17 replies to this topic

[Gary C]

a friend of mine has just thrown me a curve ball and asked what was Nuvolari's motto. I can't for the life of me think what it was. Anyone??

[fines]

Better be fast than last? Sorry, no idea...

[Vitesse2]

I've seen two claimed:

Brakes will only slow you up

or, according to Audi in publicity for the Audi Nuvolari

The way is the goal

[gdecarli]

Maybe you mean

All’uomo più veloce l’animale più lento

(To the fastest man in the world, the slowest animal)

This was said by Gabriele D'Annunzio in 1933, when he gave to Tazio a small golden turtle that became Tazio's symbol. More info on official Nuovolari's website, www.tazionuvolari.it/bio2_it.htm (in Italian) or www.tazionuvolari.it/bio2_uk.htm (in English)

Ciao,
Guido
www.gdecarli.tk

[cjpani]

Originally posted by gdecarli
Maybe you mean

All’uomo più veloce l’animale più lento

(To the fastest man in the world, the slowest animal)

This was said by Gabriele D'Annunzio in 1933, when he gave to Tazio a small golden turtle that became Tazio's symbol. More info on official Nuovolari's website, www.tazionuvolari.it/bio2_it.htm (in Italian) or www.tazionuvolari.it/bio2_uk.htm (in English)

Ciao,
Guido
www.gdecarli.tk

Which is by the way, Vitesse´s avatar:




I´ll go for the brakes will only slow you motto

cj

[gdecarli]

You are right. According to http://www.nonsolofi...i/storia_05.htm, the motto was

I freni non servono

English translation according Google is "brakes do not serve ".
Which is the exact one? I don't know...

Ciao,
Guido

[maxie]

Oops, I thought his motto, especially in his later days, was to die racing.

[Vitesse2]

Originally posted by gdecarli
You are right. According to http://www.nonsolofi...i/storia_05.htm, the motto was

I freni non servono

English translation according Google is "brakes do not serve ".
Which is the exact one? I don't know...

Ciao,
Guido

I think a colloquial translation would be something like "Brakes are no use", so the whole original quote might have been along the lines of:

Brakes are of no use to me - they only slow you up.

But "Brakes will only slow you up" is a lot snappier!

At any rate, I don't believe the Audi one! Tazio might have said it, but I don't see it as his motto.

[Geoff E]

Originally posted by Vitesse2
"Brakes will only slow you up"

In England, brakes slow you down.

[joe twyman]

A lot of my knowledge is gained through my father....He has restored some Nuvolari cars and in one of our discussions he told me that Nuvolari's motto was "Women and engines, joy and pain" I dont know if this is true, but has anyone else heard this?

[jarama]

joe,

IIRC, this sentence is from Alfred Neubauer.

[lanciaman]

I thought the line about brakes was attributed to Ettore Bugatti, when his cars were criticized for inadequate stopping power.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by lanciaman
I thought the line about brakes was attributed to Ettore Bugatti, when his cars were criticized for inadequate stopping power.

Yes, I've seen a line that goes something like "Brakes only slow you down" attributed to Bugatti.

[lanciaman]

Originally posted by Ray Bell


Yes, I've seen a line that goes something like "Brakes only slow you down" attributed to Bugatti.

It may even have been something like "Anyone can make a car that goes slow."
Or maybe that was Sir Peter Ustinov in "The Grand Prix of Gibralter."

[Ray Bell]

Don't think it was in Grand Prix du Rock or whatever it was called...

But there's a thread somewhere about that... use 'Altbauer' and 'Foss' in search and you'll find that.

[Yorgos]

Originally posted by joe twyman
A lot of my knowledge is gained through my father....He has restored some Nuvolari cars and in one of our discussions he told me that Nuvolari's motto was "Women and engines, joy and pain" I dont know if this is true, but has anyone else heard this?

That's a translation of the old Italian proverb "Donne e motori,gioie e dolori". Would any Italian member care to put a date to it? I'm fairly sure it's pre-WW2 but wouldn't try to be more specific.

Cheers
Yorgos

[VAR1016]

Nuvolari was quoted as saying "One cannot know the limit of speed without first exceeding it."

And Bugatti's comment is usually translated as "My cars are meant to go, not to stop"!

PdeRL

[gdecarli]

Originally posted by Yorgos


That's a translation of the old Italian proverb "Donne e motori,gioie e dolori". Would any Italian member care to put a date to it? I'm fairly sure it's pre-WW2 but wouldn't try to be more specific.

I'm looking for some info, but I only could find a German reference. As I can't speak German, I can't understad what it means.

From: http://www.porsche-c...e/programm.html; this page is not available anymore and I could read it thanks to Google's cache: http://www.google.it...&hl=it&ie=UTF-8

3.-6. Mai 2002
Mille Miglia 2002
"Donne e Motori, Gioie e Dolori" Frauen und Motoren, Glück und Schmerz, stand auf Nuvolaris Alfa Romeo und heute noch ist die MM das Super - Oltimer Event

Translation made by Google is not much better for me to understand it...

"Donne e Motori, Gioie e Dolori" women and engines, luck and pain, stood for Oltimer Event on Nuvolaris Alfa Romeo and today is still the mm the super -

Ciao,
Guido
www.gdecarli.tk