Dino Competizione is ready to Come Home

Great interview.

Apparently Aldo Bravarone designed Comptizione's sister Dino Berlinetta Speciale #0840 at PF. Do you know who penned Competizione? And do you know the whereabouts/condition of Speciale?

Thanks,

-F

 

Jim,

Alfredo "Dino" Ferrari passed away from muscular dystrophy - not leukemia.

Zach

 

2006 Retromobile
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Jim,

You're of course right about muscular dystrophy, in the same way AIDS patients don't actually die of AIDS but some minor thing affecting their deteriorated bodies. I'm not sure it's wrong to say they died of AIDS, though.

Interesting re: leukemia and liver failure. I wonder if it is a case of mis-translation, because that is certainly not the most commonly told story? For instance, in Doug Nye's book, "Dino, the Little Ferrari," he writes - "But Dino Ferrari had been fighting a lingering and losing battle against muscular dystrophy, and that winter what in health would have been only a minor secondary infection brough on nephritis - a kidney disease - and Dino Ferrari fell into chronic renal failure."

 

Interesting.

Ferrari itself says MD (see below)

It seems there are differing views.

Hope all is well,
Z
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Dino died just before the French GP in 56; the team drivers wore black armbands in his memory
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That IS a great photo....the whole gang.......

 

A truly great photo! Everytime I see a 246 Dino I cant help but appreciate what Dino contributed to making Ferrari the legend it is today.

 

While I don't know the particulars of Dino's case, only what I have seen written in biographies...I think Leukemia is extremely unlikely.

Acute Leukemia, which would be the variety a young person would get (not a chronic leukemia-CML-which is seen in the elderly) has a life expectancy on the order of weeks, especially in those days; death usually being secondary to infection, or bleeding complication.

Kidney and liver failure could have many causes, and certainly can be seen in MD which is a lethal condition. On average patients with Duchenne MD (I suspect that this was the subtype) are in a wheelchair by their early teens and often pass away by late teens or early to mid twenties, just as Dino's case progressed. The cause of death usually being respiratory failure or cardiomyopathy. A cardiomyopathy can certainly cause renal failure by nature of a decreased cardiac output, and liver dysfunction by passive congestion of pressure back into the liver (upstream and downstream effects froma failing pump). There are of course numerous other possibilities.

I doubt leukemia carried more of a stigma than MD, which is clearly more difficult to watch--a slow death from declining strength and vitality.

Hope this helps.

 

Technically speaking leukemia doesn't cause changes in "blood chemistries" any more so than MD can, or other ailments.
Leukemia has to do with white blood cells and certainly can affect reb blood cells and platelets...all of which are produced in the bone marrow.
Chemistries will be abnormal in nearly all end-of-life scenarios, almost regardless of the cause.
I suspect Enzo was speaking metaphorically as an "engineer" how he wished he could have made Dino's body run better by altering mixtures, balances, etc.

All you need is one misconception and then the "sources" all quote the same misinformation.

I wasn't there....all I am saying is that "Leukemia" doesn't fit with the clinical scenario, and MD certainly is a lethal disease of young adults.

 

Leukemia is a horrible thing, had quite a few family member die from it. I always thought that Dino had MD.

 

I suspect there was a little lost in translation.


It'd be easy enough to translate the general Italian "deadly blood disorder" as specific English "leukemia" without realizing the difference.

 

It's strange that Hawthorn is in that photo with De Portago, Fangio, Castellotti and Collins, looking like one of the boys..........because he was driving for Vanwall at that GP (although he'd signed for BRM, who weren't there). The fifth works Ferrari driver was Gendebien.

In the 12-hour sportscar race the day before, Hawthorn was driving for Jaguar, and Ferrari weren't entered.

Paul M

 

I'm certainly no authority on this, but my impression is that there was more of a brotherhood between the drivers back then - to a large extent, their very lives depended on the good driving of the guy next to them in a race even though they were fierce competitors. I don't think they were as "walled-off" from each other by team affiliation as they are now. You will never see a scene like the photo above - drivers from different teams socially mingling on the grid before a race - before a modern day Formula 1 race. Hell, I think Ascari was actually driving for Lancia, when he stopped by Monza to see Castellotti testing a Ferrari; he jumped in and was dead a couple of laps later, driving a works car of a competing team! Imagine Hamilton stopping by Fiorano for a couple of hot laps!

sorry for the off-topic - back to the fabulous Dino Competizione . . . there was a question earlier in this thread re: who at Pininfarina penned this car; was it Aldo Brovarone?

 

No, it was Paolo Martin. See the website below as posted by Jim.

http://www.madle.org/epmdino.htm

Interestingly, for such a swoopy, curved shape, he went on to design rather angular shapes. I imagine Brovarone had some influence in design. See below:

http://www.studiotorino.com/en/auto/spyder/brovarone.htm

-F