Story and photos by Dale LaFollette
Pete asked me for photos of the Disco Volante so I had to go back to the Mille Miglia Retrospective of 1986. Wow, what wonderful memories that dislodged!
The Disco Volante was being piloted by Phil Hill and John Lamm and I was in a C-Type Jaguar that was owned by my good friend Steve Earle. Our numbers were close to each other so we seemed to be in contact for at least the first full day of the three-day event. Phil and John told me that the Disco belonged to the Alfa Romeo Museum and they seemed a little concerned about the mechanical preparation if memory serves.
I remember that the exhaust note of the Disco did not inspire and the acceleration was not blinding but I am sure that Phil was driving it conservatively to make it last.
That first day John Lamm was wearing a red hat from Steve Earle’s 1985 Historic Auto Races at Laguna Seca. We were maybe a hundred yards behind the Disco when John’s hat took off never to be seen again. Some ways down the road both cars stopped and Steve reached down by his seat, pulled out an identical hat, handed it to John and told him, “We saw your hat fly off and Dale scooped it up when we went by.” That was almost believed until John tried to put in on and it was obviously in need of adjustment!
While it may sound like I was not impressed with the Disco Volante, however after the event I found I had a need for a red roadster of some sort. To satisfy that need I bought an Alfa Romeo Duetto within a month of returning home which was as close design-wise to a Disco as I could afford. I drove it for the next 14 years.
Bob Hoye says
What a good story!
Gavin says
Those photos made my day. Thank you for sharing them.