Claudio Maglioli

Telling Claudio Maglioli's sports achievements is a hard task: he is well known as car driver and tester for Reparto Corse Lancia (Lancia works team) and presents a very prestigious curriculum vitae with a long series of successes. Knowing his enormous experience about racing cars makes it difficult to avoid the temptation of asking thousand questions about the cars tuned by his own factory, about the world of races of yesterday and today. In conclusion we could talk for hours. Maglioli himself notes that the subject is so wide that we will have to explore it more deeply in the future. Let's try to reconstruct most of his history in the small space available. We shall start with the milestones of his career. Claudio Maglioli was born at Bioglio, near Biella, on June 9^th 1940. He is the classic guy born to race: when 16 he began racing with small motorbikes (tuned by himself) like the Cucciolo, the Ducati 65 and 75, and the Rumi 125 Junior.

Subsequently, fitting a Rumi Junior engine to a go-kart chassis build by himself, he began go-kart racing in the 125cc with gearbox class. He also used Montesa and Bultaco engines, and he designed his own engine called Bultaco-Privat. He took part in about one hundred go-kart races, winning more than the half of them. He also competed in up-hill go-kart races like Bologna-S.Luca, Vergato-Cerellio and Laveno-Mombello."In 1964 I moved on to car races - Maglioli is telling us - with a Giulia TI Super 1.6 and I won some races, amongst which the Four Hours of Monza, sharing the car with Giancarlo Baghetti whom I remember as a dear friend and a very fair sportsman. In 1965 I was engaged as race car driver and tester by Reparto Corse Lancia". The list of the races I took part in is very long: he won the Italian Tourism Championship class 2000cc, with the Lancia Flavia 1800 Zagato, in 1965 and 1966. In 1967 he won the European Tourism Challenge (up to 1300 cc class) driving a Lancia Fulvia 1,3 HF. Between 1968 and 1969 he won at the Daytona 24 Hours, the 4 Hour and the 12 Hour of Sebring, Targa Florio, Nurburgring 24 hours with Stirling Moss. It is very impressive to see this long series of victories, it looks like Claudio Maglioli never encountered any obstacle to his sports career. Nevertheless, there might have been difficult times, at least at the beginning. Let's try to expand our conversation with him in order to get a more precise idea of his character.

Who are the persons who gave a reference at the beginning of your career and what problems did you encounter to make your name known?"My teachers were without doubt my elder brother Umberto and the driver Giovanni Bracco, who always encouraged me also in the most critical moments. The difficulties were the usual that everyone meets at the beginning of any activity, when resources to show own abilities are limited. The worst moment was when after a hard test accident in 1965, I had to rest 40 days for a fracture to my spinal column. This accident caused me some psychological troubles and a lot of fear about the possibility to recover completely. Luckily these were unfounded fears because in the same year I won the Italian Championship. I can't talk about other unpleasant events because my driver career was quite bright and full of satisfaction. I have received offers from other car teams like Alfa Romeo, Abarth and BMW, but I always refused them as I thought that within Lancia I could have a long lasting professional relationship, even after the end of my competitive career".

In '68 and '69 you raced at Daytona driving a Fulvia Zagato. What are the feelings that one experiences driving such a tiny car compared to big American cars? What does it mean to withstand the challenge for 24 hours with no rest?"The races in the USA gave me a lot of satisfaction, especially for the thrill of racing with a small car against cars three times bigger as used in endurance races. However, we could count on better handling that gave us advantage on the most twisting part of the track. Our competitors instead, with their heavier cars, could exploit all the power on the high speed ring. In 1969 we fight a hard battle with the Porsche Team that lined up 4 official crews, but the faultless performance of our car allowed us to fight for first place from the middle of the race, even though we had much less power. The turning point occurred about at 5 am, when for an hour on the high speed banked part of the circuit there was thick fog that made drivers to slow down. Luckily I was used to the phenomenon, very common in Piedmont, moreover, I had tested before the use of polarised lenses that enhanced vision contrast in the fog. I had one pair of those spectacles on board so I was able to increase my lead up to 3 minutes, and maintained it during the following driving shifts until the end of the race. The car I drove with Lele Pinto had been tuned and tested by myself.

