bond's Italian Bond

"...Haider is the founder of Aspetto, a custom bulletproof clothier, which he runs along with Robert Davis. The front room of their small store in Fredericksburg, Virginia, is littered with silk swatches from Italy, wool remnants from leftover suiting and lists of measurements, all the makings of an old-school tailor shop. The back, however, is covered in what the owners call "ballistics", but most of us would refer to it as bulletproof gear..."

Of course, arguably Italy's greatest contribution to the Bond legend is the Aston Martin DB5 designed by Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera. 

Once again, we see not too far strays Italian influence. 

Two Mighty Civilizations Look To Boost Cooperation

China and Italy have come a long way since Marco Polo.

"Italy is the convergence point between the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. Thus the Sino-Italian cooperation in the construction of One Belt, One Road will be a reference for all countries along the route," Fan pointed out.

In 2014, the number of Chinese tourists traveling abroad increased by 19.5 percent year on year to 109 million, topping a threshold of 100 million for the first time in history, according to CNTA.
Onofrio Cutaia, Director General for tourism policies of the Italian Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MIBACT), said "The rise of China and connected demand for tourism arouse great expectations..."


"...For this reason, he underlined, Italy, the country with highest number of UNESCO world culture sites besides to more than 6,000 palaces and castles and nearly 4,000 protected natural areas, cannot miss the opportunity to strengthen tourism relations with China by "easing visa policies, offering convenient and diversified solutions, and becoming familiar with the needs of Chinese tourists."

And 40% of the world's and 60% of Europe's art treasures lie within its borders.

Which is baffling why, a country with staggering offerings would lag Spain and even France in tourism.

Space Espresso

Yeah, yeah. I've been out of action.

But this story should make it up to you all.

Only Italians would send barista-astronauts (Samantha Cristoforetti) into space to make espresso in a machine made by Lavazza.

From NBC (in first link): "...Roberto Battiston, the head of the Italian Space Agency, called the coffeemaker a "work of high engineering" in a report from Italy's ANSI news agency. He said the experiment will produce "not only immediate psychological benefits for the astronauts, but significant positive returns to Earth and technological advantages for future space missions." 


Italians are too much.

E-Commerce Lags In Italy

Italians are still wary of buying goods and services on the internet and significantly lag behind France and Germany as well as Spain.

Torino Joins The New Stadium Fray

Torino is the latest club to join Juve, Roma, Inter, AC Milan, and Napoli in looking to build a new stadium.

In Napoli's case details have yet to be released.

This is great news not only for Torino (who by the way had an impressive run in Europa League just missing out on reaching the quarter-finals) and its Filadelfia project but Serie A.

Upgrading stadiums are crucial to maintaining and enhancing revenue streams and reestablishing Serie A's prestige. 

AC Mlian's New Stadium

With Juventus already in their new state of the art digs, and Roma and Inter Milan (and possibly Napoli) having announced their own plans for a new home, it was a matter of time before AC Milan would come in with its own plans.

"AC Milan have revealed the first designs for their proposed new €400m stadium to be constructed in the Portello area of the city. Designed in collaboration with Arup, the arena will be part of a larger regional development that intends to remain open seven days a week. The stadium will boast a total match-day capacity of 48,000 and includes a hotel, a variety of restaurants and integrated areas of public greenery.

The stadium plans have been drawn up by Fabio Novembre, the architect behind the club’s recently ‘Casa Milan’ headquarters and are partly inspired by Bayern Munich’s former Olympic Stadium, as well as Juventus Stadium in Turin."

I watched the Milan Derby in 1999 with a friend at the legendary San Siro. Looks like I may have to make a new trip to Milan.

Now if the club can just regain its legendary form. Indeed, these are trying times for the rossoneri in both domestic and European competition.

Pretty In Pink

And now for something a tad different...

The top pink headlines from La Gazzetta dello Sport dating back to its inception in 1896

La Gazzetta is an iconic sports paper on par, arguably, with Sports Illustrated in terms of its impact.

