A degree in aeronautical engineering obtained brilliantly at the age of just twenty-two brought Giampaolo Dallara, born in 1936 in Varano de’ Melegari (Parma), straight from the university benches to a desk at Ferrari, selected and hired by Enzo himself. The year is 1959, and if, for many, such a job could have represented the achievement of a goal, for Dallara, it was only the beginning of a career that would take him far.
After only a few years, engineer Dallara left the Prancing Horse for Maserati and, in 1963, joined Lamborghini as Technical Director. Here, his contribution would be decisive in bringing to life, in 1966, the Lamborghini Miura, the Granturismo that would revolutionise the world of supercars. The Miura’s design was presented at the 1965 Turin Motor Show.
Innovation in the DNA
On 15 January 1972, Giampaolo founded Dallara Automobili da Competizione in Varano de’ Melegari, his hometown. The newly founded company immediately began collaborating with major car manufacturers interested in making racing cars. These include Lancia, with whom Dallara worked on the Stratos, the Beta Montecarlo Turbo, the Rally 037, and the LC1 and LC2 prototypes.
1978 is the year of the revolutionary Dallara 378, the first Formula 3 car with a 100% 3D-printed resin body, bound to revolutionise the racing world.
A wind tunnel, or rather three
In the 1980s, Dallara was one of the few manufacturers in the world to equip itself with a closed-circuit wind tunnel for studying aerodynamics and a driving simulator for Formula 1. Dallara’s cars win major races in Europe and the USA in various championships. The second tunnel was built in 1995 to test models up to 40% scale.
In 2008, Dallara invested no less than ten million euros in building a new Wind Tunnel with a treadmill capable of simulating pitches and rolls and accommodating 50% (for prototypes and covered-wheel cars) and 60% (for F1 and Formula Indy single-seaters) scale models. The fan’s diameter is more than 4 metres, and sophisticated software allows the calculation, simulation, and testing of safer and more aerodynamic models.
A success without borders
Dallara’s success crosses national borders. In 2012, the company opened an engineering centre in the USA, the Dallara IndyCar Factory Events, right next to the Indianapolis circuit.
In 2013, Giampaolo Dallara was appointed Grand Officer of Merit of the Italian Republic, and in 2016, to celebrate his eightieth birthday, Dallara Stradale was launched, a futuristic two-seater supercar, in carbon and without doors, designed for the road.
Today, the Dallara Group is a company that manufactures racing cars and is a world leader in automotive design and engineering. With Giampaolo Dallara as president and Andrea Pontremoli as CEO, it has 700 employees, a turnover of tens of millions of Euros, and has achieved carbon neutrality by 2023 by offsetting its plants’ direct emissions.
Congratulations to those who bring Italian engineering and talent to the world!
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