20 replies to this topic

[gio66]

Marcello Sabbatini died last night of a heart attack. He was 81.

Through his magazine, Autosprint, which made use of important collaborations like Nigel Roebuck, Jeff Hutchinson, Eoin S. Young, David Hodges and others, I learned to love motorsport.

Ciao Marcellino.

[Doug Nye]

Sorry to hear this. By contemporary motor magazine standards into the 1970s he had a VERY tabloid approach which many specialist journalists derided, but he built 'Autosprint' into a formidably popular publication.

DCN

[gio66]

Thank you Mr. Nye. I have know you through Autosprint.

[petefenelon]

Originally posted by Doug Nye
Sorry to hear this. By contemporary motor magazine standards into the 1970s he had a VERY tabloid approach which many specialist journalists derided, but he built 'Autosprint' into a formidably popular publication.

DCN

...but in a sense a lot of the others have followed where Autosprint led. From those wild speculations and sketches of cars that never existed or were never likely to to Autosport's photoshopped liveries/helmets is merely a leap of technology! Modern Autosport owes more to Autosprint than to Grant/Bolster era Autosport, I'd say!

[petefenelon]

Originally posted by Doug Nye
Sorry to hear this. By contemporary motor magazine standards into the 1970s he had a VERY tabloid approach which many specialist journalists derided, but he built 'Autosprint' into a formidably popular publication.

DCN

...but in a sense a lot of the others have followed where Autosprint led. From those wild speculations and sketches of cars that never existed or were never likely to to Autosport's photoshopped liveries/helmets is merely a leap of technology! Modern Autosport owes more to Autosprint than to Bolster/Grand era Autosport, I'd say - clearly a sign that Signor Sabbatini had his finger on the pulse of the market a long time ago.

[ensign14]

Hasn't someone on here suggested that Autosport made up a lot of F1 "news" in the late 70s? Certainly flicking through old issues there's all sorts of random stuff that never came close to happening.

[Doug Nye]

Yes Pete, precisely. And yes, well, Ensign - but dear old Gregor Grant could never have been accused of permitting facts to spoil a good story...

DCN

[Pablo Vignone]

Wasn't he the guy who started Rombo magazine?

[gio66]

Originally posted by Pablo Vignone
Wasn't he the guy who started Rombo magazine?

Yes, he was.

It was early 1981 when the Autosprint editor wanted to increase the advertising pages at the expense of the news pages. Sabbatini did not accept the diktat and left Autosprint to found Rombo.

[Graham Gauld]

Very sad, I was invited to a fun event organised by Fabrizio Violati at his motor museum, Maranello Rosso about 18 months ago. He had arranged for some of his pals to bring cars along and then held a small regularity hill climb ending up in a small village with a tiny square, a couple of tables and some chairs and announced that there would be a concours d'elegance. He invited me to be a judge along with Marcello Sabbatini whom I had not seen for years and years. Marcello was in great form and I cannot believe that someone so fit and lively should have died so suddenly. We talked about the old days, of course, and I remember being thrilled, way back in 1955 when he pubished three of my photographs from the Tourist Trophy Race that year because we met for the first time at the race. I agree with Doug that Autosprint was a leader in its day.

As for dear Gregor Grant, what a boy, I am sure Doug was with me on the occasion of a Fiat launch in Turin when all the Brit journos were gathered in the bar before going to dinner. I was intrigued by a lively argument between Gregor and the Daily Express motoring correspondent Basil Cardew about the Italian racing driver Campari. At one point Gregor remarked ".....I did the Mille Miglia in 1938 with Campari". To which Basil retorted "...absolute rubbish Gregor, Campari died in 1933!". Quick as a flash Gregor replied "....I was with his son !". However, it was Gregor's magazine that got me interested in motor sport and I was very proud when he asked me to be his Scottish correspondent about six years later.

Two great characters who launched magazines that were unique in their time and a provided a great service to motor racing and rallying enthusiasts.

[Graham Gauld]

Glo66

Sorry, forgot to add to my post that Rombo was started by Eugenio Zigliotto who moved out of motor sport and started an upmarket italian magazine on watches!

[gio66]

Originally posted by Graham Gauld
Glo66

Sorry, forgot to add to my post that Rombo was started by Eugenio Zigliotto who moved out of motor sport and started an upmarket italian magazine on watches!

Sorry, Mr. Gauld, but maybe there's a misunderstanding.

Eugenio Zigliotto was the "right arm" of Marcello Sabbatini. When Sabbatini left Autosprint, a big part of the editors (Zigliotto, Cavicchi, Canetoli, Schittone, Rancati) followed him in Rombo as you can see.



Sabbatini and Zigliotto were the first in Italy to organize a phone number who gives informations "almost live" about the GP's, called Telesprint.
Calling the 051-4554... and some other, you can hear the results of any session (practice or qualifying) a few minutes after they was ended.

[Ray Bell]

In 1971 I had never heard of Autosprint...

I had some strange jobs in those times and at the end of the year got another one... as a clerk in a plywood factory at Homebush Bay.