An enthralling race indeed, let's wonder what athletic training and technical qualification was necessary to face such competition!"in those years athletic training was left to each driver's common sense - Maglioli continues - I always tried to follow a balanced diet and behave regularly, though in that period I had to share my time between driving and testing racing cars for Lancia and my own company in Biella, where I was carrying out my activity of car tuner. In Biella I could express at my best my skill as a tuner developing along the years the Stratos and other motor projects that Lancia entrusted to me".

After Daytona in 1968 and 1969, how did your career continue?"In 1969 I developed the prototype roadster Fulvia F&M Special, that allowed me to win the Occhieppo-Graglia uphill race. Using the same roadster Sandro Munari and me arrived first and second of Class 1600 racing at the 1000 km of Nürburgring. In 1970 Lancia took part in the Italian Grand Tourism Championship, where I raced in 1300 cc and 1600 cc category and I won the Championship. Among the most important results of the following year I would like to mention the victory at Targa Florio with Sandro Munari, and the victories of class 1600 at Pergusa, Mugello and Nissena Cup. Meanwhile I had completed the second prototype F&M with a different aluminium body, which allowed me to win again the Class 1600 cc Occhieppo-Graglia. The sporting career of this model ended soon because it was too distant from normal commercial criteria. In 1971 I left the professional motor racing driving to devote myself to technical development and testing of all Lancia Corse cars like Stratos, Beta HF, Beta Montecarlo Turbo Gr. 5, the Lancia Endurance prototypes GR. 6 and Gr. C. As a technical note I can remind that the resounding power of the engine Ferrari/Lancia 2800 mounted on the Gr. C prototype that has reached 1200 HP. With this car, during the test for the Le Mans 24 Hour, the chronometers recorded a speed of 387 km/k on the 20 km of Marene's test track (now dismissed and converted as TO-SV motorway). The partnership with Lancia ended after 24 years in 1988 when the Reparto Corse was closed".

We have to tell the whole story of F&M Special roadster, can you please talk about it?"I got the idea during the journey back by plane from the US, just after Daytona and Sebring races, while I was recalling the discomfort caused by the high temperature in the cockpit during endurance races. My aspiration was to drive a lighter car with better handling on road tracks, so I explained my project to build such prototype to Cesare Fiorio. Fiorio was enthusiast and explained my idea to the Lancia Company which approved it. Lancia sent me a Coupé model to work on my 'experiment' so the first F&M was born. We built two cars of this model, plus one as spare, that were used in 1969 by me, Munari, Pinto and Aaltonen. In the following year I developed the second project, far more complex and futuristic. Engine and chassis came from the normal Fulvia whereas the body lighter and far more effective aerodynamically was completely different from the previous model. The F&M 2 was much faster than the F&M 1 and the base of his body's design was subsequently copied for many prototypes of Porsche and Chevron". 

After the partnership with Lancia was concluded, it is well known that the activity on your workshop in Biella gave you a lot of satisfaction."Indeed, in this field my work as tuner involved mainly the Fiat Topolino, the Abarth 600-750-850, the Lancia Flavia and Fulvia, the Triumph Dolomite, the Simca Rally 2, the Lancia Stratos, the Lancia Beta Coupé and Montecarlo Turbo and the Lancia Rally 037. Those cars, listed in chronological order, are the ones that rewarded my efforts and gave the best results like World Championship wins at Montecarlo Rally, Tour de France and Tour de Corse with Darniche/Mahé and like Sanremo Rally victory with 'Tony'/Mannini, without mentioning the numerous European and National championships successes.

What are your interests outside your professional activity?"Obviously now I have more time to devote myself to my family. Moreover, I follow with interest the technical evolution of racing engines, both car and motorbike ones. I also like antiques and vintage cars". Our chat ends here. Listening to Maglioli's tale is like viewing a movie with cars flashing past, raised dust, exasperated screams from the engines, hard work, victories. A fascinating movie also for people like me who are not familiar with racing cars.

                                                                                      Alessandra Mustazza