Franco Gozzi
© Ferrari.
For 30 years Franco Gozzi worked side by side with Enzo Ferrari, first as a press officer and then as team manager, becoming much more than just an advisor and confidant. In all those years spent with the complex yet charismatic personality that was Enzo Ferrari, Gozzi was a privileged witness to events, anecdotes, motor sport triumphs and bitter defeats, not only concerning the Maranello company but also the world of motorsport itself.
Enzo Ferrari, Franco Gozzi and Pedro Rodriguez.
John Surtees, Pat Surtees, Mauro Forghieri and Franco Gozzi at Grand Prix of Mexico, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Magdalena Mixhuca, 27 October 1963. Photo by Bernard Cahier/Getty Images.
24 Hours Daytona, USA, 31st January - 1st February 1970. Franco Gozzi, Arturo Merzario and Mauro Forghieri. Lat photographic.
© Ferrari.
The crystal clear recollections of the Commendatore's right hand man are used to reconstruct this long and fascinating story of happenings and, more than anything else, of the drivers - from Alberto Ascari to Lorenzo Bandini, from Gilles Villeneuve to Michael Schumacher - as well as wealthy customers and show business personalities.
All of them come alive again in this authoritative and compelling book illustrated with a vast collection of pictures and documents, many of them previously unpublished.
Franco Gozzi, the man that more than any other has known Enzo Ferrari and his Firm, was born in Modena in 1932. A degree in law, he seemed to start off on a bank career when, in 1960, he met Enzo Ferrari and became his spokesman and his advisor; in one word, his confidant. He remained in Ferrari until his retirement.
Franco Gozzi, a key part of the history of Ferrari, passed away April 23rd, 2013 at the age of 81. By Ferrari SpA. April 24, 2013.
“We have lost a key figure in the history of Ferrari,” president Luca di Montezemolo said. “My most abiding memory is of all the hours we spent together, talking about drivers and cars and I am grateful for the fact he was close to me when I was a young sporting director at the Scuderia.”
It is hard to sum up in a single word what Gozzi was to Ferrari – Sporting Director, Press Officer, Head of Communications and, above all, one of the closest advisers and confidants to Enzo Ferrari. While he was a witness to many important events, the active role he played at the Prancing Horse can perhaps be best understood from looking at photo albums from the past thirty years.
Franco Gozzi with Enzo Ferrari.
As seen above, you will often find Gozzi with the Founder – he was his spokesman and sometimes the purveyor of his silences.
Enzo Ferrari and Franco Gozzi at Monza in 1961 testing the 156.
Franco Gozzi and Enzo Ferrari observe the new Gurney's Eagle V12 in Monza in 1966.
Franco Gozzi and Enzo Ferrari at the practice of 1969 Italian GP in Monza.
Publicity photo of Franco Gozzi and Enzo Ferrari in 1988 at the factory.
Those who knew him well and shared outstanding moments with him as well as daily life in the company, recall his humanity and his sense of irony, while those who met him during the final chapter of his life at Maranello recall his great ability to put across through apparently innocuous anecdotes, the values that have made Ferrari a legend around the world.
Piero Lardi Ferrari, Franco Gozzi and Enzo Ferrari.
If there is one man at Ferrari today who knew Franco Gozzi well, it is Piero Ferrari. “I spent so many years together with Franco. From 1965, the year I began working in the company, up to the day he left. It was a long time, almost a lifetime, which meant I got to know and appreciate him deeply, from every point of view, as an individual and professionally.
Piero Lardi Ferrari, Franco Gozzi and Mario Andretti.
His greatest talent was his ability to never get angry: he was always ready with a joke, even after a proverbial roasting from my father,” Piero Ferrari said.
Franco Gozzi.
RIP Enzo Ferrari's confidant Franco Gozzi. By James Elliott. 24 Apr 2013.
Franco Gozzi, a Ferrari backroom legend who died in Modena yesterday, should be remembered for far more than being the man who for a couple of years was sporting director of the Maranello marque.
Enzo Ferrari and Franco Gozzi.
Perhaps it was because those particular years (1968-1970) were bleak in F1 by the Prancing Horse's standards that Gozzi is not better recognized, but he was an integral part of the Ferrari "family" for more than a generation.
Enzo Ferrari and Franco Gozzi.
He was variously the front-facing PR man and head of communications, but his most important role was as confidant, as much as anyone ever did having the trust and ear of Il Commendatore.
Franco Gozzi of Ferrari. April 23, 2013. By Klem Coll.
Franco Gozzi with Enzo Ferrari in 1968. Photo by Peter Coltrin © The Klemantaski Collection.
After having joined Ferrari, Gozzi continued through the death of his famous boss before finally retiring in 1990. Above all, Franco Gozzi understood the often mysterious mind and attitudes of Enzo Ferrari.
