When passing by before, it was written engine n. 16, right? and so you're almost at the end. Do you remember what it was like to see engine 1? So, it's a very strange feeling, in the sense that on the one hand, I'm happy that we're reaching the end of the project on the other hand, a bit... doubtful, because within six months I could find myself unemployed. In the sense that we have other projects, many ideas in the pipeline, but difficult to implement, so it's possible that the Automobili Amos project will die with the Futurista.
Which would make it almost... how to say, legendary but at the same time, I'd be very sorry. Do you remember a bit, how it was in the beginning, so what feeling you had when you had to do it? So at the beginning, of a lot of determination, but also a lot of uncertainty because we were doing, we were, when I speak in the plural I'm including the team, myself, Gabriele and Carlo Luca, the Podium guys, we were doing something that we thought we might have liked, but we weren't so sure that it could be sold, that it would have the feedback that it ended up having. So...
a lot of energy, but also a lot of uncertainty and many, many doubts, many sleepless nights. You also did a truly extraordinary job on communication, too. Yes. Because you were superb, you recreated... the Delta myth already kind of existed, but maybe it was Italian, maybe European, right? We dusted it off and rode basically. Yes, exactly
you took it worldwide because these cars you sold them in America too, right? Yes, absolutely. We've always been recognized for this and I think that the key to the success of our strategy was honesty and sincerity so what you saw, was what it was and this was the strong point of the whole project We've always done things for me, for us. With the hope of convincing someone else that what I liked could be beautiful too, could be used by someone else. This is interesting, how close did you get to your original idea? How close did you get... Well, if I were to speak with the guys who physically build it, they hate me a bit right now because every time I'd like to add something or improve something eh.... this is not always possible, but we've come very close, I'd say.
Yes, exactly, exactly to your original idea. I really like it. The more you then go into the details, the more you'd change tiny things the more you go into the microscopic details, the more you see that you could do better, Exactly. So, we can say, the gestation of this machine, right, in the end, you made 20. Yes 20 You'll make 20 because you haven't finished them right? Yes.
Between the first and the last one has there been an evolution? Absolutely yes, actually the biggest mistake we made was to present the car... Mistake...in hindsight it's okay presenting a car that was 95% ready without knowing or without realizing that 5% would've taken almost the same time of the previous 95% or almost.
So basically the whole fine-tuning both mechanical but also aesthetic, closures, some details it took a lot of time. And did you like this ride? Sometimes yes. Sometimes I hated it, I can imagine. But in the...in the... If we were to do an average I loved it more than I hated it.
In a project of this kind, so you think collaborators are fundamental? Absolutely. I always say that I don't know how to do anything, except to choose the right people to work with me, for me. And... Do we want to talk about it for example [...], podium, Carlo...
Absolutely, let's say, the two main suppliers were initially Carlo Borromeo from the Borromeo & DeSilva Studio who, besides being a supplier, is also my partner has a stake in Automobili Amos, he was very good at deciphering the meaning I wanted to give to the Futurista, it was to improve what was there with respect and without overturning... Basically they were meant to be small tweaks that only the keen eye of the connoisseur could recognize and Carlo and his guys were very good in this, in the sense that it's here to be seen. In my opinion it was done with the utmost respect for those who have been here before and for those who made the Delta. And the second equally important partner was Luca Ciancetti, representing Podium Advanced Technologies which is the company that did all the engineering aspect, of building the first prototype and then of building the cars in series. and then cascading, but I can't say they are my direct suppliers there are a lot of small, small or large companies located in the Piedmont area that are the sub-suppliers of Podium Advanced Technologies who physically built and put together some of the pieces.
It's a product, so, when you talk about respect you can clearly see it because it's a Delta Yes. But it's not a Delta, right? It's a Delta but it's not a Delta, we say that it's what it could've been if they had had other industrial logics or dynamics and other budgets. So this is one is the Delta that Lancia could've made in 2019. Absolutely because apart from a few technologies that are a bit newer, the rest is something that could've been done at the time.
And the customers, are they? How are they? Can find a common thread among all your clients? Yes, so apart from a very rare case of a guy who's younger than me who probably bought it both for passion, but also for the hype in the sense that actually there was a period in which this car was the object of desire and as we know today trends often people buy more for the trend than for a real passion, but this is the only case of the other 19 customers we could really say: male, straight, between 35 and 55 we got them ... Right there. Yes. So, I divided them into two categories and they also coincide in one aspect. They're either those who were too young to drive, like me. I'm 35 years old, in 1990 I was 5-6 years old.
My dad had one of these cars, I remember it was the car that made me fall in love with cars. Or those who were 18, 20, 25 years old, but who perhaps couldn't afford it at the time. and who today have reached a professional standing where they can afford to relive that dream they had in their twenties but now with the awareness of a man. You said an interesting thing, right? People now buy the hype, right? Yes. What do you mean by this? I mean that... I talked about it with a co-worker of mine.