As the article shows, soccer wasn't the biggest sport in Italy in the early going. Professional cycling and motor racing were. In fact, they continue to have rabid support in a country with a staggering legacy in those sports. Of course, slowly Soccer slowly overtook those sports (a little like how pro football gradually displayed baseball in the United States by the 1960s) to eventually rule supreme.

Contrast this with another great sports country. In Germany amateur soccer was popular from the start despite not having a legitimate professional soccer league until 1963 with the Bundesliga.

Until that time Germany didn't have a professional sports landscape as was the case in Italy (and Spain in soccer). This changed in the 1980s with the rise of its tennis stars, and in the 1990s with pro race car drivers and cyclists enter the fray.

This is why, in part, when you look at the list of world champions in pro sports like motor racing, cycling and even skiing (not so much tennis), there are more Italians than Germans.

It also explains why Italy (along with Spain) is or was home to the the top leagues at various points in different sports over the years from soccer to basketball to volleyball.

Interesting that the best leagues were from two Mediterranean nations and not from Northern Europe. But that's for another discussion.

From Unique To Lost Classic Bikes: Pegoretti And Pogliaghi

Here's a link to an interview with Dario Pegoretti; a unique personality in the custom bike industry.

More here about Pegoretti.

And here. 

Several great pro champions including Indurain, Roche and Pantani have used Pegoretti as well as celebrities including the late Robin Williams.

***

(Now defunct) Pogliaghi Italcorse from 1971:

 

 

F-35A Fighter Jets Unveiled

"Lockheed Martin has rolled out the first F-35A Lightning II joint strike fighter aircraft from the Final Assembly and Check Out (FACO) facility at Cameri Air Base in northern Italy."

"...Lockheed Martin is proud of its relationship with Italy and values the highly-skilled Alenia Aermacchi workforce building this incredible jet...."

"...The F-35 is a fifth-generation multi-role fighter aircraft, and is designed to conduct a wide range of ground attack, reconnaissance, and air defence missions with stealth capability.
The three F-35 variants include a conventional take-off and landing aircraft for the US and allied air forces, a short takeoff and landing fighter for the US Marine Corps and the UK Royal Navy, as well as a carrier version for the US Navy...."

The Men Behind Timless Engineering Designs

Prior to offering his engineering skills to Maserati and Lamborghini, Giulio Alfieri built his reputation at Lambretta and Innocenti. In addition to building chassis and engines (including for Citroen) he also designed Maserati motorcyles.

After Alejandro De Tomaso bought Maserati in 1975, he summarily dismissed Alfieri who was influential in blocking the sale while the company was still owned by the Orsi family seven years prior.

Here are snippets of his creations:

Image credits: Top - From Mega Deluxe 1951 Lambretta; 2nd image a scooter that reached 200 km/hr. Third, Lamborghini Countach (25th anniversary edition); Fourth, Maserati (Birdcage 1961); Last, Alfieri working on engine.

Racing Cars And The Italian Economy

Here are some excerpts from a paper titled The Italian Sports Car Cluster (Harvard):

"...Another interesting phenomenon in Italy’s business environment is the prevalence of small-
medium enterprises (SMEs), particularly in manufacturing. Two-thirds of Italian manufacturing workers are in firms with fewer than 100 employees, versus 37% in the U.S. and 31% in Germany. Italy has more SMEs than any other country in Europe—more than 50% more than Germany, the next largest. The Economist argues that a globalize world puts a premium on size, so that Italy’s SME legacy will be forced to change...."

"...Northern Italy is among the richest regions in all of Europe, when measured by disposable income..."
 
"...Exports of goods, including automotive, are sent mostly to Europe (72%).

Italy’s natural resources exports account only for 0.5% of its
GDP and 2.4% of exports.