Enzo Ferrari and Franco Gozzi.
He knew instinctively when to speak for Ferrari and when to remain silent. Gozzi carefully enlarged the “Ferrari myth” with his own book, published a few years ago: “Memoirs of Enzo Ferrari’s Lieutenant.” But even this entertaining series of stories continued Gozzi’s private role to protect the flame behind the story of Ferrari.
Carlo Benzi
Carlo Benzi left us. He was Ferrari's historic "Ministro delle finanze" (Minister of Finance) in the complicated 50s and 60s. A huge piece of the Ferrari myth that is leaving. Twenty-three years with Il Commendatore.
Carlo Benzi.
The Modenese Carlo Benzi, one of the most significant personalities linked to the engineer Enzo Ferrari and the world of the Prancing Horse, has passed away. By Gazzetta di Modena.
Benzi was in fact the Drake's personal accountant for 42 years, two months and 29 days, as he was keen to point out.
For Enzo Ferrari, Benzi was not only a valid collaborator, but also a great friend: it was in fact with him and with Sergio Scaglietti that he spent many of his moments free from work.
Among the many who fondly remember Benzi, could not miss Eng. Mauro Forghieri: "he was important for all of us, but mainly for Enzo Ferrari. Benzi was one of the Commendatore's advisers. His advices, both economically, but also as regards the staff, were held in high regard by Ferrari. I am very sorry for his disappearance.'
To his memory are also added those of Brenda Vernor and Giorgio Ferri, who were Ferrari's secretaries.
Carlo Benzi was born in 1926 and leaves behind a daughter. The funeral was held in the parish church of Maranello.
Carlo Benzi died. By Leo Turrini.
Carlo Benzi met Enzo Ferrari during the war. The two became friends and Benzi worked for the Cavallino from 1946 to 1988.
Modena, September 8, 2018. Carlo Benzi died at the age of 91. He was known as the Drake accountant, the man who kept the accounts of the Cavallino team and personally dealt with Enzo Ferrari.
I will simply say about my dear friend Carlo Benzi that he was a great guardian of truths that are sometimes unspeakable. Enzo Ferrari's accountant from January 15, 1946 until Drake's death in August 1988, although he left the Maranello company in the 1970s to go to Coca Cola, the witty Carletto was not only the man of numbers, the bank transactions officer, the architect of inevitably complicated financial combinations. No. Benzi was much more than that. He was a treasurer, but in the sense that he governed the treasures of the soul of the Modenese and the most famous Italian on the face of the earth. Carlo knew the secrets of the man Ferrari and wouldn’t have revealed them even under torture. He had a sacred respect for the idea of loyalty. He was transparent, sometimes sarcastic, often ferocious about the Old Man collaborators, engineers or drivers: in order to understand each other, he called Montezemolo “the young Pasqualino on the rise” to signal his propensity for careerism. But about Ferrari, nothing. They met at the table at the Ubersetto during the war, Carlo understood German and acted as interpreter between Enzo and a Nazi hierarch.
They never lost sight of each other. Perpetually equipped with a small notebook, in which he diligently recorded incomes and expenses, Benzi was the finance minister of the roaring Ferrari, the one of the early days. He didn’t miss a thing, from the worker who was being smart about overtime work to the champion who demanded undue bonuses. The Drake loved Carlo because if he lacked a figure, Benzi was sure to have it on hand. Not for nothing in 1969 he delegated to him the negotiation with Fiat. And in fact, even in old age, Enzo used the historical collaborator to prepare the estate. It is no coincidence that Carlo was one of the very few admitted to Ferrari's private funeral thirty years ago. I loved him very much and he loved me. Our convivial meetings at Montana were something epic: at a certain point he pulled out the legendary notebook, showed it to me for a moment and immediately put it away, "because there are secrets that I will take with me to the other world". And he laughed like a child, proud of his story and his identity. Carlo Benzi's funeral will be celebrated today in Maranello at 3pm.
Carlo Benzi.
Carlo Benzi: the funeral of the Drake. Interview with FormulaPassion.it of 12 August 2013. Published on 14 August 2015.
"The witness of a business model", this is the story of Carlo Benzi, the personal "administrator" of Enzo Ferrari who remained close to him until the last ...
Mr. Benzi, the funeral of the "Commendatore" was a ceremony celebrated in the presence of a few close friends ...
“At the funeral of Enzo Ferrari, in August 1988, few people were present. Ms. Lina Lardi, Piero's mother, accompanied by her son with her closest family and two friends invited by Piero Ferrari.
Carlo Benzi, Franco Gozzi, Ecurie-Francorchamps. October 28, 2005.
