Andrea Curami

I had been told that Andrea would be rude, a lunatic, a strange person. But instead I found a very intelligent person who was always eager to help me. Of course the subject was always cars, a passion which we both shared. On that day at Brescia, I had a question; he said he would find the answer.

Soon after, the telephone rang. “Tschao Dino. Come and see me at the university, I have the answer”, and this was the beginning of our friendship. His knowledge was unbelievable; you could talk with him about anything and he had the answer. His memory was photographic. Once he has seen a picture or read a caption – click, it was immediately stored in the database of his brain. He recalled everything, even after years: who, where, when, what, why. One day I was looking for the results of a hillclimb in France in the mid ‘50s. He asked me to meet him in his country house near Varese. He told me to follow him to the basement. There, rooms had been converted into a car historian’s Ali Baba’s treasure cave. Books, magazines, race programs, posters, newspapers, tapes, pictures, and then prizes, passes, memorabilia, miniatures, spare parts manuals, leaflets and ads and so on, a cornucopia of a paraphernalia covering everything that has to do with the story of cars and races from the beginning till the 1980s. To me it looked a massive mess, the epitome of total confusion, but not to Andrea; this was his idea of order.

“Open that cabinet, on the second level there is a blue folder… yes, that one at the bottom of the magazines, you’ll find your information there”. I pulled out the folder and found that the page with the races results is a little bit yellow and crispy on the edges, but it was there. He confessed to me that starting a long time ago, he spent much of his university wages on all the material that I’ve seen.
Another day I showed him a picture of a car we were debating about. He told me that I’m wrong and gave me a phone number of a friend who can help. This chap in turn gave me a phone number of another person and the latter says that yes, he has the picture and he can help me, but he got the original from Andrea: I called Andrea back a bit puzzled about this go around. “Well, Dino, history and researches are not just a click on the web,” said Andrea. “You have to dig, compare, learn and then, only when you are sure, write it. I wanted to test your efforts and you did it fairly well. And remember, you’ve now two new friends.” Thank you Andrea, for the lesson.

He was always very polite and helpful, but really disliked people who wanted to use his knowledge for their own purposes. One day he opened a drawer and showed me a notebook, saying that on the right pages he lists friends and on the left pages people he hates. The left pages are all blank. With a smile he tells me that there is no need to write the names, he remembers very well who they are.

Another day, the telephone rings again. It is Andrea and he sounds upset. “Tschao Dino. I’ve seen your application form for the Mille Miglia. Are you joking? What sort of Porsche is this? This is not a Carrera, the engine of the car was replaced in Modena in 1982 and is not original and …” I say “Wait.” but he goes on… “…and the front drums are hiding discs and …” “Andrea, stop, it is not me, someone else has a family name like mine, but it is not me.” Silence, then, “Well, I’m glad, because even if we are good friends, I would have to drop your application. Tschao.” This was Andrea: white or black, yes or no, no grey area, no half measures.

And one day he decided to leave us, in his style, in silence. Ciao Andrea, I’m sure that one day, somehow and somewhere, I’ll hear again your charming “Tschao Dino”.

A brief biography
Born in Milan in 1947, Andrea Curami attended the Polytechnic of Milan where he graduated in July 1971 with a degree in mechanical engineering specialization in vehicle construction.
After military service he became a researcher at the Institute of Mechanics of Politecnico di Milano, where, in 1984 he was appointed Professor of Applied Mechanics. Curami held classes for aerospace systems dynamics, dynamics of drives and control of mechanical systems, foundations of theoretical and applied mechanics and transport history. He was closely involved with the creation of the Mille Miglia Museum at Brescia. He was the author and or co-author of over 20 books on automotive, military and transportation history.

The following is a list compiled by the Editor and Dino Brunori of the books written and or co-written by Andrea Curami and may not be complete.

Ferrari: Road and Racing History (2000)

Ferrari. La storia di un Mito 1947 – 2000 ( 2000)

1000 Km di Monza. Trofeo Filippo Caracciolo (1998)

Alfa Romeo & Mille Miglia (2010)

50 Years of Ferrari: 1947-1997 with Tony Antonini ( 1997)

Mercedes-Benz & Mille Miglia ( 2008)

Porsche & Mille Miglia (2002)

Lancia Stratos, Thirty Years Later (2003)

Mille Miglia Race: The Postwar Years (1998)

La Sport e I suoi artigiani with Piero Vergnano (2002)

Enrico Nardi, a fast life, with Dino Brunori (2009)

Transporti del Regno Iniziativa Privata e Intervento Statale in Italia 1861-1946 with Paolo Ferrari ( 2007)

Industria Bellica Anni Trenta: Commesse Militari, L’Ansaldo Ed Altri with Lucio Ceva

Industria bellica degli anni trenta (Military industry in the ’30s) with Lucio Ceva (1992)

Giulio Dohuet: Scritti 1901 – 1905 with Giorgio Rochat (1993)

Alle origini della Breda Meccanica Bresciana (2009)

La guerra navale 1914 – 1918 (The naval war) (1999)

Insegnamentoi dell’aeronautica nella realtà milanese (Learning to fly in Milano from the beginning of the era) (2003)