Salvatore Diomante is an automobile engineer and restorer, best known as Bizzarrini's factory manager in the 1960s.
Diomante resides in Nichelino, Italy and operates Autocostruzioni S.D., where he keeps parts, special tools and original moulds from Bizzarrini P538s and Bizzarrini 5300s. He rebuilds and restores old Bizzarrini cars, as well as other Italian exotic cars. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
He usually is called by owners to make spare parts. Some info talk about some new cars and replicas built using original and old sourced parts.
In the eighties, Diomante offered stretched versions of several Italian cars. A long wheelbase Fiat 131 and a Maserati Quattroporte elongated by 65 cm were some of his efforts. The Quattroporte offered a sumptuous interior and a correspondingly high price tag of 210 million lire. [6] The stretched 131, called the SD 131 Diplomatic, sat on a 60 cm longer wheelbase than usual and was thus nearly 5 metres long. It was a four-door sedan with an added middle row of seats. [7] Diomante also constructed a stretched station wagon version of the Lamborghini LM002 for the Sultan of Brunei. [8]
Maserati S.p.A. is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914 in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. The company has been owned by Stellantis since 2021. Maserati was initially associated with Ferrari. In May 2014, due to ambitious plans and product launches, Maserati sold a record of over 3,000 cars in one month. This caused them to increase production of the Quattroporte and Ghibli models. In addition to the Ghibli and Quattroporte, Maserati offers the Maserati GranTurismo and two SUV models, the Maserati Levante and the Maserati Grecale. Maserati has placed a yearly production output cap at 75,000 vehicles globally.
The Maserati Quattroporte is a four-door luxury sports sedan produced by Italian automobile manufacturer Maserati. The name translated from Italian means "fourdoors". The car is in its sixth generation, with the first generation introduced in 1963.
ISO Rivolta is an Italian car and motorbike manufacturer active in the motor vehicle sector since 1938. Over the years, the company has taken various names, including Isothermos, Iso Autoveicoli Spa in 1952, Iso Rivolta in 1962, Iso Motors in 1973 and, in 2017, a return to ISO Rivolta.
Bizzarrini S.p.A. was an Italian automotive manufacturer founded by Giotto Bizzarrini an Italian engineer born in Livorno, Tuscany in1926 and died on May 13 2023: in 1964 the automotive company was founded by former Alfa Romeo, Ferrari and Iso engineer Giotto Bizzarrini. The company built a small number of highly developed and advanced sport and racing automobiles before failing in 1969: in 2020, it was announced that the name had been acquired by Pegasus brands, together with plans to restart production.
The Lamborghini LM002 aka "Rambo Lambo" is an off-road vehicle manufactured by Lamborghini between 1986 and 1993. The LM002 was an unusual departure for Lamborghini which, at the time, was primarily known for high-performance, hand-built, super/sports cars. The LM002 was not the first of its kind to be built by Lamborghini. Two prototype vehicles, the Cheetah and the LM001, paved the way for LM002. Both vehicles used rear-mounted American power plants and were intended for military use, but were not well received. With the idea of using a front mounted Countach V12 to power the LM001 came the next model, the "LM002", which was the first of the three to see actual production by Lamborghini. The LM002 is part of a series of vehicles, the Lamborghini Militaria.
The Maserati 3200 GT is a four-seater grand tourer produced by Italian automobile manufacturer Maserati from 1998 to 2002, replacing the Shamal as the flagship grand tourer of the marque. The luxury coupé was designed by Italdesign, whose founder and head Giorgetto Giugiaro previously designed, among others, the Ghibli, Bora and Merak. Interior design was commissioned to Enrico Fumia and completed by 1995. 4,795 cars were produced before it was replaced by the Maserati Coupé.
Giotto Bizzarrini was an Italian automobile engineer who was active from the 1950s through the 1970s.
The Bizzarrini Strada, is a sports car produced by Bizzarrini from 1964 to 1968. Sold as an exceptionally low slung, two-seat coupé, roadster, and track-tuned "Corsa" racer, it proved to be Bizzarrini's most successful model.
The Ferrari 330 was a series of V12 powered automobiles produced by Ferrari in 2+2 GT Coupé, two-seat Berlinetta, spyder, and race car versions between 1963 and 1968. The name "330" refers to the approximate displacement of each single cylinder in cubic centimeters.
