... with my bare hands: Filandi Uragano

There used to be a time when we were much more ingenuous about the world and ourselves, more inclined to put ourselves at risk for the sake of curiosity and discover. It probably felt like we were free to roam the world while at the same time enjoying the latest and best in technology, with more news traveling around the world as never before and that probably let more and more people to feel the need to leave their mark in some way.

That's a way too see the almost itch-like resurgence in activities of all sort that took place in Europe after World War II and elsewhere too. While many ended up creating their own companies setting the market on fire, others were more satisfied filling their everyday life whit something perhaps less ground breaking or necessary, but much more personal. Backyard projects were all over the place.
We've probably lost this in the last 10 or more years, I feel like people are quite satisfied with what the market provides as it surely got better and better, but also because it's much simpler to just pick something rather than "making" something. Mark Wahlber would say "Don't be a don't-er, be a do-er". Well, he kind of crossed the line, but you get the itch-like feeling of really needing to do something with your time, right?

While this could be the introduction prologue to many companies established between the 60s and the 80s and probably even later, if you consider software companies real companies in the same old fashioned way of course, the man I'm going to introduce is one who could be considered as one in dire need of a backyard project, a man who didn't embrace what came next, full size companies, computers, mass production and all of that.

Enter Moreno Filandi.
You'd be forgiven to mix him with Santa Claus bringing you a bright yellow hand made exotic, indeed when we took the time for a long conversation this man showed the same placid and quite temper it would take to deliver gifts and presents to little kids all over the world, or build a car from scratch with nothing other than his bare hands and tons of aluminum and steel chunks. I could do the latter, definitely not the first.

While Italian readers may already know the low metallic beast in front of their eyes, I guess people from the rest of the world may be clueless in front of this car. This is the Filandi Uragano, a car that took more than 5 years to be completed, between March 2004 and November 2009.

The proud work of his creator, it was sculpted rather than built, with no aid from a computer or any other modern techniques. You could well say this is a one-off, a unique car, as there are no blueprints and even if you could convince Mr Filandi to build a second car, it couldn't be like this one.
The power comes from an Audi-sourced V8 turbocharged for good measure, but the chassis is custom made in chrome-molybdenum steel. The bodywork is all aluminum. as most of the car too. Eventually, it tips the scale at 1.160 kg, and with 605 bhp and 552 Nm of torque providing motivation, it must be a hell of  ride.

 

Now I've read many times hard comments about its look, and I'll admit that it isn't for the faint of heart, it doesn't flow like a Pininfarina design or it doesn't strike as something modern yet cohesive as something from Mercedes-Benz, McLaren or any other Nordic company. At the same time, it's not supposed to be, as it was built by his creator for his own appetite for something unique and personal, very personal. We found out that Mr Filandi takes great pleasure in creating and forging just about everything out of aluminum, from cars to furnitures and design elements, be he doesn't look so interested in selling them. What he seems to care about is a spark in the visitors and bystanders wishing to do something as personal as he did. There is no price tag on this car, no bragged abilities about its construction and he isn't even really advertising his body shop Carrozzeria Moderna in Fontanelice, between Imola and Bologna (where else?!). Just ask him about his car, why he built it and what it takes to do something like this, and words will start to flow. He is a man of passion and he's just looking forward to share it. No elitist attitude, just a nice chat with an old friend at the bar.

There is a nice anecdote about this: in September 2010 he was invited at a new uber-elitist car fair organized by MAC Group, which is also behind the Mille Miglia historical recreation. Called "Uniques, special ones", the fair was about extremely low production cars and one-offs, both from the good old days and from the present, so you could expect anything from Alfa Romeo from the 30s, Ferraris from the 60s and 70s, and whatever Bertone, Zagato, Pininfarina and other coachbuilders came up with in all their years, plus some modern exotics. Held in the luxurious Four Seasons hotel in Florence (Tuscany, Italy of course) the public itself had to be invited, so I guess they had to come up with something like VVVIP for the most aristocratic ones. Eventually, the Filandi Uragano won the "People's Choice Award".