In addition to me, there were also Franco Gozzi, Sergio Scaglietti, the personal driver and the bodyguard of the "Commendatore"”.
Had a funeral celebrated in that way been a wish of the "Commendatore"?
“Enzo Ferrari's desire was not to have anyone at his funeral, except those I have just mentioned. And we just managed to please him by not showing him to any of the strangers after death. It was quite a complicated thing because there were many people who did not sleep at night to get news. I did it all by myself, with the help of the mayor of Modena ...”
Sergio Scaglietti some time ago had described the funeral of the “Commendatore” to me as an intimate and beautiful ceremony… In your opinion, why did Enzo Ferrari want a practically secret funeral?
“He didn't want there to be any confusion. After all, "He" was also like this in life. One more reason why even a ceremony like that was quiet ...”
Even the journalists have been cleverly sidetracked ...
“The reporters were on top of us because they were looking for news everywhere. With the complicity of the mayor of Modena, Alfonsina Rinaldi - nicknamed “Cicci”, I was able to carry out all the necessary procedures for the funeral anonymously, without arousing the curiosity of the journalists who stood there with their breath on our necks in order to discover even the slightest useful clue to their work”.
Practically, at the funeral it was just you, Enzo Ferrari's closest friends, as well as, of course, the closest relatives ...
“There were us, those who every Saturday and Sunday went to lunch with "Him" on the track in Fiorano, where we had a kitchen, a dining room and an excellent cook. We were always the same, the "carrozzaio" (coachbuilder) Scaglietti, Gozzi, myself, the bodyguard Valentino Valdemaro and the personal driver Dino Tagliazucchi”.
How did you spend your time at the table with each other in Fiorano?
“We ate great specialties cooked by the cook who was the guardian of the Fiorano plant, drinking Lambrusco and even champagne. This happened every Saturday and every Sunday that God sent to earth. When there were the Grand Prixs, from the track where the team was away, they communicated the times of the tests, the updates on the race and on "his" cars. "He" was very pleased to receive this news while we were together, because it was the moment of truth ...”
Sergio Scaglietti and Carlo Benzi.
Carlo Benzi has been a friend of Scaglietti for over sixty years. November 22, 2011. They met at the court of "King Enzo" and shared work and leisure with him. They were together, Benzi and Scaglietti, also that morning in August 1988, to say goodbye to Enzo Ferrari. And now Benzi has to say goodbye to another friend of all time. We met him and he told us, with a lump in his throat, of this very long friendship: "Scaglietti might have seemed a simple person, because he spoke in dialect, he was affable and easy-going, but in reality he had all the qualities of a great artist”, he explains. “Sergio loved classical music, painting and world-famous cars came out of his hands, an art, his, inimitable. No one after him had his charisma, his ability, his intuitions: he was a phenomenon! Now Sergio is gone and we have lost a lot. More than sixty years of friendship bound us. Sergio had a surprising will, he was nice and good. He was loved by everyone, despite the hardness that he, apparently, could demonstrate. He was also loved by his dependents, although he was not always light towards them. As long as Ferrari was alive, we met every Saturday and Sunday in the house on the Fiorano track. Even on weekends when there were no races we met on the track, just for the simple pleasure of being together and talking about the various events. These are important memories, which in sad occasions like these take on even more value ».
Dino Tagliazucchi
Dino Tagliazucchi, Commendatore's personal chauffeur since 1969, died yesterday in Modena. He was 73 years old.
Enzo getting out of the 1960 Ferrari 250 GTE 2+2 s/n 1287GT in March/April 1961, probably at the Autodromo in Modena. The other person is Peppino Verdelli, who was with Enzo Ferrari since 1928, first as a mechanic, later as a private chauffeur.
Tagliazucchi joined Ferrari in 1966. And, in 1969, he was called by Enzo to replace the legendary Peppino Verdelli. The Commendatore definitively stopped driving in 1972 and Tagliazucchi began to work 24 hours a day for him. The last car used by Enzo was a curious Fiat Ritmo with Lancia engine.
Dino never wrote his memoirs.
Dino Tagliazucchi and Enzo Ferrari.
Tagliazucchi was the personal driver of the Drake. He was the custodian of many secrets of the Maranello company. “The one spent as Enzo Ferrari's driver was one of the best times of my life,” he often recalled.
For Tagliazucchi, the founder of the Cavallino was like a father. Together they shared important pages in the history of the Red. "I spent unforgettable years in Ferrari. I keep my days with the Engineer in my heart", he liked to remember.
Dino Tagliazucchi and Enzo Ferrari.