Carrozzeria Sports Cars was a small carrozzeria in Modena, Italy which produced sports and racing car bodies from 1960 until 1971. The company was founded by one-time Formula One driver, Piero Drogo along with coachbuilders Lino Marchesini and Celso Cavalieri. As the public face of the company, Drogo's name became synonymous with the cars produced by C.S.C., which are often referred to as "Drogo" bodies or designs. The workshop constructed bodies for many companies, racing teams and individuals including Scuderia Ferrari, Scuderia Serenissima, Iso and Giotto Bizzarrini. Financial difficulties led to the closure of Carrozzeria Sports Cars in 1971.
The Maserati Mexico is a 4-seater grand touring coupé produced by Italian automobile manufacturer Maserati between 1966 and 1972. It was based on the second series of the original AM107 Maserati Quattroporte, and it was powered by the same 4.2 and 4.7 L V8 engines.
The Maserati GranTurismo and GranCabrio are a series of a grand tourers produced by the Italian automobile manufacturer Maserati. They succeeded the two-door V8 grand tourers offered by the company, the Maserati Coupé, and Spyder.
The Turin Motor Show was an auto show held annually in Turin, Italy. The first official show took place between 21 and 24 April 1900, at the Castle of Valentino, becoming a permanent fixture in Turin from 1938 having shared it with Milan and Rome until that time. From 1972, the show was held biannually and in 1984, it moved into Fiat's shuttered Lingotto factory.
The F-segment is the 6th category and largest of the European segments for passenger cars, and always belongs to "luxury cars".
The Ferrari Pinin was a one-off concept car created by Italian-design studio Pininfarina, to celebrate the design studio's 50th anniversary. Discussed by Enzo Ferrari as being turned into a production model, the proposal was dropped and the car remains a singular concept model, the first four-door Ferrari ever built.
The Maserati Ghibli is an executive car produced by Italian automobile manufacturer Maserati since 2013. The car was unveiled to the public at the 2013 Shanghai Motor Show.
Neri and Bonacini, also known as Nembo, was a small carrozzeria and mechanic shop based in Modena, Italy, active from the late 1950s to around 1967. Founded and run by Giorgio Neri and Luciano Bonacini, the shop worked on and produced bodies for Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati road and race cars, both in an official capacity for those manufacturers and for private owners. Their best known projects are the Ferrari 250 GT-based Nembo spiders and the Lamborghini 400GT Monza. Neri and Bonacini also designed a car under their own name, the Neri and Bonacini Studio GT Due Litri. Two prototypes of this car were made between 1966 and 1968 but it never entered series production. The shop closed around 1967 when Bonacini went to work for De Tomaso and Neri started his own shop, Motors-World-Machines (MWM).
Thomas Meade was an American automobile designer and dealer best known for his Thomassima series of custom cars based on Ferrari engines and chassis. He was based in Modena, Italy from the early 1960s through the early 1970s, where he met and collaborated with many Modenese carrozzerie, manufacturers and mechanics.
The AMC AMX/3 is a mid-engine sports car made by the United States Automobile manufacturer American Motors Corporation (AMC), which was presented in March 1970 and was to be mass-produced in Germany by Karmann from 1971. With this car, AMC wanted to counter the similarly designed De Tomaso Pantera with a competitor. The body design and drivetrain came from AMC, the chassis and suspension were developed in Europe. The design was generally attributed to Giotto Bizzarrini. However, only individual components such as the suspension come from him. In addition to Bizzarrini, Italdesign, Autocostruzioni S.D. and BMW were also involved in the development. Shortly after the presentation, AMC abandoned the project without giving any reason after about half a dozen cars had been made. Several attempts to revive the design without AMC's involvement under the Bizzarrini brand name as the Bizzarrini Sciabola were unsuccessful. An AMX/3 chassis formed the technical basis for the Iso Varedo concept car in 1972.
The Maserati V8 engine family is a series of 90°, four-stroke, naturally-aspirated, V8 engines, designed, developed and built by Italian manufacturer Maserati for almost 45 consecutive years. A racing variant first appeared in 1939, with the V8RI, and a road-going version was later introduced with the Maserati 5000 GT in 1959, and later ending with the Maserati 3200 GT, in 2002. The engines ranged in displacement from 3.2–6.46 L (195–394 cu in), and production continued until 2002. It was later succeeded by the Ferrari-Maserati engine; a separate engine, completely designed, developed and produced by Ferrari, but used in several Maserati models.