Franco Sbarro
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Francesco Zefferino Sbarro (born February 27, 1939 in Presicce ( province of Lecce ), Italy ), better known as Franco Sbarro , is an Italian designer and developer of various vehicles that are presented every year at the Geneva Motor Show .
Life
As the son of a farmer, he was fascinated by mechanics. After starting to study literature in Lecce , his passion for automobiles at the age of 17 drove him to look for a job as an auto mechanic in Neuchâtel ( Switzerland ) in November 1957 . His meeting with Georges Filipinetti , the owner of the Scuderia Filipinetti , led to his becoming its chief mechanic. He was entrusted with the development and maintenance of racing cars and was also responsible for the restoration of an AC Cobra , Ferrari 330P3 and Ford GT40 . At this time he also built his first vehicle: a Filipinetti Coupé .
In 1968, Sbarro left the Filipinetti racing team to set up the ACA Atelier d'Etude de constructions automobiles (design office for automobiles) in Grandson , Switzerland on the shores of Lake Neuchâtel . The first project that bore his name was the Sbarro ACA Spider, a two-seater racing car for young drivers based on an NSU TTS 1000 with a Spiess engine. In the absence of orders, the prototype remained. After that, Sbarro mainly produced two types of vehicles: replicas of classic automobiles, mostly as commissioned work, and own designs. The replicas included: a BMW 328 from the 1930s with modern technology, a Mercedes 540 K Roadster , also from the 1930s, with a modern V8 engine, as well as a Lola T70 , a Ferrari P4 , a Bugatti Royale and many more . The spectrum ranged from the small sports coupe to the large all-wheel drive vehicle.
In 1992, not far from his workshops, Sbarro founded the Espace Sbarro School , an unusual school open to young people from all countries with a passion for automobile development and with different experiences. Under the guidance of Franco Sbarro, you will learn how to develop, draw and build a vehicle from your own imagination.
At the request of the King of Morocco , he founded another school in Casablanca called Créa , which was converted into a small production facility.
In 1995 he opened a factory museum in Pontarlier , France, called ESPERA (Espace Sbarro Pédagogique d'Etudes et de Réalisations Automobiles; German for example: Pedagogical Sbarro room for the planning and construction of automobiles), which is no longer open to the public is.
A year later he founded a specialized training and education center with the same name. The ESPERA center shows many examples of designs by Sbarro and his students. More than 100 models were exhibited in the museum, from small electric vehicles to racing cars to extraordinary concept vehicles. Bodies, engines and molds were also on display in the exhibition.
In addition to regular enrollment at the school, Franco Sbarro also offers weekly courses in automobile design and visiting days in his workshops to watch him at work.
See also
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Sbarro, Franco |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Sbarro, Francesco Zefferino |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Italian designer and developer of motor vehicles |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 27, 1939 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Presicce ( Province of Lecce ), Italy |