While Mr Filandi was all over himself and proud of his 5000 hours of hard work, the organizers were probably less than pleased, as they eventually reached Mr Filandi and let him know the prize was being retired without giving much of an explanation. Of course now he didn't look like Santa at all.
I felt like the MAC Group was indeed pushing hard on the elitist thing before, simply considering the way the Mille Miglia was run (organization wise) and even the simple process of media accreditation was getting like a showing off contest. So I could really understand his frustration, but also figured that was really not the place for him, unfortunately. Now the Uniques fair has moved to Moscow, so problem solved.

At this point I wondered what he was looking for at the various fairs I met him. While kids and youngsters are captured by the bright yellow and blue finish and the aggressive shark-like vents in the body, adults, deep-pocket white collars and wannabes in general didn't waste much time to check the car or the man. Truth be told, they were the same kind of people overlooking the equally eye-catching Spada Vettur Sport CodaTronca parked next to the Uragano once, another bold and peculiar creation. I reckon not everyone is into cars and even less into un-mainstream cars, then again, if you're at a car fair...

These pictures come from two separate occasions: the Luxury&Yachts 2010 fair in Vicenza, Italy, and the 2013 Modena Antiquaria fair in Modena, Italy.

He has now moved on to a second project, named Filandi Ever.S, which will be featured here soon. Watch this space for more.

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All Pictures and Words Copyright: Damiano Garro for The Italian Junkyard
This article can be linked to from other websites but its content and the pictures can't be reproduced on any other website without my written permission


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6.1 Salone Internazionale del Lusso - Vincenza

Back in March, the “Salone Internazionale del Lusso di Vicenza” was on.
It's a small and a bit weird exposition about luxury. Everything from jewelry to home entertainment is featured, but it definitely lack of a proper organization, things weren't divided into sectors, and a lot of stuff was just there, not really exposed, with approximative stands, bad lighting and so on.
What definitely pissed me was a 20 € ticket to enter an event worth about 7 or 8 €.
It wasn't featuring brands and manufacturers' official offerings, but rather local stores, representatives, dealers and such. The people walking around the event were probably the worst part, but, whatever, I was in.

So, all in all it was a very bad event and I missed those 20 € for a while, but since I'm a car enthusiast, there are things that are simply priceless: a Pagani Zonda S Roadster and both the Antas and the Vulca S from Faralli & Mazzanti should do the job.

Follow the jump to know more.

I actually went to the show right to see the Vulca, as it was it's world premiere, after the obvious web unveiling with some images released.
Even if it was an official and important occasion, there wasn't much to say that was actually a premiere. The car was simply there, with a couple of brochures on a small table, a basically that's it.
I was expecting a bit more, even if that wasn't by any means an auto show.
I'm going to “celebrate” this and other main features of the event on dedicated posts.

I didn't even take shots of the other exhibited stuff, as they weren't neither that luxurious or good looking. Even my girlfriend didn't satisfy her fashion appetite at the event. It was more of a show for “wannabes” than for really rich people.
Proof:

Guess what, Top Marques is in Montecarlo, not Vicenza.
A white Aston Martin Vanquish S abandoned in a white corner isn't a bad thing though.

Don't ask me why, but here is a 1952 Cadillac Four Doors Sedan Golden Anniversary too, and next to it, tuned cars! As I told you, taste wasn't featured.
Those are a LUMMA Porsche Cayenne CLR 550 R, based on the Cayenne GTS, and a Mercedes-Benz SLK mark2 whit scissor doors and some other tasteless bits. Jesus.

