Mr Leonardo Fioravanti is perhaps the most renowned man in Ferrari design. "I am responsible for nine classic Ferraris including the F40 and 365 Daytona, I also project managed maybe 18 other Ferrari's" he says.
"I don't know how it came to me. I had a kind of a vision. I worked for seven days and then showed my ideas to Sergio Scaglietti he liked them as did Mr Enzo Ferrari, and that's how I did it, I designed the 365 Daytona in just a week."
Born in Italy, his first car was a Fiat Topolino. Fioravanti studied in Milan under Professor Antonio Fessia, the man responsible for the Flaminia Lanica.
In 1964 he joined Pininfarina… "My first job at Pininfarina was to modify the roof of the Ferrari 250 LM, to make it more efficient aerodynamically. My second role was to make the 206 Dino from the various concepts that had gone on before. Then the P5 and P6 Ferrari show cars and after that the Ferrari Daytona."
Fioravanti was acting alone when he designed the Daytona as Ferrari had not asked for another model to be produced. They were happy with the 275 GTB which had been launched in 1965. Fioravanti walked into the factory and saw a couple of Ferrari chasses: "I saw them as bare frames, but they already had V12 engines”. A 1:1 model of Fioravanti's ideas were shown to Mr Ferrari, he suggested adding 6cm to the front and back. And that is how it came out, that was the Daytona.
In 1972, Fioravanti's work intensified, he was made director of design at Pininfarina. His project was to move on from the Dino and thus create the 308 GTB4. In the 80s he became managing director of Pininfarina. Fioravanti designed the Testarossa, the 288 GTO and even the F40. "I own an F40, what a car, In-cred-ib-le" he said.
Earlier this year Fioravanti was one of the judges that awarded the Loughran family 'The Best European Car Award' at the Kuwait Concorso. "Bravo" he proclaimed as he saw the classic lines of the DB4 GT Zagato.
Fioravanti is an artist and his master pieces will always remain treasured pieces of inventory at William Loughran Ltd.