Italy has the most industrially-diversified exports in the ICCP sample, measured by the
lowest percentage of exports concentrated in the Top 50 Industries (42%).

Italy has significant strength at the cluster level in world markets (Tab
le 1): Seven Italian clusters are among the top 3 in the world, and 15 are in the top 5 (from
a sample of 42 clusters), giving Italy a 17% and 36% share. Similar strength exists with sub-clusters

Italy is among the richest countries in the world, with development indicators comparable to its
European peers and the OECD average.

How does Italy achieve such high levels of income with a relatively poor business environment?
-worsening business environment
-north dragging down by south
-clusters not affected by government policies..."

"...Modena, Italy, the home of the Italian sports car cluster, is known as the "international capital of sports cars." It is the birthplace of Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati and De Tomaso. The first
three of these (De Tomaso no longer manufactures cars) comprise the core of the cluster we will
be analyzing. All three companies have their headquarters within a 15-km radius of one another. This small geographic area produces a surprisingly large portion—nearly a third, overall—of the high end sports car units sold worldwide every year..."

"...As we can see from Exhibit 13, given Italy’s level of GDP per capita, it has an extremely high penetration of cars per thousand.
 
In fact, Italy has the second highest absolute car penetration behind Luxembourg."

*Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta (1964) image from Bold Ride.

Venturi's Physics And Random Car Photos

"The Venturi effect is the reduction in fluid pressure that results when a fluid flows through a constricted section of pipe. The Venturi effect is named after Giovanni Battista Venturi (1746–1822), an Italian physicist."

In F1 it helps to improve downforce.

Wind tunnels a key component/feature in the aerodynamic designs of Italian cars.

***  ***

Some random car photos:

Images: 1st The most expensive car in the world Ferrari 250 GTO (1964); 2nd Concept car extraordinaire DeTomaso Vallelunga (1966);  3rd: The exquisite Lancia Flaminia Zagato (1966); The audacious Lamborghini Diablo (1992). Last, Lamborghini LM002 (1985).

Sports Car Racing History

In-depth history lesson of the sports car industry at the Gutenberg project.

Hint: Italy features prominently.

Excerpts:

"...In the 1920s, the cars used in endurance racing and Grand Prix were still basically identical, with fenders and two seats, to carry a mechanic if necessary or permitted. Cars such as the Bugatti Type 35 were almost equally at home in Grands Prix and endurance events, but specialisation gradually started to differentiate the sports-racer from the Grand Prix car. The legendary Alfa Romeo Tipo A Monoposto started the evolution of the true single-seater in the early 1930s; the Grand Prix racer and its miniature voiturette offspring rapidly evolved into high performance single seaters optimised for relatively short races, by dropping fenders and the second seat..."

"...In open-road endurance races across Europe such as the Mille Miglia, Tour de France and Targa Florio, which were often run on dusty roads, the need for fenders and a mechanic or navigator was still there. As mainly Italian cars and races defined the genre, the category was called Gran Turismo, as long distances had to be travelled, rather than running around on short circuits only..."

"...Italy found itself with both grassroots racing with a plethora of Fiat based specials (often termed "etceterinis") and small Alfa Romeos, and exotica such as Maserati and Ferrari – who also sold cars to domestic customers as well as racing on the world stage. Road races such as the Mille Miglia included everything from stock touring cars to World Championship contenders. The Mille Miglia was the largest sporting event in Italy until a fatal accident caused its demise in 1957. The Targa Florio, another tough road race, remained part of the world championship until the 1970s and remained as a local race for many years afterwards..."

The Maserati 250F Rsce Car Legacy

The above is the Maserati 250F. In its time between 1954 and 1960, it became the most decorated Grand Prix race car in history having earned 277 starts more than any other before or since.

Not least notable, the Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio drove it to two F1 World Championship titles as well as British driver Stirling Moss together earning eight wins.

Incredibly, this legendary and much admired car is set to have been sold for between 1700 and 2000 euros.

Second pic from here.