A gray Lamborghini Gallardo Spider was there just to show you how good looking it would have been to match it to that not really intriguing wooden parking space. Since I'm not a Gallardo fan, I don't know if it was the car or the wood to have been wasted there.
Some other cars were there thanks to a couple of dealers and a renting company.
I couldn't bother to shoot those average BMWs and Lexus', not for the car themselves, but for the environment. Too many tacky persons around me make me nervous.
I liked the angle of the BMW Z4 Coupe shot though, and here it is.

A local dealer, specialized in importing kit cars from other countries exhibited some AC Cobra and Porsche 356 Speedster replicas.
Specifically, those were two Shelby Cobra 427 S/C, continuation series CX 4310, both of them.
It was an odd but welcomed feature, still the impression of being at a job fair rather than to a luxury show was strongly present.
Together with them there were these two 356 Speedster replicas, made by Racing Legends, Las Vegas. This replica is also available in wide body style, resembling more of a got rod rather than a vintage Porsche. Fortunately, these two units were pretty stock, quite resembling the original icon.

The Maserati stand was the only one worth being called so, despite being organized by another local dealer and not Maserati itself. Apart from having three cars (two Quattroportes and a GranTurismo), there were also little plates to showcase the available colors and material both from the outside and the inside of the car. It was the only place where I got the impression something was actually exhibited and not simply “positioned” in the middle of a free space.
If I was in the market for a new car, there I would have been interested in asking something more about them, given I don't know about them already, while all the other cars didn't look like they were available for sale, but rather as objects grabbed out of a collection, and shown for the sake of it, without underlining some sort of artistic feature, or design approach.
Oh well, here are the pictures:

I also new there should have been a Pagani Zonda somewhere, but couldn't find it. We asked to another exhibitor (which in turn gave us a magazine about second hand sportscars) to find out It was featured in an area no one knew where it was.
Disappointed we decided to left the show, slightly pissed off.
While looking for the exit, you were force to enter a corridor jut to enter another area of the show. I didn't know if the Zonda could be there, but the first thing I got in front of me was the first Faralli & Mazzanti Antas.
The car went trough various updates since its unveiling in 2006. Now it seems to be a bit overdone, but I'll talk about it later.
The nice feature of this area were the lights changing their color, giving the opportunity for some suggestive shots.
Ignore the classy damsel in the first shot, she wasn't an hostess of some sort, just one of the audience playing the “Hazzard features Jessica Simpson” game for her friends...

Between a red urinal covered with fake sticky diamonds and other uber-tacky-freaking-expensive stuff, there was this vandalized Ducati Desmosedici RR: note the absent rear light, even if I hope it was removed before of the event as the rear view mirrors were absent as well. Next to it custom trike bike, what a perfect match...

Matt Porsche 911 Targa, for the sake of personalization.

Audi R8: never liked it, it was a bit invisible because next to it there was the Zonda I was looking for. I have to admit I didn't pay enough attention to it, the F&Ms and the Zonda were on a completely different level, and this was so, well, cheap and simple.
Even the otherwise banal and even a bit soccer-player friendly Porsche 997 Turbo Cabriolet was more interesting, even if maybe it was just because of the less common dark gray instead of the usual and boring plain silver, or maybe I liked the color of the lights behind the Porsche the more. Yeah, probably that.

And here it is once again the Pagani Zonda S Roadster, chassis #76048 (thanks to the folks at http://forum.pagani-zonda.net/ :) ), which I saw also at 2008 Modena Terra di Motori, during my factory tour back in 2008, and which a friend of mine spotted in Padova (or Padua for non Italian users) in summer 2008. More of her will come in the future.

So, are three extremely rare cars worth a rather banal, boring and 20 € expensive event? Yes, but only if you are me, other than that, avoidable.
Extra shots: a rather good and extremely ignored pianist in the middle of the event, and a mandala being created by some Tibetan monks...yeah, Tibetan monks at a luxury show.

I'm fully aware that some pictures aren't of the best quality, I was still practicing with the Nikon D40, and probably I still am.
Hope you enjoyed them nonetheless.

All images Copyright: Damiano Garro
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