A BRIEF HISTORY OF DALLARA
The man and his firm, from Miura to Chiron, via prototypes, F1 and Indycar
TO UNDERSTAND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE new Dallara Stradale, first you have to know the story of the company behind it, and the man behind the company.
Having graduated from Milan polytechnic with a degree in aeronautical engineering in 1959, Giampaolo Dallara first found work at Ferrari, assisting in the design of the company’s racing cars. He switched to a similar role at Masarati a couple of years later, then in 1963 he moved once again, this time to Lamborghini.
It was here that Giampaolo tackled road cars for the first time and, aged 28, was one of the team of engineers who convinced Ferruccio Lamborghini to deviate from the company’s GTcar foundations towards a new, mid-engined design: the Miura.
After six years at Lamborghini, during which time Dallara also worked on the Marzal concept and the Espada, in 1969 race cars beckoned again. This time it was an opportunity to work with Frank Williams at de Tomaso on cars for Formula 2 and Formula 1. But his time in this position was relatively short-lived, as in 1972 the Italian decided to found his own company: Dallara Automobili da Competizione.
The firm’s first solely engineered and built racing car was a 1000cc sports prototype, produced for Alfa Corse. This was followed by 1300 and 1600cc versions, then in 1973 the ISO Marlboro Williams team called, asking Dallara to help bring its latest F1 design to fruition.
Countless other collaborations followed, standouts including the Lancia LC1 and LC2 prototype racers in the early ’80s, and the Ferrari 333 SP prototype of the 1990s. Inevitably, there were more Formula 1 projects, too. In 1988 Dallara became an F1 constructor, creating its 188 chassis for BMS Scuderia Italia. While there were no race victories during this five-year relationship, there were a couple of podiums, plus a pair of 8th-place finishes in the Constructors’ Championship.
Dallara would return briefly to F1 in 2010 with Hispania Racing, and came back again in 2016 with Haas. But it’s in Formula 3 and Indycar where the company has really made its mark. In the former, Dallara’s cars won every Italian championship bar one between 1985 and 2011, while in the latter the growing popularity of the firm’s chassis has meant that since 2009 it has been the series’ sole chassis supplier.
Dallara has also consulted in the engineering of high-end performance cars – not least for its expertise in carbonfibre technology – working with Bugatti on the Veyron and Chiron, and also collaborating on the Alfa Romeo 4C and 8C, Maserati MC12 and KTM X-bow.
Consider those decades of racetrack experience and success, and the input into some of the most significant road cars ever made, and the reason why the first road car to bear the Dallara name deserves our full attention becomes abundantly clear.