Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
His love of Lambos is like the supercars – overpowering
IT DOESN’T take a long time to find out why Angelo Pisanti is known as the “Mad Italian” at his workplace. His voice overpowers the loud roaring sounds of a Lamborghini Aventador’s high octane engine, as he shouts orders from across the workshop.
“My colleagues gave me this nickname because I shout and scream at everyone. It’s just in my nature,” Pisanti says.
It’s not that Pisanti is an angry Italian man who enjoys shouting. Rather, he says, he is passionate about his job and wants to make sure everything he does is kept confidential.
“When you are working for a prestigious brand like Lamborghini, everything has to be done to perfection.”
The 58 year old is the master technician of the Lamborghini workshop in South Africa. He heads the luxury supercar brand workshop in Johannesburg.
Even though Pisanti has been working with the Italian brand for the last 19 years, it’s clear he still gets a kick out of hearing the roaring engines of a Lamborghini.
He jumps into an Aventador he is working on and revs up the engine. “This sound never gets old, I tell you,” Pisanti says, smiling.“I still get shivers down my spine when I hear the sound of a Lamborghini. I could hear it all day long and I would never get tired of it.”
Pisanti is surrounded by sheer beauty at his workplace. Everywhere you look, you see a different model of a Lamborghini. There are Aventadors, Huracans, Countachs, Murciélagos, Gallardos and even Diablos at the workshop in Johannesburg. These multimillion-rand cars are recognised as some of the best supercars in the world.
“As a car fanatic, of course it’s wonderful to be surrounded by such beautiful supercars. It puts a smile on my face every day when I walk in to work.”
Having worked with the brand for almost two decades, it’s hardly a surprise that Pisanti is clued up on each Lamborghini model.
He started working with Lamborghini in 1998 and trained at the Lamborghini factory in Sant’Agata in Italy. Today, he is recognised as one of the best Lamborghini technicians in the world.
He takes a stroll around the workshop and starts giving a detailed explanation of each of the cars on the floor. He speaks with passion about the different Lamborghinis.
“I started out with the Diablo, and ever since then I have learnt about every other model that Lamborghini has made. Whenever a new model comes out, we undergo training and do a course. So we are always learning. Even at my age I learn new things all the time.”
Today, Pisanti has to get a brand new Aventador ready as the owner of the car is coming to pick it up in the next 24 hours.
Pisanti says Lamborghini customers demand the very best service.
“It’s hard work. It’s challenging; you have to please your clients,” he says.
“Your clients want the extra. You must go the extra mile for them, no matter what they ask you to do. I can’t just say no. If they spent six million for a car, you must make sure you give them just as great service.”
While Pisanti describes working for Lamborghini as a “dream job”, by no means is it an easy job, he says.
The Edenvale-born master technician says it’s taken years of hard work, commitment and dedication to reach his professional goals. “The nature of my work can be massively challenging. Keeping up with evolving technology with supercars isn’t easy.”
Early days and late nights are just part of the equation. Pisanti’s work day starts as early as 7am in the showroom and that’s where he sets the day’s wheels in motion.
“When I started off, I was working with cars that just had a carburettor. Now, the new models are sophisticated and are powered by computers, so I have had to learn completely new things in my industry.
“It’s taken me years of hard work to get to where I am today. But it’s all been worth it. I’m proud of how far I have come.
“Sometimes we have to work with very tough custom- ers. Some come in and demand that they need their vehicle sorted the very same day. And it’s something we just have to do. There is no questioning a customer.
“Sometimes I am having lunch with my family on a Sunday and I have a client asking me to come and sort out his car. There’s nothing I can do but head over and help the client.
“You have to think about protecting the brand and going over and above for them. When you are working for a brand like Lamborghini you need to give your clients the best and nothing less.
“It’s really exciting to test drive these machines. But in all honesty it’s also very scary,” he says.
“When I am on the road, all I am thinking about is bringing the Lamborghini safely back to dealership. It’s a car that’s worth millions of rands and so you don’t want anything happening to the car. The experience can be more stressful than exciting.”
He giggles and says he feels more comfortable in his Fiat that he drives to work every day.
“As much as I love supercars so much, I don’t think I will ever own one, even if I had the money. It’s a lot of money and there’s a lot more I could do with all those millions.”
While Pisanti has worked with Lamborghini for the last 19 years, he has been in the motor industry for 40 years. After matriculating from Edenvale High School, in the east of Johannesburg, and after a short stint in the army, Pisanti began his journey in the motor industry.
He has worked for car brands like Renault and Ferrari, and has even owned his very own car workshop with his brother Gennaro, who also works at Lamborghini with him.
He says his first car was an old “banged up” Lancia Fulvia that he bought so that he could rebuild it from scratch to test how well he worked with cars.
“The first car I bought was a scrap. It was a Lancia Fulvia, it was a two door, it was a 1.6. When I bought this car, the engine and the gearbox was bu***red. So I made it my challenge to rebuild the car.
“I stripped it down to the bone and rebuilt the whole car, which took me about two years.”
Pisanti says he hopes to retire at Lamborghini, having loved his journey so far.
‘If they spent six