It was a factory which employed the cheapest labour available. So new migrants would go there to get a job to help them settle into the country, people who couldn't get much in the way of work because they'd arrived here and didn't speak the Queen's English.

Joe Mangano was in charge of the cutting section, the huge department that spun great logs at up to 900rpm in front of an advancing blade 12' long. It sliced acres of veneer from those logs in just hours each day. Joe spoke about five languages, so he had Turks and Italians, Spanish and Yugoslavs in his workforce. And me, tallying up the results of each day's work, 'making fact out of fiction' I used to call it.

Over the other side was the slicing section. This was where the face veneers were cut off, on more genteel machines that moved the blade across the flitch of timber and took of thin slices with every forward stroke. Jimmy Louloudakis, a wonderful and gentle Greek ran this section, with the Lebanese Michael Baidin second in command, a few Yugoslav women and a couple of other newly arrived Greeks. And so on up through the factory it went...

There was the Timber Engineering Division, which had actually built the huge factory out of pieces of wood all glued together. They did things like make shaped plywood panels, like you have in benches and so on... and there was the rough-as-guts caravan floor section, the various ovens, the glue factory, the R & D people, all on the side of the Parramatta River.

It was in these circumstances that some time early in 1972 I met Vincenzo Basile. Vince was Italian, he was a motor racing nut, he loved F1 and any kind of motor racing, and he'd already found out where he could buy airmail copies of Autosprint.

During the course of my day I had to run messages all around this place, got involved in discussions with all sorts of people and generally had a good social life. In this way I was to learn of Vince's passion, and I was to give him lifts after work to Summer Hill where the Autosprints would be waiting.

What a revelation these magazines were to me! Tremendous stuff, with lots of colour pictures to make up for my lack of Italian.

I used to take Vincenzo out to the races. To explain to him that there would be F5000s on, I would tell him about the 'cinquelitre monopostos', his eyes would lighten up even more and he'd become excited at the prospect of seeing these machines.

Unfortunately, Vincenzo, who lived with some relatives in Lidcombe, couldn't stand being away from Italy, and probably being so far from Monza. He went home and I never heard from him again. But he did introduce me to Autosprint even if I couldn't understand it all.

I wonder if he's on the net today? I wonder if he still waits eagerly for his weekly fix of Autosprint?

It wouldn't surprise me at all...

[Nanni Dietrich]

Addio, mio Maestro di giornalismo.

[Fr@nk]

Marcello said "NO" to Enzo Ferrari.
I think it was not so easy.
Perhaps he was the only one to do that.
He was really a Maestro in the italian motorsport journalism.
He will less us so much.
Ciao Marcello

[macoran]

I was so addicted to Autosprint, that every Tuesday I'd leave work in Rotterdam direction Amsterdam
at a reckless pace, just to get my copy before shop closing.
Luckily the magazine shop in my home town started carrying it, so it cost my boss less (on petrol).
Funny, how you can make regular "customer calls" every week, years on end.

It was also in Autosprint, where I learned of the Connew F1 project, an article written by a certain
very foreign writer....Mr.Dong Nye.!!

[Twin Window]

Originally posted by Ray Bell

What a revelation these magazines were to me! Tremendous stuff, with lots of colour pictures to make up for my lack of Italian.

Originally posted by macoran

I was so addicted to Autosprint...

Same for me as for you guys; and funnily enough, my addiction also took hold in the Netherlands! Autosprint, Autosport and Competition Car were absolutely the best mags during the seventies.

[mft]

Thank you for everything Direttore Marcello Sabbatini!

You were not only a great motor racing journalist, but also a great journalist and, more importantly, a great man. I learned a lot from you: more than loving car racing. I learned to love Truth and Love. Winning in car racing requires other to compete: they are necessary and therefore deserve fair and correct competition. I miss his open views on car racings. Perhaps they are necessary more in these days than in the past. I have often the impression that many commentators write about a race just making a cut and paste from press releases of teams. Marcello Sabbatini was always trying to give the real facts, even when this was out of the general reports. He loved Ferrari a lot but without closing his eyes when something wrong from the team had to be written. I still suffer remembering the days in which Gilles Villeneuve died. Enzo Ferrari was a great man but was not supporting anymore a driver that in 1979 allowed Scheckter to win the championship: Gilles was desperate! From Sabbatini I understood that Enzo Ferrari was interested in having people considering as winners his cars more than his drivers. Writing things like that in Italy is very difficult!

I still remember the first time I had a chance to talk to him by phone. On "Rombo" he invited people to send phone number to call them home!

Thank you again Marcello: you gave us a lot!

[corrado]

When I was a child waiting for Autosprint's new issue was the most important moment of the week...
Addio Marcello

[gio66]

And today Eugenio Zigliotto also passed away at 70.



I think it's fair to mention it in the same thread of Marcello.

R.I.P.

[steve58]

And today Eugenio Zigliotto also passed away at 70.



I think it's fair to mention it in the same thread of Marcello.

R.I.P.

I became passionate of motorsport with them words , Autosprint , Rombo , Telesprint . I follow Eugenio also in the little adventure Of Alfa Romeo World . They were greats .
Thank you for all .