They've recently opened, for example, the Supreme shop a Milan, he was very happy because he booked himself online and they gave him, they allowed him to go Supreme to shop for 15 timed minutes Nowadays, it almost seems that the more you mistreat people, the more successful you are in sales. For me, it's a very wrong thing that goes against my personal values, but also those that we conveyed in the Automobili Amos project. I mean that today when you do something and you can promote it well it doesn't have to necessarily be nice for it to be successful. We promoted it well and I think we also did something that was objectively beautiful. In the world of cars, you see this a lot. Absolutely. This year this car is in fashion, the following year, maybe less so.
so the prices go down, then they go back up. Yes, In your opinion, why is that? The same thing can impact the cars market where you tend to buy... when a great Italian manufacturer tells you that it's going to make a limited edition and it's very rare and it has 1500 specimens Dunno... I'd have something to say about the exclusivity of a piece that's one of 1500. This is exclusive with 20.
Then we can say that any way we couldn't have sold more than 40 since the audience it addresses is limited in itself. But also EM that tells you they'll do 1500 and it's exclusive and you're happy to pay a premium for a limited piece of 1500, then... I don't agree with that logic. And in your opinion, does this also apply to the classic car market? Absolutely yes. I was reading an interview by da Silva who said that the classic seems to have become the new luxury. Meaning that these limited editions for example, OEM as you were saying, which in the end are almost already assigned, that is, you have to buy ten cars before to have that one. Yes, yes, yes, yes.
But the classic, you have to... you're talking about cars that no one wants, by the way. Exactly. I just have to buy a couple more... But there's this step of saying I'll get that specific classic model and so I'm a little cooler quote, unquote, compared to someone else. It's also a natural consequence, in the sense that, why do I have to go... As we were saying before about mistreating clients Nowadays, you have to beg to be able to spend € 3/4/500,000 and more to have a limited edition which is not limited.
So then why would I want to play that game? I'll go buy a used classic car that I find on the market that perhaps also reflects more what my values or my perception of the car is and that's it. What are your values, the perception you have of a car? Firstly, honesty so already... those things we're talking about for me, they make me condemn a certain kind of audience and interlocutors And products. Because if I have to go to a dealership
to be walked all over like a beggar as if I'm doing them a favour, it really means that the world has gone upside down. You were saying it before, 15 minutes to shop everything you can... Yes. You don't even have time to look properly. To then go on the internet, on eBay to resell it at double the price, you see, So I buy a €500 t-shirt, to put back on eBay at 900, it's not... everything's gone pear shaped.
If you go to Automobiliamos.it, you can find these at €40 and they aren't so limited. They're made of a beautiful cotton, by the way. They are not limited? No, no, so they're limited, we're honest and we number them but then if you don't get this one, the next month there'll be another one and another one. I saw, on this, that you did the sweatshirt with ''Levati'' on the back which is one of your workhorses, right? Yes...
''Levati'', for me summarizes the Automobili Amos philosophy. that we're irreverent, we consider ourselves serious but without taking ourselves seriously. You know what I find that I don't like about the car industry is that it's too serious too, too square, too German.
And instead it needs a little lightness because in the end, we're talking about objects of pleasure, not wives, problems or issues, you know? where you have to be serious. Exactly, objects of pleasure. How do you see, now it's clear, right? In a while all cars will be electric right? Yes And everyone is saying we'll lose... before there was no manual gearbox, there was just
flappy paddle gearbox, then then now there won't be an internal combustion engine, there'll be electric engines then autonomous driving... Everything seems to be geared towards the driver becoming something else. Yes. First of all, I'd divide it into two. The car as a means of transport and the car as a means of pleasure for car enthusiasts. So if my mom could have a car that drives itself and takes her where she has to go while she reads the paper, I think she'd be delighted.
That kind of mobility is made for that kind of person. Then there are the car enthusiasts like me, like you, like those who are listening to us who will have a dedicated product, so I wouldn't be too worried. So in your opinion, it remains... And actually, I'll tell you more, I drove an Audi E-tron GT RS yesterday. So as an everyday car, I wouldn't swap it with a... Petrol? Give me one of the ones with a bit more autonomy and I'm the happiest man in the world, there are no vibrations, there's no noise they have an acceleration in the first 200 km/hr that a thermal will struggle to achieve.
All in all I found it an engaging driving experience, different, We can talk about it as long as we want, it'll still be there. In the past, someone would've complained that the Ford Model T that Mr. Ford made, didn't make a horse noise and didn't trot. No, I agree. But the world keeps going. Exactly.
So will there always be a niche for this? I think so Ferrari just made a V12 that has a rev limiter of 9500 rpm. Yes, exactly. So..., They're saying it's the last one, we hope it's not, but... In your opinion, do young people today still get passionate about cars? This is a nice question. Apparently, they say no. I don't know. I'll make a parallel, the other day, I was reading an interview with the president of Juventus, you know on the whole story of the Super League... and football is no longer competing with other sports, but rather with video games.