Dino Tagliazucchi wasn't just the driver for Enzo Ferrari. Much more. A man of trust for many personal things. And his wife was Enzo Ferrari's cook and housekeeper. One year after Ferrari's death, he invited a small group of five people to his home for dinner: three doctors who had followed Enzo throughout his life and two friends. And this for at least three or four annual events. They were monothematic evenings. They only spoke of the Great Absentee. Prof. Carani asked Dino: "why didn't you write anything about the Commendatore?" The answer of this reserved, kind, almost shy man was the following: “but because what he wanted to tell about himself he has already said.” If it was needed, Dino Tagliazucchi is proof of one of Enzo Ferrari’s greatest talents, knowing people and knowing how to choose the most trusted collaborators. A phrase that Ferrari said about Dino has remained famous. A year of work for Dino was made up of three hundred and sixty-five presences. Every single day of the year, even when he might have been sick. It happened one morning that he had to be replaced, perhaps due to his son’s surgery. It seems that Ferrari, asking where Dino was, to the answer "he went to the hospital for his son", he replied a bit annoyed: "anch quall'le an ghe mai" (even that one is never here).
Unforgettable is the story of Tagliazucchi who took the phone call before it was announced the death of Gilles Villeneuve to Enzo Ferrari on May 8, 1982 in Zolder: "the ugliest image? When I handed Ferrari the phone and on the other side they had just told me that Gilles was gone. He cried in despair. He was the driver he loved the most." For Tagliazucchi he was a real second father and he told of his being at the same time shy and likeable, an enthusiastic lover of the combination of women and engines, a craftsman and a superfine manager.
"For the first 3 years he always drove, then he hurt his leg and from that day, from 1972 to 1988, I always drove. We talked a little bit about everything, about Modena, Maranello. When he felt like it he was also likeable. There was talk of drivers, of Formula 1, of beautiful women, because he loved women and engines .... However, he rarely traveled outside Maranello, Bologna, Imola, Monza, Florence. He preferred to have his interlocutors invited here in Maranello than to go to them.”
Dino Tagliazucchi and Enzo Ferrari’s Peugeot 404.
“One thing the Commendatore demanded and shouldn't be disappointed with was the starts. Or, more exactly, starting at a traffic light. When the lights turned green, Enzo Ferrari always wanted us to be the first to start”.
Dino Tagliazucchi.
Dino Tagliazucchi, historical driver of the Drake, died. April 10, 2016. For over twenty years he was at Enzo Ferrari's side, accompanying him in all the happy and sad days of his life.
The news of the death of Tagliazucchi caused a sensation in the town, where he was well known, appreciated and respected. He leaves his wife Giuliana, his children Fausto and Alberto and two beloved nephews.
A very sunny and affable person, who always put everyone at ease and very generous, his death certainly leaves an unbridgeable void in those who knew him and enjoyed his friendship.
Tagliazucchi joined Ferrari when he was only 23 and left it in 1994. For over twenty years he was the private driver of Enzo Ferrari. For the great Drake, Dino was also his trusted man, the one who was close to him until the last day of his life. It was Dino himself who prepared Ferrari, that warm August morning, to face the last journey of his life.
Tagliazucchi has always had a wonderful relationship with Ferrari and has always remembered him with affection and great esteem. Dino has experienced many of the events of Ferrari in first person, alongside the Drake. Being Ferrari’s chauffeur was challenging, because the working hours were certainly not the usual ones: many times Ferrari had Dino take him to Maranello, perhaps late in the evening because the mechanics were completing a single-seater, which had to leave the next morning. On those evenings Ferrari wanted to be there, with his mechanics, to whom he also brought sandwiches and Lambrusco and with him was always Dino, available, attentive, kind and thoughtful. When Enzo Ferrari expressed the desire to visit his birthplace, Dino Tagliazucchi was with him and supported him while he climbed those pink marble stairs (Ferrari was over 80 years old), so loved, because they reminded him of his childhood. The Drake personal driver was invited by many Ferrari associations, just for the pleasure of having him as a guest, for what he represented, for the history he had lived alongside Ferrari. Maybe now they are together, to remember a life made of work, commitment, but also of good times and of the trust that one had in respect of the other.
Dino Tagliazucchi. @ DR.
«The one alongside Enzo Ferrari, Dino loved to tell, was above all a mission for me». With his passing away goes away another piece of that world linked to the founder of the Cavallino, which reviewed now has always the flavor of the legend.
Maranello (Modena), 11 April 2016. A moved and composed crowd gave the last farewell, in the afternoon, to Dino Tagliazucchi.
The aisles of the parish church of San Biagio were packed as the whole city met to remember a "good man, who leaves a great void in those who have known and appreciated his altruism and availability".
Lello Apicella at Dino’s funeral with his Ferrari Testarossa, whose roar accompanied the coffin entering the church. Foto Fogliani.
Messages of condolence, to the family, also from the mayor. "Maranello, wrote the mayor, loses a friend".
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