Right? OK. Like Fortnite, for example. Do you think it's the same thing also with the car industry? Look, I don't know enough to be able to answer you because they're video games... that world... I was thinking that many of the brands that for me are my favourite like Ruf, I've been a fan of Ruf since well before there was the Instagram hype I've had three Ruf cars, and...
I knew about Ruff, and it's in my memory, by playing Gran Turismo. So I assume that this is still how the video game allows you to identify yourself in something that then when you grow up you may want as a physical object. What did you like about Ruf cars? I don't know, I liked this Yellowbird. I remember I liked... ...the video at the Nurburgring. For example, I also remember the Mazda Demio which was the very first car with which you started your racing career on Gran Turismo. It's true, it's true, it's true. In Gran Turismo there was also Mx5 that it was called Eunos if i'm not mistaken. Yes. With all the JDM names.
At the beginning of the interview you said: look, I'm happy, but also a bit worried about the fact that we're coming to the end of the Futurista production. Yes, yes. Can you tell us what you have in mind? Because surely you have something in mind. So we're really working ... everything I say is...even all this stuff about secrets... We're quite open what I'm about to tell you has already been posted on our Instagram page. We won't censor anything. No, no, no, we're working on a...
We'd like to be able to do some Which has always been my dream to be able to do a more competition-oriented version of this Futurista. So a little frills, but more mechanical content a much more powerful engine, gearbox from the R5 group. So sequential gearbox, active differentials hydraulic handbrakes, a car that can turn on its own axis, if it wants to. Now the term Safari is a bit overused but a more, more competition-related version Where customers can buy the car and since it won't be approved for any kind of races to be able to bring customers to experiences organized by Automobili Amos, so you're not putting the gentleman customer, gentleman driver in a race with the pros, but you put them together as if it were a track day but not on the track and taking them to having experiences around the world. Oh nice, really nice. This is... And to do that really as a...
Then we won't do restomod any more. It would be it with restomod. At the same time we're working on this project, in my opinion ambitious of what I call... an everyday supercar, so a high performance car that's always honest and consistent with the philosophy that I was talking about earlier so it won't be necessarily an uncomfortable, low, two-seater car but it could be the car with which I drop my children off at nursery, I load the shopping, my wife and so on, but with a performance...
As if it were an RS6 that had a son with a Tesla model... The big one. Ah, the X, model X. Yes. With the... Those two got together, had a relationship and our car was born. Nice, very nice. but also adding in a lot of aesthetic personality and a lot in the finishes. For the cate... the segment doesn't exist yet, so we said
either we make a bang or if there wasn't a market segment, there was a reason so we'll never do it. And I was interested in this thing here about the car, of the more extreme version of Futurista. First of all, why did you call it Futurista in the end? Because it was a name that we liked, it was a name that worked in all the languages it hinted a bit to the artistic current, I really liked those art pieces... That focused on speed. Yes, that's right. Trains, aeroplanes, ships, everything that was a bit related to... The war elements of the...
Italian engineering. And then it goes well with it, I think. Yes, it goes great. And so I was saying... The races, you race a lot, you did the Paris-Dakar.
Yes. What do you bring of those experiences into Automobili Amos? So specifically from my race experiences nothing, except because they're completely different types of cars The reason I still race is not just about competing with myself, the car, the competition, which I really like the stopwatch etc. etc., but also the places I go to. I've seen places that hardly I will see again if not by going to these races. I don't know... The deserts
Deserts, from China to Mongolia to the whole area of Kenya, Tanzania South America, Tierra del Fuego. I've seen some magical places and what I'd like to offer to the customers who buy that car is being able to have fun in safety in these places so almost more of a raid than races but in a car that allows you... Say there's a long stretch of 10 km Let's call in the gears at full throttle and let's have fun Nice, nice. Now I'll ask you the questions to close the interview like catcher questions Like, what's your favourite car? Ever.
Well the Futurista. What a smart ass. There's a , a... You were telling me before about the Ruf cars.
No, but is there also something else? I think there are different cars for different occasions, I think Choosing one is possible and I think that it's... if you have to be specific, it must not be something that you can use... I think a... Wait, I'll... A Short Wheelbase, a 250 Short Wheelbase. For completeness. If you have to have a car
for everything, for life, that one. That one. So, you have to go for a dinner at Villa d'Este. 250 Short Wheelbase. You have to go to, I don't know, you want to go to the Stelvio Pass. 250 California. You have to meet a client in London.
RS6. You have to go, I don't know, you have to go on the dunes? Well, to go on the dunes, the Buggy I raced with, actually, I'd like the MINI buggy Nice. The one built by X-raid in Germany, Do you like restomod, yes or no? Some yes, some no.
But generally, I'd say yes.
2021-09-05